I booked Journey to Cahal Pech through Shore Excursions Group for $92. Due to the lengthy water shuttle rides in this port, I would typically recommend booking long tours through the ship. But this excursion was not available to book through the ship. I have already done Lamanai, Xunantunich, and Altun Ha through ship excursions on prior trips. I believe this is the last set of Mayan ruins I can do during a port stop in Belize. The others will require a longer stay.

My instructions were to meet the tour one hour after the ship’s arrival. Since I know there is potential for a 30-minute water shuttle in Belize, I made sure I was in line for the first non-ship excursion water shuttle. I was in line at 8am, we boarded at 8:10, we left at 8:26, and arrived at 8:50.

The instructions said to exit terminal 1 and look for a Belize Mystic sign.

I exited terminal 1 and didn’t see a Belize mystic sign. I asked the guard. He screamed it out. This guy in the blue said it was with him. He took my ticket and introduced me to Nelson, my guide.

I had an extensive wait around this picnic table. Apparently one person who purchased the excursion didn’t make sure he was on the first shuttle over.

They did have bathrooms available in the waiting area.

Across the street you could take a picture with the Belize sign.

Finally at 9:50 the decision was made to leave the guy. One good thing about booking a non-ship excursion is you usually have smaller groups. This time it’s just me and one other guy. The last time I did a non-ship excursion was through The Native Choice in Costa Maya. It was just me and a family of three on the Kohunchich Mayan Ruins tour.

This is the bank. It’s also where the Jade Head is kept which is the crown jewel of Belize. It was found at the Temple of the Sun God. That’s the one I climbed at Altun Ha last year. It’s the temple on the Belikin beer bottles and this bank is shaped to resemble it.

Marion Jones Athletic Center. Her mother was Belizean. She donated 1.2 mil dollars to Belize and this facility was named after her. 

We stopped at a store where we could purchase refreshments. Nelson bought us each a bottle of water. I bought a few beers. 

It was a 15-minute ride to the store then a 1 hour and 45 minute ride to the ruins.

We have arrived at Cahal Pech. There is a nice view point from the parking lot.

There is a gift shop in the parking lot.

Once we arrived we had a few minutes to use the bathroom while Nelson got our tickets. Bathrooms are on the left side of this building. The main part of this building is the museum. We will see that later.

This is the path that takes you to the ruins.

Here is a map of the complex. We are approaching the lower left corner of Plaza B. We will then cross over into plaza A. That’s where I’m going to climb the temple and be able to see all of the plazas.

Then we will go into Plaza F and cross over into Plaza E. Nelson will try to skip Plaza D, but I’m going to sneak over there. We’ll head through Plaza F to Plaza B, skipping Plaza G. I’ll sneak over to G briefly. We’ll finish up at the East Ball Court and walk by Plaza C and H on our way back to the museum.

Cahal Pech means “Place of Ticks.” The name was given to it during excavation in the 1950’s because it was surrounded by cattle pastures and a lot of ticks were present at the site.

Any round stones you see are from restoration. The rectangular ones are original limestone.

Cahal Pech is one of the oldest sites in Belize dating back to 1200 B.C. It was abandoned around 800 A.D.

This mound is a structure that has not been fully excavated.

Cahal Pech sits atop a hill and is believed to have been the home of an elite Mayan family.

This is what this area looked like back in Mayan times. We’re about to go up the steps and through that building straight ahead. Then I’m going to climb large temple in the middle.

These are the steps up ahead.

This entire site is 10 square miles and had between 10 and 20 thousand residents. We are just touring the main area of it where the elites lived and where the temples are located.

A look back at Plaza B. You can see how big Plaza B was. This was the main area where people congregated. Any big events like festivals and markets would’ve happened here. 

This was the primary entry way into Plaza A and the main temple.

We can see people also lived in this structure. This is a bed to my right.

This is Plaza A with the main temple on the left.

I’m climbing the main temple. The others didn’t want to join me. It’s a little slick today. Good thing I had a few beers first.

A look down after the first part. That moss is what is slick.

I made it to the top. I am now 77 feet above the rest of the site. Let’s have a look around.

Over there is Plaza B where we just came from.

Straight ahead is Plaza A.

Off to my left is Plaza E.

Behind that Plaza D.

Then directly behind me is Plaza F.

I think they are beyond ready for me to come down. It’s starting to rain a little so I am going to get down before the stones get more slick.

This stairway takes us down to Plaza F.

This takes us to the residential area around Plaza E.

It was definitely important people who lived here with such nice living quarters. Most of the Mayan residential areas I tour don’t have walls and roofs. Usually all that is left is the foundation. We did see walls and beds in Kohunlich.

This room has a bed in it.

This room inside the room is believed to have been to store crops.

I love all of the stairways and archways here. You don’t usually see this much of it.

This is where I snuck over to Plaza D when I sensed Nelson was going to skip it.

I headed back to the residential area around Plaza E.

This is a first for me. Apart from the grill, this is an original Mayan drainage system.

This is another room.

King size bed.

This room has a smaller bed with a pillow.

Another storage room but this one is walled off.

Plaza F.

On the other side of that structure ahead is Plaza G. 

Nelson is walking away from Plaza G toward Plaza B where we started. I’m going to sneak over and get what I can of G.

I wish I had time to check that out better. It appears to be a two story residential structure.

We are back in Plaza B. The other side of this mound is Plaza G.

This is where they had stelae which are large pieces of stone with pictures that tell the story of what happened here. The oldest one in Belize is in the museum.

These are all-spice leaves that have that smell to them. I also saw these at Altun Ha. They were used to cure tooth aches and to take the smell off of dead bodies.

This is the East Ball Court.

It’s starting to rain so we’re heading to the museum.

This is the oldest stela in Belize.

 

That completes the tour of Cahal Pech. There is a nearby sister site (Lower Dover) on which excavation stated in 2010 and continues each summer. Hopefully one day I’ll be able to come back and tour it after excavation. It’s a smaller site where the regular people likely lived.

We stopped at a store on the way back. I got one of their original flavor cokes.

This was the provided water. I never drank it.

George Price is considered the father of Belize.

The Visible Hand represents the relationship between Taiwan and Belize.

This is one of oldest bridges in Central America. It was built in Liverpool, England and is hand cranked by four people.

We made it back to the port with plenty of time to get back on the ship.

I enjoyed the tour. This wasn’t the easiest site to get to in Belize. I would give that to Altun Ha. And it didn’t have the most impressive temple. I would give that to Xunantunich. But it does have the best example of a residential area that I’ve seen in Belize. It is up there with Kohunlich in Mexico for the best residential complexes I’ve been to.

I would say the hallways and stairways at Cahal Pech are the best I’ve seen. That’s what I’ll remember it for.