BELIZE CITY, BELIZE
We had never visited a Mayan Ruin site so took an excursion that gave us a slight overview of the city and rural areas around it enroute to the Altun Ha Mayan Ruins.
The city has several beautiful landmarks and old colonial buildings mixed with modern ones that gives this capital city it's Caribbean charm. I didn't take any pictures during this drive which is unusual for me.
These ruins were a major Maya culture ceremonial center. It functioned as a central trading link between the Caribbean coast and Mayan centers in the interior. The area dates back as far as 900BC. The city actually was spread over 25 square miles and was home to approximately 10,000 people.
The first excavation we visited was the most dramatic and also the one that had been uncovered the most. This is also the site where the greatest Mayan find was made. It was a jade carved head that weighs nearly 10 pounds and is worth 5-10 million dollars. It is not available for public view, but is brought out for certain visiting dignitaries. It is estimated to have been made AD 550-950.
These excavations discovered many tombs filled with Pachuca obsidian. Obsidian is a naturally formed volcanic glass that was used for swords and other essentials and was considered very valuable and was used for trade. These discoveries plus the Jade head gives a definitive picture of Altun Ha as a place of wealth and exuberance.
The next 6 pictures are of this primary excavation site. You are allowed to climb to the top, which Bob did. You will see him in the pictures wearing his peach golf shirt. My balance problems kept me from doing this but gave me extra time to take pictures.
On the bus ride to the ruins, they passed around these pictures, including the jade head.
There is a vast center grassed area surrounded by several other excavation sites. Altun Ha is a city of over 500 mounds where approximately 15 have been excavated.
You can see the stairs to the top of this one but no further excavation was done. The rock in this area is very fragile and most structures were reinforced by the tree roots of the surrounding forest. Most of these sites were just to fragile to excavate, even though the work is done by hand.
The Mayans built a large reservoir which they lined with a clay bottom to hold water. This specific area of these sites and the reservoir covered an area of about 5 square miles. The outer areas had housing etc for the masses. Only royalty lived in this center square.
Around the 11th century, Altun Ha was abandoned. It's believed that the Maya abandoned Altun Ha as a result of violence or an ongoing revolt.
The light stones/steps on this site were added after the excavation began to reinforce the site.
This site was too far from the forested area, so it was deemed too fragile to continue. It is unknown how deep these sites go, but it is believed it is several stories.
There was an area where there was parking, shops (below), a small museum and restrooms. The local government made these 3 buildings out of beautiful rock and they are quite modern (unlike the stalls for the merchants) An interesting feature, which suggests the architect was a woman, is the fact the women's restroom building was almost three times the size of the men's building. No long lines here!
This is our wonderful guide, Fred. He has a wonderful personality for a guide, informative and funny.
Fred's wife, Pris, runs one of these shops. Many of the hand carved bowls were made by Fred. I had to get one. It is made from a local wood, Granadillo, and is personally signed. I will be happy to show you on your next visit (hint hint)
On our trip back to the ship we stopped for lunch. There was a beautiful outdoor area to sit, but unfortunately it was threatening rain.
Our group nearly filled this small restaurant. I loved seeing the ongoing repairs to the roof.
As always, we chose a local beer as our beverage.
Belize City has started building a ship terminal outside the city, but won't be finished for some time. The water here is very shallow so we had a long tender ride - 45 minutes each way. Fortunately the waters were calm.
A photo of birds from the tender.
