If You Go: Open during daylight hours every day but Monday, the Rainforest Medicine Trail and Ix Chel Farm are located at the end of Chaa Creek Road, next to Chaa Creek Cottages. The site can be reached by car (4-wheel drive recommended during wet season) or taxi. Turn south off the Western Highway about 6 miles west of San Ignacio (watch for Chaa Creek signs). An alternative is to take a boat 5 miles upstream from the Hawkesworth Bridge and put in at the Chaa Creek Cottages dock. Call Eva's Restaurant in San Ignacio (tel. 501-9-22267) for more information, or write Ix Chel Farm, General Delivery, San Ignacio. The Ix Chel fax is 501-9- 23870.

A self-guided tour of the mile-long Medicine Trail is US$5 per person, including an explanatory booklet. Fresh fruit and spearmint tea are available on request. A guided one-hour tour and lecture by an Ix Chel staffer is US$30, if arranged in advance. There is an additional charge for meals and canoe trips.

Ix Chel Farm sells many herbal elixirs and potions, with names like Belly Be Good and Female Tonic. Prices are around US$10. Some of these items are also available in gift shops and groceries in other parts of the country; look for the Rainforest Remedies label, which is also marketed in the United States. Ten percent of all sales goes to traditional healers and educational programs in Belize. Arvigo and Shropshire welcome tax-deductible donations to support their research, either sent directly to Ix Chel Farm or in care of Michael J. Balick, Director of the Institute of Economic Botany, New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY 10458. Checks sent to the latter address should be made to the New York Botanical Garden with an accompanying letter specifying use by the Belize Ethnobotany Project.

San Antonio Village

The more westerly of the two routes leading into the Mountain Pine Ridge-the Cristo Rey Road-passes through the small and mostly Maya Indian farming village of San Antonio. This is one of the few remaining communities in Belize where the Mopan dialect is spoken. (Note that there is a second San Antonio, populated by KekchÆ -speaking Maya, in the Toledo District near Punta Gorda.) The Cayo's San Antonio village is situated in a picturesque valley where terraced fields of beans and corn have been carved out of the leafy jungle. Agriculture has persisted here for thousands of years. Recently, a few small shops, restaurants, and museums have been opened in an attempt to diversify the local economy.

Among the several attractions that are worth visiting in the San Antonio area are the GarcÆ a Sisters Museum, the Itzamna' (Magaû a Family) Gallery and Gift Shop, and the Pacbitun archaeological site. For those wishing to spend some time here, the Blue Ridge Lodge provides basic cabins and meals. Horseback riding, cave trips, and tours of Pacbitun can also be arranged at Blue Ridge, located on the road to Pacbitun.

Pacbitun (meaning 'stones set in the earth') is one of the oldest middle Pre-Classic Mayan ruins in the country, first occupied in 1000 B.C. and abandoned around A.D. 900. The location was known for many years by local residents but not registered by the Belize Department of Archaeology until 1971. Canada's Trent University excavated and partially reconstructed this ceremonial site during the 1980s. Findings include a number of Mayan altar stones and ball courts as well as ancient musical instruments such as ocarinas fashioned out of carved and molded pottery. There are at least 24 temple pyramids at Pacbitun, the largest standing 60 feet tall. Two thousand years ago this apparently was a wealthy trading center with fancy homes, elevated walkways, a ball court, and raised irrigation causeways up to a half-mile long.

The Pacbitun site is on private farmland, but the owner, Fidencio Tzul, welcomes visitors for a $1 fee. His family home is at the well-marked turnoff to Pacbitun one-half mile east of San Antonio. The ruins are about 3 miles farther down the side road. Mr. Tzul will be happy to give you a tour and answer any questions. There have been persistent rumors that the Belize government will some day purchase the Pacbitun site and relocate the Tzul family, so access may be easier by the time you read this. Immediately north of San Antonio on the main road to Cristo Rey and Santa Elena is the GarcÆ a Sisters Museum-a combination crafts shop, herbal medicine pharmacy, and Mayan shrine. The five GarcÆ a sisters, at least one of whom is always on hand, make and sell black slate carvings that depict Maya- related masks, gods, and historic figures. Although this art form has been practiced by the modern Maya for years in neighboring Guatemala, only since the 1980s has this tradition been revived in Belize. At one end of the museum building is a round structure built in the shape of a traditional Mayan hut, where explanations of the various masks and symbols seen in the carvings can be found. There are also some large pieces of carved slate that emulate the sacred altar stones of ancient times. Be advised that there is a US$5 admission charge to the museum and that the GarcÆ a sisters are aggressive, though charming, salespersons.

