When my friend Alyse asked me if I wanted to go to Belize, I said YES. With that emphasis too.
If you’ve heard anything about the midwest this winter, it’s been awful. Cold, snow, ice, wind, and unrelenting. I was in need of the sun and good times with friends.
We arrived a Friday afternoon, hoped the water taxi to San Pedro, and found our hotel. After we got settled we just had to Instagram the sunset.
Belize is a small but interesting country. A part of the ancient Mayan civilization the country has a few temples you can visit. We jumped at the chance to visit the ruins and chose a package that offered cave tubing as well. “Inland and Sea Adventures” on San Pedro coordinated the trip for us. I would NOT recommend this company, except for this tour. They are extremely disorganized and frankly a little rude. HOWEVER, our tour guide, Nuri, was an absolute delight.
After a water taxi ride back to the mainland, we met Nuri at the port. A native to Belize City, he was not only extremely educated about Belize, but the Mayan civilization as well. He taught us all about the creole language on our way to Altun Ha.
I’m not going to lie, you need to book this through a tour company. The roads are quite rough, and this is a more accessible temple! I mean if you are really adventurous and are an expert driver, maybe, but be prepared. It’s worse than Michigan roads, which is saying a lot.
Once we arrived, we eagerly hopped out of the truck ready to transport ourselves to the time of the Mayans.
I of course, went full tourist….
Since we were cave tubing in the afternoon, I opted for this cute one piece and my favorite pair of running shorts. The tennis shoes are also water shoes, and a MUST. They were $20 and amazingly comfortable while I trekked all over the ruins and eventually through the Mayan Underworld.
Water Shoes | Scalloped One Piece | Shorts | Hat
The site was breathtaking. These structures are hundreds of years old, but the architecture is sophisticated.
It is believed this was a religious city, and yes this was a city, and it was BOOMING.
Pretty cool right? Probably fragile right? Nope, we get to climb them!
This is the main temple. It’s significance? Well not only is it the temple on the Belikin Beer logo (The official beer of Belize)
But it is in fact the temple where they discovered the biggest piece of carved jade in Mayan history.
She’s a beauty, isn’t she? Want to see some spectacular views?
Well, let’s go for a climb.
These babies are my new favorite, and they do not look like regular doppy water shoes…uhhh unless your into that sort of thing. For me, I am a little more high maintance with my shoes and I want style and comfort.
This is a replica of the jade head. As I am sure you read in the picture *eyebrow wiggle* it is priceless and kept locked away for obvious reasons.
After a few hours at the ruins, we hopped back in the car and drove to hell.
I did not get any pictures cave tubing as I did not want to ruin any of our electronics, but I can tell you it was a lot of fun! We literally trekked through the jungle, hauling our tubes and helmets, and stared the ‘Mayan Underworld’ in the face. An ancient giant cave, filled with fresh cold water, and ghostly shadows. Spooky right?
All in all, it was an amazing day trip. This bloggers advice?
- Inland and Sea Adventures for ONLY this tour. Request Nuri, as he was amazing.
- Wear your water shoes and swimsuit.
- Bring an extra pair of clothes. You will get wet in the cave and it is not fun to sit in the van with soggy bottoms.
- Sunscreen, sunscreen. That tropical sun is a killer and it was HOT at the ruins.
Have you ever been to ancienct ruins before? Let me know in the comments below!
Ardently Kelsey 