| |
NORTHERN BELIZE
Using Corozal as a base of operations, you can see:
Santa
Rita. The
only uncovered ruins of the ancient city of Chectumal which underlies
Corozal. The site is in a suburb of Corozal, less than a mile from
downtown. A tour guide will describe the Maya use of the temple.
The site offers a spectacular view of the town, the waterfront, and the
jungle across the bay.
Update: The tour guide is
gone, but so is the $5 dollah fee. Guide yourself up to the top for an
excellent view of Corozal, the bay, and Cerros -- across the bay!
Cerros. Southeast
across the bay are these ruins of a pre-classic Maya coastal trading center.
The site is easily accessible by 20-minute boat ride.
Ask your innkeeper.
Bacalar Chico. Before the birth of Christ, Chectumal
(the Mayan city upon which Corozal is built) was a major trading port. To
facilitate access to the sea, the Maya dug a canal through the peninsula which
defines Chetumal Bay, thus creating the island which is now Ambergris Caye.
This channel is the best fishing spot in Northern Belize, and a wonderful boat
tour. In some places the channel is only 15 feet wide, and shallow enough to
foul a motor. (They will ask you to move forward in the boat!)
Sugar Mill. By
special request, you can tour the sugar cane factory in Orange Walk, see the
huge milling equipment
and taste the sweetness of raw sugar cane.
Lamanai. Take
a boat trip up the New River from the Northern Highway (below Orange Walk) to
the Maya complex of ruins called Lamanai
(submerged crocodile.) Your guide
will identify hundreds of birds, animals, and plants throughout the six-hour
round trip, which includes lunch. Read Mr. Ed's account of the tour here.
Sarteneja. Small,
picturesque fishing village built over a Maya archeological site.
Adjacent to the Shipstern Nature Preserve, home to hundreds of unique
species of butterflies and birds. Accessible
by boat or car. An excellent target lodge in Sarteneja
is Fernando's
Seaside Guesthouse. Read our account of the trip by car here.
Mexico. Yes -- go back to
Mexico, for a look at Chetumal, a city with a population larger than the entire
country of Belize! Just remember, there's a predatory
tax to pay to get there!
Free Zone.
There is a tax-free zone for shopping at the Northern Border. It should be
free to tourists, but it's a "no man's land."' Immigration
claims that you're leaving Belize to go there and the Border Management
Authority will charge you the predatory exit tax along the way. It's a
travesty.
|