Another group of local artisans, the Magaû a family, also operates an art gallery and gift shop that sells carvings of wood and stone. The Magaû as produce wood and limestone carvings that incorporate traditional Mayan themes. Glyphs from the Mayan calender are also hand-painted by family members on the same type of cloth supposedly used by ancient royalty. The Magaû a enterprise is a few miles north of San Antonio on the Cristo Rey Road.

Augustine Village and Beyond

The headquarters for the Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve is in a large wooden building in the settlement of Augustine, renamed Douglas DiSilva in 1990 after a politician's grandfather (who happened to be the area's first forest ranger). Only about 100 people-all forestry employees-live here, and the place has the look and feel of a run-down summer camp. Many of the houses are in disrepair, and others are being used to store pine seeds for reforestation projects. Worth visiting are the self- guided nature trail on the headquarters grounds and the small store (source of the only supplies for many miles around). Thatch-shaded tables are available to picnickers, but there is no restaurant or gas station. Inquire at the headquarters about camping and overnight rental of government-owned guest houses. When the surface is dry, you can reach Caracol from here in about 45 minutes. Heading in the other direction, Georgeville and San Ignacio on the Western Highway are between 90 minutes and 2 hours away.

Vaca Falls and Che Chem Ha Cave

The upper stretches of the Macal River extend into a remote and seldom seen area that drains the Vaca Plateau watershed and much of Chiquibul National Park. Access has improved in recent years through grading of a new road used in the construction of a recently controversial Taiwanese-funded dam and hydroelectric plant, in the upper Macal basin above the confluence of the Mollejon River.

A highly recommended destination is the privately owned Che Chem Ha Cave (sometimes called Vaca Cave), located near Vaca Falls, a scenic and rocky plunge on the Macal River. This location can be reached by a one-hour boat trip from San Ignacio or a two-hour hike from the hydroelectric project road. The Antonio Morales family provides bungalow-style accommodations and delicious meals as well as guided tours of Che Chem Ha, which means 'poison vine water.' This extensive and important Mayan ceremonial cave, discovered in the early 1990s by William Morales, is well worth seeing. It contains many pristine artifacts, including ancient pottery vessels, paintings, incense burners, and a circle of special carved stones where animal sacrifices were made and prayers to underworld gods were spoken. These items have been left undisturbed for at least 1,200 years, and iron grates now protect them from looters and vandals. The interior of these caves is dark, wet, and slippery: one should wear grip-tread shoes and bring a flashlight or diving light. Some fairly strenuous climbing is involved but the effort is well worth it.

The Morales compound may be reached by local VHF radio (try Bob Jones at Eva's Restaurant in San Ignacio) or through Chaa Creek Cottages, which arranges tours. Visitors are asked not to enter Che Chem Ha Cave without a member of the Morales family. This is not only for safety reasons, but to protect the integrity of the cave's fragile artifacts, which have been left in situ: exactly where they were placed many centuries ago. The visit lasts about 90 minutes and costs about US$10, with a minimum of 3 persons on each tour. If you arrive in the late morning and place your order, the Moraleses will have lunch ready when you finish your cave tour and make the 30-minute hike back to the compound. Meals are about US$6 and overnight accommodations are about US$80 (double occupancy, including three meals a day).

From the Morales home one can hike to Vaca Falls in about an hour, then proceed onward to the previously described Ek'Tun resort, located a few miles downstream from the waterfall. (Guacamallo Ruins Campground lies a few miles in the other direction.) The two lodges have a reciprocal agreement for those who wish to overnight in both places. Horses can be obtained at either location for rides into the jungle. Trails lead from here as far as San Antonio and Caracol. Note that the road to Che Chem Ha can be treacherous when wet; it's not unusual for cars to get stuck in the last 100 yards of steep road, just below the Morales residence. The turn-off to Che Chem Ha is six miles south on the Negroman Falls Road from Benque Viejo. Watch for the signs. A few miles upstream from Ek'Tun is the Guacamallo Ruins Campground, which rents tent sites and rustic tree houses in a riverbank setting. There are many unexcavated ruins in this area as well as dense subtropical forests now maintained as a private nature reserve. In the same area is the Black Rock Resort, operated by the owner of Cesar's Place, a combination hotel, gift shop, and restaurant on the Western Highway east of San Ignacio.

