Tours to the Ruins - questions!

[erinmarie424]

We'll be in Belize for a day next April and want to spend the day seeing some ruins. Here are my questions:

 

1. Which is the more impressive to see: Altun Ha or Xunantunich? Is there a huge difference between the two? The time it takes to get to Xunantunich and the higher price tag is making me lean toward Altun Ha but if there's a significant difference we'll take that into consideration.

 

2. Can anyone provide feedback on using Island Marketing for these tours?

 

3. Is it possible to get a cab at the port and just have a driver take us there? What would be the pros and cons of this plan?

 

4. If we have a couple hours after a short ruins trip what is a good way to spend it?

 

Thanks in advance for your advice!

 

Erin

[crewsweeper]

We'll be in Belize for a day next April and want to spend the day seeing some ruins. Here are my questions:

 

1. Which is the more impressive to see: Altun Ha or Xunantunich? Is there a huge difference between the two? The time it takes to get to Xunantunich and the higher price tag is making me lean toward Altun Ha but if there's a significant difference we'll take that into consideration.

 

2. Can anyone provide feedback on using Island Marketing for these tours?

 

3. Is it possible to get a cab at the port and just have a driver take us there? What would be the pros and cons of this plan?

 

4. If we have a couple hours after a short ruins trip what is a good way to spend it?

 

Thanks in advance for your advice!

 

Erin

Others may differ, here's my opinion.

1) Both are impressive in different ways. Those who have done the river Wallace excursion to Altun Ha really liked that aspect of the trip over the long bus ride to Xunantunich. But the boat ride may have mosquitos present, you are outside, could be very humid. But very scenic. Xunantunich has great views from the top of the temple! You do have to climb a steep hill to get to the ruins and the main temple is very steep, but wortht he views. It is a longer tour time wise. Lunch in San Igancio is very nice. Buses have restrooms.

 

2) Never used Island Marketing. For some cruisers, using an outside vendor to Altun Ha has got them back in time for a bit of shopping on the pier. For others, they were running down the Tourist Village pier praying the last tender would wait for them. For Xunantunich, just given the distance, use the ship's excursions. The ship will wait for you on a ship sponsored excursion.

 

3) Bad idea!!These place aren't "right around the corner". They are several hours away. A cab would cost you more one way than the ship's excusion for your whole party. If the cab breaks down, runs out of gas, leaves you stranded at the ruins, there's not a another cab coming down the street or waiting out front. You're stuck and you'll miss the ship.

 

4) You'll be lucky to have an hour or 1/2 hour. Nothing else you can do in Belize city in that time than visit the shops on the pier or hit the Wet Lizard for a drink. so head on back to the ship and try not to have to catch the last tender.

 

That said, these are both worth viewing and the guides will give you a very good overview of Mayan culture. Just don't pay any attention to the nonsense about 2012. It was made up by Western archealogists in the 20th Century who knew little about Mayan way of life, tried to tie it to our calendar which is unrelated to the Mayan calendar and borrowed fabricated myths from other non central american cultures.

[erinmarie424]

Thanks for your response!

[Jay B]

We used Island Marketing in Belize for an Altun Ha tour and were very impressed. We had an excellent tour guide, good lunch (included), and the price was lower than that offered by Carnival. The only problem was that the tour started about 2 hours after we arrived in Belize and the bus got us back to the port about 1/2 hour before our last tender left. If the bus had a mechanical problem or flat tire on the way back, we would have been screwed. j

[erinmarie424]

Thanks for the feedback Jay. I think we've decided to make our donation to Carnival at this port - we've got activities planned in our other ports that won't be as risky to plan on our own.