Sweating in San Ignacio

The next leg of our journey takes us inland towards Guatemala to the popular town of San Ignacio in Belize, close to the border. We had planned on getting the bus again from Dangriga, it would have been the same one we got there, but Robbie and Ciara who we met in Tobacco Caye were hiring a car and driving up, so offered us a lift. It made the journey a lot easier, and it was also nice to spend more time chatting to them.

We stopped about halfway along Hummingbird Highway at a little cafe/hostel. It was actually where Dave and I were hoping to spend a night, but we left booking too late and it got fully booked 😕 it’s called TREES (Toucan Ridge Ecology and Education Society). We didn’t see any toucans but we saw a hummingbird very briefly when we first got out of the car and then we saw a beautiful black headed trogon. I saw lots of trogons in Ecuador and they quickly became one of my favourite birds, they come in all kinds of colours and are quite shy, but also curious and watch you closely.

We arrived in San Ignacio in Belize, which was a cool little town, definitely feeling quite different to the rest of Belize, a lot of people were speaking Spanish here as well as English or Creole, and it was a diverse community. The town is in the rainforest, and a little hilly, it’s on the river too and it was SUPER hot when we’re arrived, probably the hottest day we’ve had on this trip so far. Locals were cooling off in the river.

We walked through the small town, but today was actually voting day for the Belize elections! So a lot of the town was closed and there were rallies and people in the streets dressed in the colours of the party they supported. It was all peaceful though which was cool. But the markets and shops were shut, the only thing we could find for food was a little pupuseria. Pupusas taste a lot like potato cakes, but they are corn flour fresh tortillas stuffed usually with meats and cheese. We got them with beans and cheese. They filled a hole and didn’t make us ill which was the main thing 🤣

We did some admin type things – laundry, ATM visits, stocking up on snacks, and chilled in the AC planning the next few days.

That evening we went to a highly rated restaurant called Guava Limb. There were some spooky webs here, but we didn’t see any spiders…

The next day we had planned to get up early and get to the nearby Maya ruins of Xunantunich, but we ended up having a lazy start, a nice tasty and big breakfast at a place called El Fogon, then got to the bus stop about 10am…. There should have been buses every 15 minutes, but we sat waiting at the bus stop for over an hour before one came going the way we needed!!

We finally got on the bus, which dropped us at the border town of Benque. There you get a hand-cranked ferry to cross the river (for free and very short journey). The walk from here to the Xunantunich park was about 20 minutes, but it was steadily uphill, still ROASTING hot (like 38 degrees) and in the heat of the day. We arrived soaked in sweat.

Just after paying the entrance fee on the other side of the gate we saw a big troop of black spider monkeys, which I didn’t think we’d see until Tikal! They are not very common here at all, so that was a real treat!!

We stood and watched them for quite a while actually!

The ruins were good, and I think since we were here at literally the peak heat of the day (12-2pm) it was very quiet and not many other people here. I mean who is stupid enough to walk around a Maya ruin site on the day of a heat wave (39 feels like 43 it was today) during the main heat of the day?!!?!!!? 🤣🙄

You could climb the top of the main Castillo and you can even see Guatemala from the top!!

We spent a few hours here then returned to San Ignacio, this time we only had to wait about 20 minutes for a bus… 🙄 It’s such a weird concept for us to get our heads around coming from a society where “time is money” and everyone is in a rush to get from A to B… But here everything is slow paced, nobody at the bus stops seem in a hurry to get anywhere, and that’s nicer I guess. We don’t have to be anywhere either…. We’re on holiday! It’s just a different culture to get used to!

The next day we were going to go to the botanical gardens and had been messaging the official shuttle WhatsApp, it was only 15 BZD return each with their official shuttle to the park. But when I went to book in the morning and confirm at about 8am, they said, oh it’s not running today!!! Haha, even though I’d messaged them the day before asking for the times and prices for ‘tomorrow’…. We asked a taxi and the first one said 160 BZD there and back, then a different taxi company said 80 BZD there and back… The prices were ridiculous really, so in the end we decided to just walk to the nearby Maya ruins of Cahal Pech. I’d not even heard of it until that morning, but it turned out to be a real hidden gem!

The ruins are not very famous so it was very very quiet here and we were basically the only ones here when we first arrived and then only saw about 4 other couples or families the whole time.

They are less restored than some other ones we’ve visited, and they still had trees growing out of them and covered in moss etc which added to their charm.

We saw a few cool birds too, and heard a trogon but couldn’t see it anywhere…

But the weather was also swelteringly hot again today, so after melting at Cahal Pech and sweating through all our clothes (again) we returned to chill in the AC of the hostel and headed out again in the later afternoon, to walk along the river and through the markets which were really cool. It was an authentic market full of fresh fruit and veg vendors and clothes and street food places (aka, not souvenirs).

On the last day we woke up ready to move on and had a delicious quesadilla from a pupuseria in the market which was very popular with the locals. Then we sat and waited well over an hour (again) for the bus to take us to the border hahaha!! Let’s just hope that the public transport is more reliable once we cross the border!!

We enjoyed San Ignacio, and it was almost like a gentle transition from Belize to Guatemala, as the town is basically a bit hybrid, with lots of people speaking English, Creole or even Garifuna, but then a lot speaking Spanish too. It was almost like a blend of both countries and I guess it probably is… with being so close to the border… Still, it got us excited to visit Guatemala!

Wish us luck!