Back in Belize - March 29, 2019

This would be Mrs. Gym's first time in Belize. Gym was fortunate to have been to Belize a couple of times before. His first trip was a company financed, team-building gig, a geological field trip to study reefs in about 2000. A couple of years later, Gym visited again on a boy's fishing trip.

Having the second largest barrier reef in the world makes Belize both a great spot for viewing reefs and of course a premium fishing venue. At San Pedro in the north of the country,  the barrier reef is within a few hundred meters of the beach. In the south end, off the Placentia Peninsula, the reef is many kilometers offshore. In between, the barrier reef and the mainland shore there are 100s of cays and numerous patch reefs surrounding those cays. The Marina docked at Harbour Caye,  a pretty swank new cruise ship terminal, early in the morning of March 29, 2019.

Both of our intrepid travelers were scheduled to see some more Mayan ruins and a spice farm. They would transfer to a smaller boat, to get from Harvest Caye to the mainland. This turned out to be a  laboriously slow boat ride because they had to avoid hitting manatees the whole way. When they finally got there, they boarded a coach and met their guide, Nathaniel. As they drove south down the highway towards Punta Gorda, they learned that Nate was an Indigenous Belizean and his home was right next to the ruins. Incidentally, the location of these ruins was not all that far from Tikal, as the crow flies. Northern Guatemala is just west of Belize and we probably flew over the Belizean ruins when we went to Tikal. The point is that the Mayan civilization was spread out all over this part of Central America. We would see a third site in Mexico the next day, again in close proximity to the first two sites.

The Mayan ruins at Nim Li Punit were not as spectacular as Tikal but there was a very well preserved  Mayan Ball Court where ancient Mayans played a form of handball with a 9-pound solid rubber ball. Sometimes these contests ended in the loser donating penile blood for an offering to the Gods. Yikes! The site also had a nice interpretive centre that dealt with Stelas. Stelas are the headstone's or monuments to the Mayan rulers. On the Stela, the ruler's life achievements were carved and these monuments were placed outside their burial places. There are several beautifully restored examples of Stelas in the interpretive centre.

The Belize Spice Farm and Botanical Garden was 6 minutes down the road from the Nim Li Punit archeological site. It was started by the Mathews family in 1990. The Mathews wanted to produce the kinds of fruit, spices and trees that are grown in Kerala, India. Today, black pepper, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, vanilla and nutmeg are all grown there, as well as various citrus and exotic fruits. In addition, the farm is adorned with teak, mahogany, sandalwood, banyan trees and many other ornamental trees and plants. Gym held off the urge to pick up a pound of cardamom at the farm's store.

After touring the farm, the coach took our tired adventurers back near to the place where they had boarded it earlier in the day. However, they were strategically left at the entrance to a "mall maze" that had them pass by every merchant, restaurant and bar before they could re-board the boat. With his dear wife's help, Gym found the pier, without spending a dollar.

Playa Maya, Mexico was the next stop, stay tuned!

Arriving at the swank new cruise ship terminal at Harbor Caye

After boarding a smaller boat we proceeded to the mainland.
avoiding all manatees

After an hour bus ride we reached the Nim Li Punit site, This is the
interpretive centre.

Here is a Stela. Some ruler guy's exploits are carved
into the stone.

These Mayans had no steel and they carved the limestone
blocks with obsidian stone.

Another fine example of a stela in the interpretive centre.

The remains of the ruler's palace

A well-preserved Mayan ball court.

Our guide standing over burial chambers.

Cinnamon Hall is the merchandise shop and restaurant at the Belize
Spice Farm and Botanical Garden.

A typical view on the farm.

Did you know that the seeds from a water lily are edible?

This is Nutmeg!

Flowers everywhere!

A farm worker having just harvested Vanilla.

Another rich and colorful bit of scenery at the farm.

On the way back to this ship we passed this private island
that you can rent for $12k US/ wk.
It has 4 king ensures, a pool, a chef, a boat, a boat captain,
maids and gardeners all included in the price.