On to the Table Rock Lodge. This place is in the hills outside San Ignacio and it was so beautiful. There is a citrus tree orchard along with some farm animals on the property.
Our family took up 3 out of the 8 cabin/cabana units in this lodge. Rob, my brother-in-law, made it to the lodge having flown into Belize that morning. Being that the lodge is about 5 miles out of town, it is helpful to have a car to get around at your leisure. The lodge is also situated along the Macel river and they provide inner tubes and kayaks for guests who want to get in the river and cool off.
The restaurant on the property was excellent and they offer daily specials plus some standard more popular selections like pizza, nachos, etc. They Lodge had no trouble adjusting for all our various food allergies/preferences.
The pool was great as well, we enjoyed coming to cool off after being out in the heat touring. The biggest drawback to the lodge, is that there is no A/C. They do have large ceiling fans in the room which helped to keep you cool enough to sleep.
We woke up the next morning for our cave tubing adventure. Leo from Belize Family Adventure was there right on time to pick us up. We went to the Nohoch Che’en (Caves Branch) for our cave tubing experience. Everyone really enjoyed it, Leo was a great guide. He didn’t rush us at all. We were able to take our time going through both the caves. Leo even took us to another spot in the 2nd cave that’s really popular during spring break. A few of us jumped from that spot as well into the cold cave water. Our lunch was provided by a poor single mother from the local village that the company contracts. I think that’s a fantastic program and the food was really good too. Nothing was wasted, Leo told us the street dogs would end up with the food scraps. Rob somehow got bit by a Doctor Fly when coming out of the cave. It caused him to have a lot of muscle soreness and he was unable to move his arm much for a few days. We were told that is not the typical reaction when bitten, as normally it merely leaves a temporary red mark and doesn’t hurt.
The next morning we were off to the Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM) Cave with Mayawalk.com. In this cave ancient Mayan sacrifices were made and has been preserved as an archaeological site that includes skeletons, ceramics, and stoneware. Our guides Eric and JC rushed us out to the park to ensure that we would be one of the first groups in the cave that morning. Being one of the first in the cave has many advantages. The cave water is still crystal clear and you aren’t waiting behind other groups in those tight sections of the cave. Eric was the guide for group as each guide is only allowed 8 people max. The ATM cave is great and honestly my favorite tour of the trip. The Devil’s Spine is a narrow section and is a challenge for those who have trouble with tight spaces. Eric did a nice job talking everyone through whether they were having difficulty with the heights, the tight spaces, or swimming in a dark cave. It is really amazing that the public is allowed to tour this cave as there are many artifacts that one small misstep will damage. When you get to the artifact section of the cave you must wear socks to protect your feet and protect the cave from the oil in your skin. For clothing you need to wear shorts and a shirt, swim suit may be worn underneath, but out of respect for the native Mayans, modesty is requested. Also, bring a complete set of dry clothes for the way home. No electronic devices are allowed off the bus, but the company sent some photos after the tour. In addition, Eric was nice enough to share some photos as well. It rained pretty much all night before our tour, but since the rainy season is not yet in full swing our tour was on. The rains make the cave inaccessible at some points during the year, so keep that in mind when planning your trip to Belize, if you want to do this activity.
And we were off and running to Guatemala for a day trip to tour the Mayan city ruins of Tikal. We met our ride from TikalGo.com in downtown San Ignacio for the ride to the border. After exiting Belize and walking into Guatemala we were greeted by our guide Christian. The company keeps a vehicle on each side of the border making it easier for them to license and insure their vehicles in their respective countries. Tikal is about 1 1/2 hours drive from the Belizean border. Along the drive, Christian filled us in on the elections that were to be held the following day with 20 candidates running for President. Guatemala stops liquor sales on Saturday preceding the election at 1pm until noon on Monday the day following the Sunday elections. Seems like a smart thing to do.
Tikal was Will and his sister Anita’s favorite tour. Tikal is home to the tallest Mayan building at 250ft. It is also an interesting site in that only some of the structures have been restored. The grounds of the park are in the middle of the rainforest, which was a huge help in providing shade in the hot climate. The city would not have looked like this back when the Mayans inhabited Tikal. The area would have been cleared of the rainforest and is said to be one of the reasons why the Mayans had to abandon the site as they had depleted resources in the area. It was impressive. And then you again realize all the work involved in creating those temples and other structures with only manual labor. We had an excellent lunch inside the park that was included with our tour. In Belize, they eat A LOT of chicken, so in Tikal we were provided a few choices for lunch and suffice it to say, no one ordered the chicken.
