Central America travel - Robert Scheer's Blog

Green Luxury in a Belize Rainforest

Was an enormous lion howling outside my thatched cottage? It sounded more like a T-Rex. I might have been worried if I hadn’t been told earlier there was a family of howler monkeys nesting in the nearby treetops. I was in a rainforest in Belize, where I would not only see black howlers in the wild, I’d also come face to face with a live tarantula, witness a Blue Morpho butterfly emerging from its chrysalis, discover secrets of Mayan shamans, stumble upon a pair of toads mating, and devour the most delicious pancakes I’d ever enjoyed.

The Lodge at Chaa Creek where I was staying was Belize’s first eco-lodge, and for more than ten years has been earning awards such as Condé Nast Traveler Magazine’s “Best Green Hotels of the Americas” and National Geographic Adventure Magazine’s “Best Adventure Travel Companies on Earth.” It was not surprising to hear that Ted and Mrs. Danson had been recent guests.

The owners, Mick and Lucy Fleming, didn’t set out to build the best ecolodge in the Caribbean. In 1977 they were young, low on funds, and adventurous enough to try reviving an overgrown farm on the Macal River. They picked up farming techniques from their neighbours and did well enough producing vegetables and eggs that they could bring their surplus down the river by dugout canoe to sell at the San Ignacio market. There was no road to the property until 1983, and four years later they got electricity.

As friends and others came to visit, the one-room thatched farmhouse was expanded and guest houses were added. Today Chaa Creek is a 365-acre private nature reserve. Its environmental certifications could paper a large wall, and in 2009 it became the first Green Globe Certified business in Belize.

The first of their environmental accomplishments I visited was the butterfly farm. It felt truly magical to be surrounded by dozens of iridescent Belizean Blues, one of the world’s largest butterflies. A precocious eight-year old guest was even more thrilled. It was her birthday, and Samantha was given a butterfly in a wood and glass display case. She was encouraged to make a wish for something good and then release the butterfly back into the jungle.

The Flemings may have evolved from farmers to innkeepers, but they still have a 33 acre organic farm that grows very fresh fruits and vegetables for their kitchen. Guests can tour the farm on horseback (or in a vehicle) and see how 2,000 year old Maya farming techniques are integrated with modern raised-bed gardening. It was a home-grown banana in my honey-drenched pancakes one morning that helped make them a memorable breakfast treat.

The resort’s Rainforest Medicine Trail was once the property of Don Elijio Panti, the last Maya shaman of Belize who died in 1996 at the age of 103. It was when naturalist guide Meshak Elia took me there to learn about medicinal plants that I spotted the howlers in the trees alongside the river. The copal tree, Meshak told me, was sacred to the Maya. They would collect and dry its sap, which was burned as ceremonial incense. It was used by shamans to chase away bad spirits and attract good ones, and also as protection against the “evil eye.”

I bought a bag of copal incense the next day at the market in San Ignacio, traveling there down the Macal River in one of the Chaa Creek canoes. Canoeing is thirsty work, so I was grateful to discover Mr. Greedy’s café during happy hour when cold Belikin beer was bargain priced.

That evening, I joined another small group Meshak was leading on the “Creatures of the Night” tour. Head-lamp flashlights allowed us to pick our way down a path where, in addition to the hairy tarantula and the amorous toads, we also spotted a possum, leaf-cutter ants and several bats. Kinkajous, ocelots and armadillos are sometimes seen on the tour, but it must have been their night off.

If you go:

The Lodge at Chaa Creek is located near San Ignacio, about a two hour drive from Belize International Airport. Accommodations for two start at about US$300, which includes breakfasts and some activities. Discount packages may be available at www.chaacreek.com.

For more information about traveling to Belize, visit the Belize Tourist Board website at www.belizetourism.org.

PHOTOS:

The black howler monkey is becoming increasingly rare in Belize. Photo courtesy www.chaacreek.com
Rooms at Chaa Creek are in 23 palm thatched cottages in the rainforest. Photo by Robert Scheer
Blue Morpho butterflies are raised in a farm at Chaa Creek. Photo courtesy www.chaacreek.com
Happy Hour Belikan beer at a San Ignacio, Belize cafe. San Ignacio

I visited Belize in May, 2011 as a guest of the Belize Tourism Board, and the above article was originally published in March 2012

Transformed by a Maya Medicine Woman in Belize

The Maya medicine woman smeared a handful of green, aromatic mud onto my forehead, binding it with a strip of cloth, as she had done on the soles of my feet and the palms of my hands. I looked like a mummy in mid-wrap. The “mud” was actually a poultice of ground cacao beans and nine medicinal herbs. Aurora had picked them fresh from her garden, and I watched as she chopped and blended them in her kitchen. She told me the treatment would draw out bad spirits and give me more energy, and I should lie down for 30 minutes while the herbs did their work.

I could have used more energy a few days earlier when I was climbing up a Maya pyramid at Altun Ha. I had come to Belize to learn about the Maya. Why did the people who built such sophisticated cities more than ten centuries ago suddenly vanish from history? And what about their mysterious calendar? Does its stopping at December 21, 2012 foretell an apocalypse?

Altun Ha is one of the most popular of more than a dozen partially restored Maya archaeological sites. Its location, about an hour’s drive from Belize City, makes it convenient for the 600,000 cruise ship passengers per year who visit the city.

My knees were wobbly from climbing up the Temple of the Green Tomb, so I decided not to join the column of tourists snaking their way up to the top of the Temple of the Masonry Altars. The largest pyramid at Altun Ha, it is where archaeologists from the Royal Ontario Museum in 1968 discovered Belize’s most important Maya artefact, a jade head of the Sun God, Kinich Ahau. There is a drawing of the temple on the Belikin beer label, and a small picture of the jade head decorates Belizian paper money.