Chiquibul National Park

Rather than loop through the Mountain Pine Ridge in only a day or two, some travelers continue south beyond the RÆ o FrÆ o Cave into some of the wildest areas of Belize. Only a handful of people live full- time in this area, mostly chicle tappers, illegal Guatemalan immigrants, poachers, and looters. In late 1991, the Government of Belize established more than 200,000 acres of this former forest reserve as a national park, currently Belize's single largest protected area.

An enclave inside the Chiquibul National Park is the enormous Mayan ruin of Caracol, currently being excavated, located about 30 miles southwest of Augustine. Caracol is protected under a separate designation because of its archaeological significance. Chiquibul's broad tableland consists of hundreds of square miles of intact forest, the last stronghold of many wildlife and plant species that are endangered elsewhere in Central America and southern Mexico. The plateau is crisscrossed by old logging and chiclero trails, but over the years, many have been reclaimed by the jungle. A detailed map may suggest that there are a number of villages in the area, but in reality these are abandoned lumbering camps established long ago when mahogany and other hardwoods were being selectively harvested and skidded, then floated, down river to Belize City. Travel in this area is now limited to horseback and high-clearance, four-wheel-drive vehicles. Overnight trips can be arranged through local operators to such spectacular destinations as Puente Natural, a high-arch cave similar to RÆ o FrÆ o through which a small river flows. Highly recommended for such rugged adventures is Mountain Equestrian Trails; contact Neil Rogers or Jim Bevis there for details.

Several other local tour operators, notably Chaa Creek Cottages and Maya Mountain Lodge, also run overnight or daylong mule/horse trips into this area. Destinations include remote Mayan ruins, caves, waterfalls, rivers, and chiclero camps. Because of the rough terrain and the absence of freshwater streams during the dry season, overland trips to the area are recommended only for travelers who are healthy and adventurous. The scenery, however, is some of the finest in Central America.

Blue Hole and Five Blues Lake National Parks, St. Herman's and Other Caves

For experienced spelunkers - the technical term for cave explorers - Belize can be a dream come true. Underlying most of the country (with the notable exception of the Maya Mountains) are the kinds of limestone platforms and uplifts that almost guarantee the formation of extensive cavern networks. Unlike the western rim of the Americas, which is part of the so-called Ring of Fire circling the Pacific Ocean, there is virtually no volcanic activity in Belize. The nation's only known hot springs, for example, is a small pool in the Toledo District.

Because of their isolation, many Belizean caves have not been fully explored, and it is likely that many entrances have not even been discovered. The Chiquibul complex of the Vaca Plateau, for example, is perhaps one of the largest underground labyrinths in Central America. No one knows for certain, since many branches have yet to be explored by modern man. In fact, no systematic scientific exploration occurred until the late 1970s. Since then, in some of the Vaca Plateau (Chiquibul) caves, researchers have found fossilized insects and crustaceans that have been extinct for many centuries. Many of the caves show signs of ceremonial usage by the ancient Maya, who considered such places to be sacred passages to the underworld. Their pots and other artifacts are often found in dusty yet pristine condition.

According to Logan McNatt, a former Department of Archaeology employee who has spent many years exploring the caves of Belize, most of these sites are and should remain closed to the general public. "There are three main problems," McNatt told us. "First, most of the caves are important archaeological sites that have not yet been evaluated or protected. Second, many cave systems of Belize are subject to sudden, unexpected flooding that can make them very dangerous. Finally, few maps of the inner passageways exist."

McNatt points out that many of the caves are actually part of underground river courses that form a massive aquifer beneath Belize. A caver may descend under a clear blue sky, only to find a rapid surge in water elevation caused by a far-off thunderstorm. For these reasons, only experienced and well-equipped persons should attempt to explore the wilder, lesser-known caves of Belize. Knowledgeable and experienced guides should also be engaged for every journey, except for such small and well-traveled caves as RÆ o FrÆ o, St. Herman's, and Ben Lomond. These latter caves have an eerie kind of beauty, punctuated as they often are by occasional streams of light from ceiling cracks and side entrances. Some of the underground chambers are a hundred or more feet high, adorned with majestic stalactites and stalagmites. They provide an unusual habitat favored by bats, sightless fish, spiders, and other small creatures.

A well-marked sign guides visitors to the entrance trail of Blue Hole National Park, a federally protected area administered by the Belize Audubon Society and located 12 miles southeast of Belmopan on the Hummingbird Highway. (This Blue Hole is not to be confused with the offshore destination of the same name located near Half Moon Caye.) Although one of the smallest protected areas managed by Belize Audubon, Blue Hole National Park receives thousands visitors each year, as does the comparably small Guanacaste National Park, located at the intersection of the Western and Hummingbird Highways near Belmopan.

