Altun Ha with Seaduced

I was not sure if it was all the fun we had, the rain on the way home, or the gringos gone wild wearing me out Sunday but after our trip to Altun Ha I needed some quality couch potato time.

Coming back to my pc to upload a couple of pics to this post, I now know it was sorting through the 535 pictures I took of our trip to Altun Ha today that warranted a break.I can’t even begin to write out details of our trip. We learned so much today, Our guides Ricky and Leon were lots of fun and super smart. I do not know how they hold so much information in their heads, I ended up with 8 pages if notes. That’s all till tomorrow – see you for breakfast with my iced coffee.

Morning all. I am now down to 461 pictures and ready to post the Maruba part of our trip. Net is very slow this morning, Becky and Dcg just showed up so I am going to take a break.

Been emailing back and forth with Travelqueen – we lost power and I accidentally closed blog window and lost Altun Ha pics (Note to self; make sure to hit save after each batch of pictures). Cindy just stopped by followed by Bill and Maya – everyone left to go eat and I am back to work.

Bill and Maya came back we are going for a ride to see if we can find those wayward girls ha ha. There are lots more great pictures to come but it may take a short while as I am going fishing with Bill Maya and Colette at 7:00 am tomorrow. I think I need a blog double.

We started our journey at Ruby’s dock at 8:40 am. It was a perfect boating day for Altun Ha.

As we headed to the mangroves, we had blue skies and turquoise waters. Once we got closer to the mangroves the water became brackish which is a mix of salt and fresh water turning it a rusty brown color.

Our guides let us know we could slow down at any point to get a picture, however no one had to ask as they did a great job to slow down and point everything along with giving us lots of information about what we were seeing.

Here are some of the things we saw on our boat ride through the mangroves to Bomba…
Snow Egret – Vulture – Great Blue Heron – Crock – Osprey – Black Crown Heron – Yellow Crown – Snake Cactus – Bats – Pink Vermilion – Elephant Grass – Kingfisher – Mangrove Swallows

It was not long before we arrived at Bomba – a small village where you are able to purchase local crafts and have them set aside for you to get on the trip home. There is also a short bathroom break before the drive to Altun Ha.

Getting on the boat in San Pedro

Seaduced Crew

Pick up at Victoria House

Becky on boat

Fun ride

Wind swept

Birds in flight

Brackish water

Birds

Lazy drive through mangroves

Mangroves

Lot’s of wild life to see

More brackish water

Twists and turns occasionally spice up our ride

Snake cactus

Bats in tree – look closely

Baby Crocodile – look left

Kingfisher bird leading the way

Stunning beauty

Elephant grass aka Fragmitis

Bomba

Boat at Bomba

Shops

Dog

Don’t forget to have change

Outdoor sink

Lots of wood carvings

Seaduced boat

Heading to Altun Ha

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We got to Altun Ha and discovered that we had the site all to ourselves. How lucky is that? After we paid our $5 usd entrance fee, Ricky led the group to a covered, open air building to tell us a bit about Mundo Maya history and Altun Ha. Following that he walked us through the park and taught us about what we were seeing.

-Altun Ha is one of the most famous Maya sites
-Largest Jade head was found there
-Major ceremonial center
-Vital trading center
-40 miles from Belize City – 10 miles from Maruba – day trip from San Pedro

Heading to Altun Ha – Leon telling us about this part of Belize

Across from the park

$5usd entrance fee

Places to shop

Heading to information booth

Learning about Mayan culture

Heading into Altun Ha

Nice group of people to enjoy the park with

Walking through the park area

Learning about Altun Ha

Temple of Masonry Altars

Lots to learn

Ricky explaining about the architecture at Altun Ha

Lower part of Ruins

Face in rock

Palm tree

Interesting tree

Big tree

Learning some jungle medicine

Walking around Altun Ha

Our guides were very knowledgeable

Temple of Masonry Altars

Lots to see

Temple of Masonry Altars

Climbing Temple of Masonry Altars

Temple of Masonry Altars

Altun Ha – take the trip

Almost there – it is worth the climb

What a view

On top of Temple of the Masonry Altars

Plaza A as seen from the top of Temple of the Masonry Altars

Temple of the Masonry Altars

Lots of stairs

Lucky day we had park to ourselves

Temple A5

Plaza A

Great cardio work out

Temple A3

Temple of the green tomb

Temple A 5

Plaza of Masonry Altars left – Temple of the green tomb right

Temple of green tomb

Plaza A

Tree top straight ahead

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Next part of our journey brings us to Maruba.

Maruba resort is filled with lush plants and cool things to look at. Ricky and Leon brought us there for lunch. We all chose to eat upstairs – what a view. For starters many of us ordered iced coffee which turned out to be a decadent treat as the waitress brought up a tray full of delicious looking drinks with a hibiscus flower in each one. Lunch menu was reasonably priced there was lots to choose from and everyone enjoyed their meal.

After lunch most of the group headed off for facials, massages or horseback riding. Becky and I quickly found lounge chairs by the pool and relaxed listening to the water fall. We camped out there and did some minor exploring. I was headed to the washroom and had to come back and get Becky and my camera as the toilet seat was just too funny, we both took pictures. By the time we had to go back to the bus we were both feeling very relaxed.

Maruba Resort

Jungle Pathways

Heading for lunch

Lush grounds

Downstairs eating area

Enjoying lunch upstairs

Becky and I

Iced Coffee with hibiscus flower garnish

Lunch is served

Spiral staircase

Eating area

Interesting statues through out the gardens

Covered lounge area by the pool

Jungle pool with water fall

Lounge Chairs

Lush plants around the pool

Funny toilet seat

Even funnier

Lounge area

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Heading back to Bomba now rise is about 20 min or so. Everyone is trading stories about the treatments they got. So many interesting things to see along the way, houses cars people funny signs. Good thing I was not able to take pictures along the way or we never would have made it back ha ha.

Leon and Becky

Kids playing on dock

Time to go home

Leaving Bomba to head back to San Pedro

We had some lumpy water and wet weather along the way home. Becky and I were both glad we had hoodie’s with us. When we got back to San Pedro we decided to ask if they could drop Becky off at Xanadu dock instead of town and they did not mind.

Tips for the boat ride…

A bandanna or good hair tie very handy if you have long hair
If you are not taking pictures small binoculars would be fun
Never drink rum punch in the wind.
Bring a (rain) jacket for the way home it gets cold at night and in our case got a bit wet.
Sometimes the water is lumpy outside the reef – a towel for extra cushion can be useful – if you encounter a bit of a rough ride on the boat it is always a good idea to have a stretch when you get home