Xunantunich ( The name meaning stone woman as local lore states a man out hunting came across a stone maiden in front of a cave at the bottom of one of the structures. He ran to get the villagers and more men went back, Only the maiden was gone. Others have since reported seeing the maiden over the years.)
We finished our delicious meal at Amy’s Kitchen and said our goodbyes to Ginny. She advised the ferry to go across the Mopan river to Xunantunich was just down the street. We got in the car and started to drive toward the ferry… We missed the turn off for the ferry. It wasn’t as far down the street as we had thought. It was not even a minute drive from where we ate.
While waiting for the Ferry a man approached us asking if we would like a guided tour. This visit was not a planned excursion and we didn’t feel like we had much time to allot a guided tour. We said No for now as we only had a little over an hour to be back before the ferry stopped for the evening. To our surprise the ferry was a hand cranked another first for me. I was advised to get out of the car and stand to the side. Raymond had to stay in the car.. I found it strange that I had to get out but I did what I was told. It took several minutes to get across as the river was not very big.
While I walked off the ferry I got to see one of the biggest Iguanas I have ever seen. He went in hiding before I could get a picture. There is so much beauty here that it is hard to decide when to take out a camera or just enjoy it for yourself to make extraordinary memories.
Driving to the ruins only took a few minutes but It was beautiful. Full of luscious green fields and large trees. We even saw some horses. You could look out and see green forest and blue skies for miles. I believe this was the moment I fell in love with the jungle. There was a sense of peace that overcame you before you even saw the ruins. It was hot and humid but there was a breeze up here. And for some reason you didn’t mind the heat. Hiking up the hill wearing a mask was a little cumbersome but you had no complaints for me. We were about to visit a Mayan Ruin, Walk through the grounds that the Maya people lived an worked on so many years ago.
We walked up these steps to get to one of the main areas and all I can say was I was in a state of awe. It was bright and colorful and the ruins were astounding to look at. I remember it being so quiet, almost eerie at first. I did not hear birds chirping or bugs, we did not hear howler monkeys like others have heard it was just silent. We climbed up a couple of the buildings and looked around. Taking in how breathtaking it was and enjoyed the peaceful feeling it brought upon us.
Next we visited the Ball court and chatted about how it was so interesting that they would sacrifice the winner to the Gods as the gods only took the best. What a different life the Mayans would have lived back in their times. To sacrifice its people to Gods in hopes they would be rewarded. Then for the entire civilization to just disappear? What happened? Where did they go? Why did they leave such a beautiful place?
There were some people there while we were there but it wasn’t a large amount. We were able to explore without coming into contact with too many. While exploring I found this beautiful black iguana perched on one of the ruins. I think he/she thought they were camouflaged enough but he/she was pretty easy to see. I took some pictures and moved on, leaving them to sunbathe. Also after getting back home and looking at pictures I had another Iguana photo bomb one of my ruin pictures.
There were armed guards on site which at first took me off guard a tiny bit but I knew they were there to protect the wildlife from poachers as well as to keep everyone safe. I can honestly say I did not feel threatened or uncomfortable there at all. We took some photos and continued to look around. I really wished we had more time there as I believe I could have spent the whole day here just walking around taking in the beautiful and serene views. I will certainly be going back when I head back to Belize next year.
We walked back to the car and headed across the ferry once more and headed to our place trying to decide what we would do that evening.