In late 1993, Belize Audubon improved Blue Hole National Park by completing a first-ever management plan for the area. Another promising development for Blue Hole was initiated in late 1994 through an agreement involving the California-based Christian Environmental Association, Belize Audubon, and Caribbean Investment Limited. The Association is purchasing 4,000 acres of adjacent tropical forest adjacent to be overseen in accordance to guidelines established by the Blue Hole management plan. The centerpiece of the park is an amazing sight: a deep pool of churning sapphire-colored water formed by the collapse of an underground river channel. The Caves Branch Creek tributary wells up from an unseen source and travels for about 100 yards before plunging mysteriously down a siphon that carries it into yet another cave beneath the mountain. The dome-shaped chamber where the water is sucked underground creates an unusual echo chamber effect as liquid swirls beneath it. This idyllic setting is a good spot for swimming, picnicking, and bird- watching. There are no overnight camping facilities. The sparkling pool is about 25 feet deep and fast moving, so bathers should be careful. Some foreigners swim nude here, although this practice offends many Belizeans, a large percentage of whom are deeply religious.

The same Caves Branch Creek travels through nearby St. Herman's Cave and Mountain Cow Cave, which are accessible from the Blue Hole via a well-maintained forest pathway called the Nature Trail. Fauna recorded in this area include jaguar, ocelot, jaguarundi, tapir, peccary, anteater, gibnut, coatimundi, deer, and kinkajou. Once you arrive at the cave, a flashlight is handy in exploration, along with a good pair of waterproof boots such as Wellingtons. A smaller cave in the area not connected to St. Herman's or Mountain Cow is Petroglyph Cave, named after the ancient rock drawings left inside it by Indians many centuries ago. Permission from the Department of Archaeology must be obtained to enter either Mountain Cow or Petroglyph Cave, which are beyond the borders of Blue Hole National Park. The park itself is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. Be advised that numerous car break-ins have been reported at the Blue Hole parking area; there is now a park warden on duty at most times at a small sign-in station -- take extra precautions if the warden is not in the vicinity.

The hike to St. Herman's Cave from the Blue Hole is about 1.5 miles and takes about 45 minutes. An alternative route involves driving one mile north along the Hummingbird Highway, where it is possible to join the Nature Trail only 10 minutes from the cave's entrance. Look for the Blue Hole National Park sign next to a citrus orchard at about Mile 11 on the Hummingbird Highway. The trail to St. Herman's begins immediately behind the sign and curves to the right along a dirt road next to the citrus plantation.

St. Herman's was used by the Maya during the Classic period, A.D. 100 to 900. The concrete steps leading into its mouth are laid over stone steps carved over a thousand years ago. Ancient pots used to collect 'virgin water' from cave drippings, along with spears and torches, have been removed by archaeologists for study.

For those with a special interest in caves, we recommend a visit to Caves Branch Jungle River Camp, which offers camping, bunkhouses, and private cabaû as on a 55,000-acre estate a few miles from Blue Hole National Park (14 miles south of Belmopan on the Hummingbird Highway). Ian Anderson uses the camp, owned by Caribbean Investments Ltd., as a base for daily adventure tours. The specialty of Anderson's Adventure Tours Belize is guided 'tubing' through three flooded caves in the area. This involves floating gently along the slow-moving underground rivers on the inflated inner-tube of a truck tire. There are miles of floatable passageways where visitors can spend hours looking at pristine Mayan artifacts and magnificent natural formations, including a -crystal room+ where stalagmites sparkle like diamonds as they rise up from below a river's surface. For the more adventurous traveler, Anderson leads expeditions that last up to six days and include treks through dense jungle. Horseback riding, bird-watching, wildlife searches (both day and night), swimming, and guided nature walks are other options available at Caves Branch Jungle River Camp. Accommodations are rustic and prices moderate; they include meals cooked by local Belizeans over an open hearth.

Besides caves and underground rivers, attractions in the area include a majestic hardwood forest that is full of ferns, orchids, bromeliads, vines, and shrubs, as well as an impressive number of birds (at least 100 species have been confirmed here) and spider monkeys. If you are traveling the Hummingbird Highway by private vehicle, food and drinks are available at the Oasis Bar and Restaurant, located at about the half-way mark, next to a Texaco gas station.

