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Lydia Cole: Student Report from 2016 Alternative Spring Break in Belize

Lydia Cole and COE Students Arrive in Belize
Lydia Cole and COE Students Arrive in Belize

It was truly an amazing experience getting to visit the country of Belize. Though the weather was scorching, the manual labor was strenuous, and I strained my ankle, it was still a wonderful trip where I learned a lot about myself and got a snapshot of the culture of Belize. Some of the wonderful things about Belize were the food, the people, and the scenery. Most meals we had were homecooked by our generous hosts, Nancy and Jaime Marin, and the food was always a joy to eat.

Lydia Cole at Mayan Ruins
Lydia Cole at Mayan Ruins

The people we met both where we stayed and in the city of San Ignacio were very friendly. People would even wave to us as we drove by them! The scenery was also just so beautiful, and truly a part of the trip that will stick with me. That being said, while the food was delicious, the people were friendly, and the scenery was beautiful, my favorite things about Belize were definitely the Mayan ruins and the Iguana Sanctuary, and these are where I will focus my blog post.

The Mayan ruins were really fascinating and climbing to the top of the looming ancient structures rewarded you with breathtaking views spanning countless miles and trees. We visited three different Mayan ruins: Xunatunich, Cahal Pech, and Tikal. We visited Xunatunich and Cahal Pech the day after our arrival in San Ignacio, Belize. These Mayan ruins were much less expansive than the ones we saw midweek at Tikal, however, they were still really cool. Xunatunich provided our first challenge of climbing Mayan ruins, and we got to relax on top of the biggest temple there for a good thirty minutes. It was a beautiful view,

Mayan Ruins of Xunatunich
Mayan Ruins of Xunatunich

and a wonderful way to relax before the week’s work began. Cahal Pech is a Mayan ruin that was quite different from Xunatunich. Xunatunich’s temples were spread out and the biggest one brought you above the treeline so that you could see for miles. Cahal Pech’s ruins, on the other hand, were smaller and not nearly as tall. They were all fairly close together, and you could actually walk through the buildings, some of which were rather maze-like.

Cahal Pech
Cahal Pech

As you can tell, Cahal Pech is much more in and amongst the trees and does not break beyond the treeline like Xunatunich. It was very fun to explore these ruins because of their winding passages and tunnels. The last Mayan ruins we visited were the ruins of Tikal, over the border in Guatemala. Now these ruins were at least three times as big as the Mayan ruins of Xunatunich. We had a wonderful tour guide through Tikal who showed us many of the temples there, was able to point out wild animals in the trees with ease, and had a very amusing sense of humor. Tikal was beautiful, and while it was pretty exhausting climbing all those ruins, especially the last tallest one, the breathtaking views were well worth the effort.

Treeline from Tikal
Treeline from Tikal

Some of the other temples in Tikal are visible above the treeline from this view as well.

Iguana Sanctuary
Iguana Sanctuary

Finally, the Iguana Sanctuary is a place where some forty iguanas are being raised, and where we got the opportunity to hold them as well as have them climb all over us! Visiting the Iguana Sanctuary almost got removed from the schedule due to time constraints, but luckily we were able to fit it in. The Iguana Sanctuary takes iguanas in from the wild to rehabilitate them while they mature. The sanctuary also breeds the iguanas and releases the matured specimens back into the wild. We got to hold the iguanas, and one of them even climbed on top of my head! One of the other students on the trip even tried to beat the Iguana Sanctuary’s record of most iguanas on your body at one time, but he was not able to beat the record. It was so much fun to get to spend time with the iguanas and actually physically hold them. It definitely isn’t the same as just looking at pictures of iguanas!

Belize truly was a beautiful country and had many wonderful sights and wonderful people. We worked hard on this trip by building earth-bag structures as part of a refuge for orphaned young ladies, but we also had lots of fun exploring the area and eating delicious food. So ultimately, did I enjoy the trip to Belize? You better Belize it!