It was early afternoon and the cruise ship visitors had gone, leaving Altun Ha pretty much to me and my guide. “The Maya didn’t disappear,” he told me, “they just decided not to live in their big cities anymore.” He told me that the kings, soldiers, and merchant classes were gone, but the farmers and medicine men could still be found.

One of the most famous Maya medicine men, Don Elijio Panti, lived to be 103 years old. Although he died in 1996, the 35-acre farm where he gathered his healing herbs may still be visited by the public. Ix Chel Farm, named after the Mayan Goddess of Healing, is now part of the Lodge at Chaa Creek, where I enjoyed some of the most luxurious accommodation in Central America. One of the unique features at Chaa Creek is a butterfly farm where I saw hundreds of iridescent Blue Morpho butterflies emerging from their pupa cases. The lodge is also a good place to see endangered black howler monkeys.

I observed three howlers sleeping in a tree on my way to Chaa Creek’s Rainforest Medicine Trail, part of Don Elijio’s farm, where naturalist Meshack Eliah told me about medicinal plants. “The Ceiba is a Mayan holy tree,” he said. They believe it helps the spirits of the dead move from the underworld up into heaven.” Another sacred tree is the copal. He cut into its bark and soon a glistening drop of resin appeared. “Copal sap is dried to make incense that is burned in ritual healing ceremonies,” he said.

I got a chance to smell copal incense burning when I finally met my Mayan medicine woman. Aurora Saqui is the niece of the late Don Elijio Panti, and she learned traditional herbal medicine as his apprentice for 13 years.

Before she gave me her herbal healing treatment I had asked Aurora whether she believed the world would end on December 21, 2012. She laughed and reassured me that life would go on, but not necessarily in the same way. “When one calendar ends, a new one starts,” she said. I asked her if that means things will get better. “I hope so,” she said.

As I lay, semi-mummified and smelling like chocolate spinach puree, I thought about transformations. I was hoping to emerge from the Mayan herbal wrap with more energy. A few days earlier I had witnessed Blue Morpho butterflies metamorphosizing from humble caterpillars. Will a better world emerge on the Winter Solstice of 2012? Like Aurora, I also hope so.

IF YOU GO:

Visitors in Belize City should take warnings very seriously about not walking after dark or early morning while carrying valuables. I was mugged and had my camera stolen while on a walk before breakfast in Belize City, a few blocks away from a well-known chain hotel.

Aurora and her husband Ernesto Saqui accommodate guests and operate an herbal medicine and gift shop at Nu’uk Che’il Cottages in Maya Center.

Belize’s first jungle lodge, Chaa Creek has earned numerous awards as a leading Caribbean eco-resort promoting sustainable tourism.

Lascelle Tillett at S&L Tours is a highly recommended tour guide and Belize travel organizer.

I visited Belize in May, 2011 as a guest of the Belize Tourism Board, and the above article was originally published in October, 2011.

Climbing a Mayan Pyramid in Belize

Belize is so rich in ancient Maya archaeological sites it has been suggested that the entire country should be listed as one. More than a dozen of the major sites have been at least partially excavated and have had some restoration work done. The one I visited, Altun Ha, is one of the most popular day trips from Belize City.

It is only about 35 miles out of town and the drive takes about an hour. Because it’s so close, it’s a popular attraction for cruise ship passengers.

The largest of the Altun Ha pyramids is the Temple of the Masonry Altars. It is where, in 1968, archaeologists from Canada’s Royal Ontario Museum discovered a jade carving of the head of Kinich Ahau, the Maya sun god. The most important Maya artifact ever found in the country, a picture of it can be seen on Belizian paper currency. An illustration of the temple itself adorns the label of the most popular brand of beer in Belize, Belikin.

There was a long line of tourists clambering up a pathway to the top of the temple, so instead I chose to climb up another nearby pyramid, the Temple of the Green Tomb, and I have to admit that by the time I got all the way to the top, my knees were pretty shaky.

While we rested at the top, my guide told me the story of how he had once been bitten by a vampire bat – literally! It didn’t happen in Belize, but in nearby Guatemala. He had been staying in a guest house and woke up in the middle of the night to discover his face was wet – from his own blood! He told me that although the animals usually feed on the blood of livestock rather than humans, this one probably was unable to find any four legged creatures in the area. He went on to reassure me that the incident had happened about 20 years ago, and that today’s visitors did not need to worry about being bitten by vampires.

If you find yourself in Belize City thinking about making a day trip to Altun Ha, bear in mind that some 600,000 visitors arrive by cruise ship every year, and if you don’t want to have to fight the crowds, it’s better to go on a day when there is not a cruise ship at the dock. The admission fee for adults is US$10.

If You Go:

A highly recommended local tour guide company is S&L Travel and Tours.

Update: I visited Belize in 2011 and the prices mentioned are probably out of date. More importantly, I stayed at a well known chain hotel in Belize City, went for an early morning walk, and was mugged. I was knocked down and my Nikon camera was stolen. My injuries were very minor. The government of Canada’s travel advice and advisories website now advises: Exercise a high degree of caution in Belize, due to a high rate of violent crime throughout the country. I would advise not to stay in Belize City, but rather proceed directly to a safer destination. I had a wonderful time at the Chaa Creek Resort, and recommend it highly.

I visited Belize in May, 2011 as a guest of the Belize Tourism Board http://travelbelize.org.

Watch a video on the Altun Ha Maya temple complex in Belize