Altun Ha, how to get there?

[Lowie]

Ok, we're sure we want to see Altun Ha. now i have to decide how we want to get there. we would like a small group or private tour and i would like some time to sight see and maybe buy some trickets and eat some local food.

 

we're looking at either the NCL tour, shoretrips, experience belize or like driftwood suggested, just getting a taxi.

 

we also want to keep this relatively inexpensive, although from what i've seen, none of the options above are over priced.

 

we are travelling with 2 kids and want to make sure we do NOT miss the ship!

[indiana-girl]

We used Belize Cruise Excursions. They were good with the exception of the optional Jungle Tour. It is not worth the money. The Altun Ha toue is 37.50 per adult and you can add the jungle tour for 7.50. It sounded like a good deal but they just walk you back a little trail and spend 15-20 minutes talking about the animals and plants. The tour itself is good. There is a small shopping area at the ruins along with some eating areas.

[driftwood]

Often driftwood will say things or give advice that seems counterintuitive, but most people will ignore him or assume perhaps correctly that he is simply insane. Few bother to confront him directly for an explanation of his often apparently bizarre advice.

 

There are several reasons that I suggest your taking a cab to Altun Ha, and there are reasons that I suggest your walking two blocks up to the Radisson Taxi Drivers' Association bench to hire a cab driver/tour guide rather than trying to get a cab or a packaged tour on the ship or in the cruiseship terminal location. DON'T go INTO the Radisson to book, of course, or you will be paying the salary of the booking agent and the hotel skim fee as well, perhaps, as the capitation you are trying to avoid . . . .

 

First of all, and probably most important to you, every one of you needs to know that there is NO danger of missing your ship in visiting Altun Ha. You might even be able to walk the distance in time if you are in a lot better condition than I am. Altun Ha is thirty miles up the road from the cruiseship terminal, and every resident of Belize knows that you want to get back to your ship before it sails and will help you to do so, even if the sky is falling. As it is in Canada, everyone wants to be helpful if he sees you need help, and he usually succeeds. Altun Ha is the "surest" Mayan site in Belize for a cruiseship passenger.

 

Second, the Radisson taxi drivers are licensed tour guides and are all safe and reliable drivers of their own vehicles; they have each been operating for many years and know all ropes, but they, too, are trying to avoid the madhouse confusion always present outside the cruiseship terminal. They are all so nice that I took to buying them pizzas while we were down there. [They may remember the pizzas, although they may not remember me.] They are all recommended by Major Tom as "all good guys," and we certainly found that to be true in our two-week stay. While there is no question that Major Tom is the best tour guide in all of Belize, it is equally true that there is only one of him, and although he often appears to be in six places at once, he is not: much of the time when cruise ships are in port he is helping his eldest son operate their cave tubing excursion business safely and responsibly, and he might not be able to take you to Altun Ha personally on the day you desire.

 

Third, if you are visiting as a family group, you have economy of scale: a taxi driver will take your entire group for a set price, where a tour operator depends on capitation (although there is usually a discount for children). This is not New York City, where someone might slit your throat for a cab, or outbid you on the fare: a taxi driver who is bored may take you to Altun Ha for a lark, as he enjoys visiting Mayan ruins and perhaps snake farms and rice'n'beans "restaurants" as much as you will. Obviously he has to charge you, as he needs to pay for gas, his next vehicle, and rice'n'beans or pizza; but taking a nice family to an interesting place beats running harried capitalists back and forth from the hotel to a nearby restaurant and waiting for them to dine--and seldom getting a tip.

 

Fourth, what you see is what you get--if you want a Toyota van, you go up to the taxi driver in a Toyota van, or ask, for example, for "Daniel Itzá," and you will travel up the road in a Toyota van driven by the man you have spoken with (in perfect English, if yours is perfect). Same thing for a Mercedes Benz. These are wholly operator-owned vehicles--no tour operator bait-and-switch involved.

 

While Altun Ha is not an especially complex site, although it is a very beautiful one, and it has excellent informative plaques posted in strategic locations giving a history of the site and the of the Maya, having your own tour guide can be quite an asset. A large tour operator will parade you at their pace to their points of interest and spend much time herding you off and onto your bus--which may or may not have shock absorbers equal to the Old Northern Highway's potholes. Taxi drivers tend to take it pretty easy, as the axle they don't break is their own. They pay attention anyway--but they also know the way around the worst holes. There is no getting around it--once you turn off the Northern Highway onto the Old Northern Highway, for about fifteen miles it seems, the road stinks.

 

A taxi driver will take you where YOU want to go for as long as YOU want to be there. If you don't want to visit the Snake Man, he won't take you to see the beautiful snakes of Belize. If you want to stop and buy some oranges or rice'n'beans, he will know the best places to stop--often places too small to accommodate a busload of cruise passengers. This is no joke in Belize. The profit margin is razor slender in Belize, and cooks prepare food for only so many people as they expect to arrive on a given day. When the food runs out, there is no more until tomorrow. Taxi drivers all have cellphones--everyone in Belize has at least one, I think--and they call ahead to eateries to "book" food for you if you are interested. If not, they will be able to get you back to The Smoky Mermaid in plenty of time for an excellent meal before you have to walk those two blocks back to catch your tender. The Smoky Mermaid is after all less than a half block from his taxi stand! Admire the enormous painting by Angela Gegg only AFTER you have dined, however, if you choose to eat there--everything else, including the leggy blonde Angela Gegg herself, is excellent! :D