With bleary eyes after a wild night at fieldbase, we headed out to Xunantunich (Mayan for ‘Stone Lady’), an ancient Mayan temple complex. Our mission at Xunantunich was to clear the boundary of the 56 acre site, in order to help prevent wildfires damaging the site and to enable the Belizean Defence Force (BDF) to protect the temples and surrounding jungle from hunters, loggers and other ‘baddies’. We set up camp, clearing areas for bashas and communal areas with our machetes - a small taster of the days to come. The camp was situated next to the BDF residence where they strolled the perimeter by day and played dominoes late into the night.
After a night of paranoia and suspicion from the usual suspect (Luke) we ventured out to walk the park boundary under the guidance of Marcus (a park warden) and 3 armed BDF soldiers. This escort seemed excessive to begin with, but turned out to be a vital part of our troupe when we came across a couple of men on horseback, who were initially feared to be Guatemalan banditos! Luckily they turned out to be Belizean hunters, who were given a stern ticking off for hunting so close to the park boundary. Further along we encountered a swarm of bees that weren’t pleased with our presence and started to attack - after much confusion and scrambling over a barbed wire only Marcus was stung.
After a night of paranoia and suspicion from the usual suspect (Luke) we ventured out to walk the park boundary under the guidance of Marcus (a park warden) and 3 armed BDF soldiers. This escort seemed excessive to begin with, but turned out to be a vital part of our troupe when we came across a couple of men on horseback, who were initially feared to be Guatemalan banditos! Luckily they turned out to be Belizean hunters, who were given a stern ticking off for hunting so close to the park boundary. Further along we encountered a swarm of bees that weren’t pleased with our presence and started to attack - after much confusion and scrambling over a barbed wire only Marcus was stung.
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The next morning (after our daily fix of porridge) was the first day at work - we knew what we had to do but had no idea how utterly exhausting it would be. Hacking a 10 foot wide path into almost untouched jungle, cutting the trees to ground level, and then raking back all the leaves and vines in the hot Belizean sun was almost as much of a mental struggle as a physical one. Knowing there would be a packet of biscuits smiling up at you after a few hours made all the difference.
After the stress relieving aggression of a day slashing down the jungle, once the park was closed and Mike had ferried the last of the park wardens across the river on the winched raft we climbed to the top of the temple to watch the sunset and even practiced yoga in zen-like calm to stretch away the pains of the day. As the sun burst though the clouds above the jungle it was easy to see why the temple held such religious importance in Mayan times.
During the night when we were all nestled in our hammocks we were visited by what was presumed to be banditos but could have possibly been a tapir, and woken at 3:40am by Howler Monkeys roaring across the canopy.
The next day we were given a ‘guided’ tour by a man who was the real life version of Cleeveland from Family Guy. The tour comprised of us looking around the visitor’s centre and then being shown the different areas of Xunantunich on a model, even though if you looked out of the door you could see the ruins themselves. One of his more memorable quotes was “people often ask me where the reservoir is… it is now under the car park”.
To wash away the ridiculous amount of sweat (a sweat equivalent of a snow angel was even made), we went down to the river to wash with the iguanas and the fish that nibbled at our freckles and moles, whilst the passing traffic and villagers watched from the other side. The only downside was the mile walk back to camp.
For our final day in Xunantunich Boo and I got up to the top of the temple to watch the sunrise and got to watch a thunder storm with lightning striking the waking jungle.
We finished the boundary and celebrated with the ancient Mayan reward of rum and coke, followed by a ‘meat flavoured’ sauce and a trip into town, getting a lift across the river from some local lads in a sinking canoe.
Zinc oxide tape - £2.99
Machete - $40
Belize, sunset on top of Xunantunich - priceless
