A journey into the underworld. Part 1.

Like all good journeys into the depths of the underworld, this one started with a stay at a nice campground.

San Ignacio did not disappoint. Sure, the town itself wasn’t anything spectacular. A typical tourist hub—full of restaurants, tour agencies and touts.

What made it particularly pleasant was that we were staying in another relaxing campground that we didn’t really want to leave. Why was it so hard to leave?

It could have been the shady hammock filled palapa, maybe the big outdoor kitchen area. Perhaps it was the three friendly dogs. Well, two friendly dogs and one bonkers one…

But what really made it hard to leave was the good company. We spent more time with our friends Simon and Karie (OUR ROAD LIFE), met new friends like Sabine and Andy (OFF THE MAPS). What’s more, the people working at the campground were relaxed and friendly and loved to just hang out and chat about their country, about the local area and about life in general. It was the kind of relaxed welcoming spot that makes you want to sit still for a while.

So we did.

_{Plenty of space all to ourselves}

_{Tamarind still on the tree.}

_{This is the friendliest of the three four-legged trouble-makers, her name is Butter}

Sort of.

We could only sit a little bit still—there was plenty to do and see in the area.

The first stop was the very modern Mennonite community of Spanish Lookout. Visiting this area was like driving right back in the middle of the USA. Gone were the small brightly coloured Caribbean style houses, gone were the dusty roads and small tiendas.

Instead there were grand houses, a stretch of wide sealed highway with immaculate grass verges, a huge service station, and massive hardware and farming supply stores. It was all a little surreal.

We drove via Spanish Lookout to visit… you guessed it—MORE RUINS.

It might seem strange that two people who didn’t really get inspired at the famous site of the ALTUN HA RUINS would actively seek out other ruins to visit. But we did, because Belize has plenty—and each site is interesting in it’s own way.

This time it was the ruins of El Pilar. These ruins have been partially excavated but not fully restored and the jungle around them is tamed just enough to preserve access to the site. It is as much of a jungle trek as a visit to a ruin site.

In order to not get horribly lost in the jungle, it is important to follow the proper trails. Not the ones created by ants—although sometimes it is hard to tell which is which.

_{Yes. Nocturnal leaf-cutter ants made this huge network of trails. Little ants. Amazing.}

Its location right on the Guatemalan border did create a little temptation to illegally sneak into Guatemala to check out the rest of the site. Part of the nature reserve and sections of un-excavated archaeological site are actually in Guatemala.)

We were deterred by this high security ‘No Entry’ sign.

_{Top notch security on the Guatemalan border. It sure keeps out those pesky tourists.}

_{Termite nest.}

However, we needn’t have actually gone that far from our campsite to check out some ruins, the ruins at Cahal Pech were just down the road.