🇧🇿 #9 Belize - San Ignacio: Around fire, heat and ancient Mayan sites

In San Ignacio, we witnessed several fires on the edge of the road and in the surrounding area. At the end of May (2024), people here are eagerly awaiting rain and a cooler climate, which should have already arrived.
There are various Mayan ruins in the area around San Ignasio. We visited Cahal Pech and Xunantunich.
The name Cahal Pech means "place of ticks" in the Yukatek Maya language.The ruins are located on a hill overlooking the Belize Valley. It is considered one of the oldest settlements in the Maya lowlands and was founded between 1200 and 1000 BC.
In typical German behaviour, we were on the doorstep at 6:30 in the morning to beat the midday heat of 40°C. The advantage: we had the Mayan site all to ourselves. Until the leaf blower came... 😅
To get to our second excursion destination, we first took a local bus from San Ignacio (about an hour late = Belizian Time 😉). This was followed by a short crossing on a hand-powered ferry and then we walked another 1.5 kilometres or so before finally arriving at the impressive Mayan ruins of Xunatunich.
Xunantunich ("Stone Virgin" in Yucatecan) is the second largest Mayan site in Belize and is home to the tallest pyramid in the country, El Castillo, which towers 40 metres high. The colonisation of Xunantunich dates back to the 3rd century BC and reached its peak between 600 and 900 AD.
Our next stop is in Guatemala. 🚌 🇬🇹