Down the road from the Oasis is St. Margaret's Village, located near the crest of ridge on the Belize and Stann Creek District borders. A small sign marks the turnoff (Mile 32 of the Hummingbird Highway) onto the unpaved road heading north several miles to Five Blues Lake National Park. The park's crown jewel is a small, 200-foot-deep lake surrounded by steep limestone hills. It is called Five Blues because of the various shades of blue reflected by the sky during the course of a typical day.

Five Blues Lake National Park is a remarkable testament to the conservation success story in Belize and it represents a growing trend in the country for local involvement in the management of protected areas by residents of nearby villages. Largely through the efforts of the grassroots community group, the Association of Friends of Five Blues, the original 885-acre park has been expanded to include some 4,200 acres of pristine tropical forest and an extensive limestone cave complex. The Friends of Five Blues, with support from the Natural Resource Management and Protection Project, have built a small visitors' center from which a park warden guides visitors on two main trails that winds through the jungle to an interesting cave. Near the visitors' center, accessible by an unpaved road, is Five Blues Lake itself. One can enjoy a picnic lunch, take a swim, or arrange for a serene boat ride across the water. With your guide, we also recommend a short trek past the lake into a ceremonial Mayan cave complex located within the protected area. The ancient Maya also used the deep pools of the lake as sacrificial wells.

One main goal of the Friends of Five Blues is to establish enduring local participation in nature- oriented tourism so that residents of nearby St. Margaret's Village will see some economic benefits of protecting the park. The Friends group is also working to expand the park and create protected corridors linking Five Blues with the nearby Sibun watershed and Manatee Forest Reserve. This network could address simultaneously the need to protect biological diversity and wildlife movement through undisturbed lands. This protection must come quickly in light of citrus encroachment and other development in the region.

Before you go to St. Margaret's Village and Five Blues Lake National Park, we suggest you contact the Friends of Five Blues at Box 111, Belmopan, or telephone 501-8-12005. Park visitors are offered camping, hiking, caving, birding, overnight guided jungle trips, and Spanish language classes. There are several rustic overnight options in the Five Blues area: Palacio's Resort, Tamandua (a private 170-acre wildlife sanctuary and fruit farm, close to monkey troops and a 'hurricane shelter' cave), and the Five Blues Bed & Breakfast Association (a Hopkins-style cooperative of 20 local women, each of whom maintain guest rooms in their homes and prepare meals for visitors).

Another fairly large cave that is open to the public but not as accessible as St. Herman's is Ben Lomond Cave, located in the limestone hills fringing Southern Lagoon, about 25 miles southwest of Belize City and not far from Five Blues Lake National Park. An excellent choice for a beginner, Ben Lomond is full of Mayan artifacts and its surroundings offer a perfect example of habitat transition from savanna to tropical forest. It can be reached only by taking a boat to the lagoon and then hiking through dense coastal bush. A stream flows from the cavern's wide mouth. We recommend hiring a local guide in Gales Point or Dangriga for the trip. Bardy Riverol of Jal's Travel in Belize City offers excellent tours to destinations in this area, including Ben Lomond Cave, as does the Pelican Beach Resort in Dangriga. The seldom seen Manatee River Caves, located in the same limestone karst area, are considered dangerous and should only be explored by serious cavers. At least one of these rugged caves, which vary in length from a few hundred yards to perhaps a mile or more, can be entered only by boat and is full of unstable log jams.

Belmopan

The capital city of Belize has yet to find its way onto the itinerary of most foreign visitors. This is not surprising, considering the community's meager attractions. Looking more like a second-rate college campus than a national seat of government, Belmopan's concrete and stucco buildings are spread over a wide expanse of weedy lawns and empty lots. The main complex is clustered around a central plaza that features a lively market, several unremarkable restaurants, and a noisy bus depot.

The architecture and layout are designed to evoke a Mayan feeling: the name Belmopan combines the 'Bel' of Belize with the name of one of the country's indigenous tribes, the Mopan Maya. Despite warnings that another big hurricane could level Belize City, as Hattie did in 1961, only about 6,000 Belizeans have heeded the call to relocate here.

The main attraction for travelers in Belmopan is the Archaeology Vault of the Department of Archaeology. While the vast majority of Belize's Mayan treasures have been hauled off to foreign museums and private collections, enough fine pieces remain to make a stop here worthwhile. Department staffers take reservations for tours (two days notice required) at 501-8-22106. The vault-which is exactly that-is open from 1:30 to 4 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

In early 1995, the Belize government commenced construction of a long-awaited national museum in Belmopan that will eventually house the Archaeology Vault collection, as well as many other historic and cultural artifacts. Projected to cost at least $3.5 million, the facility is expected to open in late 1996.

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