Altun Ha - Belize

Belize is some 8800 square miles big (it's a country, south of Mexico, also bordering Guatemala), yet has over 1000 archeological sites (this is from memory, feel free to correct me). We visited the Altun Ha Mayan Ruins site on December 1, 2005. Our guide, Gustavo, was magnificent, none better could be asked for. He was friendly, extremely knowledgeable, and an all around great guy.

To get to the ruins, we took a small powerboat up a river for about two hours, spotting iguanas (four feet long, if not more), crocodiles, wild birds, and we even spotted many manatee snouts while near the ocean. A lunch of a local dish (beans, rice and stewed chicken) was consumed before the transfer to the bus, for the trip to the Mayan ruins. We also saw a local artist making wood sculptures from Zaricote wood, and I bought one of his abstract works. Absolutely gorgeous.

Bus ride to the ruins was filled with Gus telling us about some of the history of Belize and it's people. Again, very informative (going to Belize? Call Gustavo at 501 600-8230 - he's a licensed tour guide and does more than just the Mayan ruins).

I'm going to pretty much cut to the chase at this point, because that's the only real reason I am doing this page. Look at these few photos:

The first picture is the site of the next two - we were at the very top, in the center section. The second photo is Gus taking our picture, the third picture shows the proposition (in case you need to ask, she said yes (who could resist?))!!!