Canoeing the Macal

Yet another day in Belize. After traveling to another Mayan ruin on Friday, our third so far, we spent much of Saturday canoeing down the Macal River in Western Belize.

On the ferry to Xunantunich.
I have been to two of the three before, but it has been very interesting to see the different ages of the Maya and to hear stories about today's Mayan from our guide Phillip.

Today we canoed 12 miles from DuPlooys to the town of San Ignacio. The paddle was fairly easy with a few small riffles and a gentle rapid. Actually, it was much like paddling the Grand River back home. There were some differences, like palm trees, patches of bamboo, a Mayan ruin(still covered by jungle,) screeching Mealy Parrots, Neotropical Cormorants, and a few native children bathing in the river. But we also saw Great Blue Heron. A month ago I was kayaking the Grand and now canoeing the Macal in Belize. Different ecosystems with different niches, lots of similarities too. We lunched in town and went to a Blue Morpho Butterfly farm. The real highlight was seeing a Grey Fox come out of the jungle.

We are canoeing into an ancient Mayan cave tomorrow. A great adventure continues.

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