John Chuc, your independent tour guide, is affiliated with other reputable tour guides in the San Ignacio / Cayo area.
This assures that you never miss out on the tour of our choice. If John is fully booked, he will connect you with one of the other experienced tour guides.

Please bring drinking water, lunch box, swim suit, sun tan lotion, and the most effective, environmentally friendly insect repellent.
Entrance fees are not included in the tour prices except for Tikal.

K'IN 'WINIK JUNGLE TOUR HOME | CONTACT INFORMATION

River Tubing / Canoeing

Night Jungle Tour

Experience the jungle night!
While TV has given us incredible close ups of tropical life, this night in the jungle of Belize is the real thing. Your chance to experience Mother Nature's Best Kept Secrets.

Barton Creek Cave & Green Hills Butterfly Farm

Welcome to the Maya underworld and ancient place of worship. Barton Creek Cave was used for burial and other ceremonial purposes. Barton Creek Cave is a large river cave that may extend up to 4.5 miles (7.2 km) and has not been fully explored. It is accessible only by boat, and archaeological investigation have uncovered a large number of Mayan relics from the various ledges above the river, suggesting it was used for rituals.

After the tour of the cave visit the Green Hills Butterfly Farm and see over 15 species
of tropical butterflies.

Jaguar Paw Caves

US $75.00 per person (4 person minimum, Departure Time: 8:30 a.m.)
John.Chuc@hotmail.com | Back to the TOP

Cahal Pech / El Pilar / Xunantunich

A full day of exploring the Maya World and seeing nature at its best.

Cahal Pech was a home for an elite Maya family. Evidence of continuous habitation has been dated to as far back as 900 BC, making Cahal Pech one of the oldest recognizably Maya sites in Western Belize. The site sits high near the banks of the Macal River and is a collection of 34 structures, with the tallest being about 25 meters in height. The site was abandoned in the 9th century AD for unknown reasons. Cahal Pech is now an archaeological park, and houses a small museum with artifacts from various ongoing excavations.

Xunantunich (shoo-NAHN-too-nich) is located atop a ridge above the Mopan River, within sight of the Guatemala border. Its name means "Stone Woman" in the Maya language and, like many names given to Maya archaeological sites, is a modern name; the ancient name is currently unknown. The "Stone Woman" refers to the ghost of a woman claimed by several people to inhabit the site, beginning in 1892. She is dressed completely in white, and has fire-red glowing eyes. She generally appears in front of El Castillo; ascends up the stone stairs and disappears into a stone wall.

Most of the structures date from the Maya Classic Era, about 200 to 900. There is evidence that some structures were damaged by an earthquake while they were occupied; this earthquake may have been a reason for the site's abandonment.

The core of Xunantunich occupies about 1 square mile (2.6 km²), consisting of a series of 6 plazas surrounded by more than 26 temples and palaces. One of its structures, the pyramid known as "El Castillo," the second tallest structure in Belize (after the temple at Caracol), at some 130 feet (40 m) tall. Archeological excavations have revealed a number of fine stucco facades on some of the ancient temples of this site. Evidence of construction suggests the temple was built in three stages in the 600s AD, 700s AD, and 800s AD.

Mountain Pine Ridge

Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve is a nature reserve in the Cayo District of southern central Belize. It was established in 1944 to protect and manage the native pine forest. Its boundaries are poorly defined, but it is estimated to cover an area of 106,352.5 acres (430 km²), although much of the reserve has been leased.

The reserve is predominantly pine forest , primarily Caribbean Pine, Pinus caribaea, but with significant broadleaf forest. There are small areas of grassland and wetland.

The majority of the reserve is situated on a granite massif, with some areas of limestone in the west of the reserve (remnants of a limestone plateau laid during the Jurassic). Sinkholes and caves are common in the limestone areas. The underlying soils are predominantly sandy. The elevation of the reserve averages between 400 and 700 m (1,312 to 2,296 ft) with the highest point being Baldy Beacon at 1,017 m (3,336 ft), and dropping to 120 m (394 ft) at the lowest point of the Macal River.

The Macal River forms the boundaries of the reserve to the west and south and is fed tributaries including Rio Frio, Rio On, Privassion Creek and Piviol Creek. To the north-east some small streams feed into Barton Creek.

The reserve is home to various large mammals: the Cougar, the Jaguar, the Ocelot, the Coatimundi, and Baird's Tapir. There is a small population of Morelet's Crocodile.

Native species of bird include the Rufous-capped Warbler, Crossbill, Pine Siskin, Eastern Bluebird, Stygian Owl, King Vulture, Ocellated Turkey, Acorn Woodpecker, Blue-crowned Motmot, Plumbeous Vireo, Keel-billed toucan and Red-lored Parrot. Winter visitors include the Hepatic Tanager and Chipping Sparrow. Orange-breasted Falcons are more common in the area than elsewhere in Belize.

The pine forest has been seriously damaged by the Pine Bark Beetle, Dendroctomus frontalis, with 80% of the trees showing signs of attack.

Caracol

The site was occupied as early as 1200 BCE, but had its greatest period of construction in the Maya Classic period, with over 40 monuments dated between 485CE to 889CE which record the dynastic sequence of the rulers.

Ancient Caracol was one of the largest ancient Maya cities, covering some 65 square miles (168 km²) with an estimated peak population of about 120,000, or possibly as many as 180,000 people. One monument here records a military victory over the army of Tikal in 562CE, where Caracol's Lord Water is shown to have captured and sacrificed Tikal's Double Bird. This event is seemingly concurrent with archaeological and epigraphic evidence indicating the beginning of the Tikal Mid-Classic Hiatus, when a seeming decline in Tikal's population, a cessation of monument building, and the destruction of certain monuments in the Great Plaza occurred as Caracol's population and urban development seemingly skyrocketed

Tikal Day Tour

Titkal is the largest of the ancient ruined cities of the Maya civilization. It is located in Guatemala and is an UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Tikal was one of the major cultural and population centers of the Maya civilization. Though monumental architecture at the site dates to the 4th century BC, Tikal reached its apogee during the Classic Period, ca. 200 AD to 850 AD, during which time the site dominated the Maya region politically, economically, and militarily while interacting with areas throughout Mesoamerica, such as central Mexican center of Teotihuacan. There is also evidence that Tikal was even conquered by Teotihuacan in the 4th century A.D. Following the end of the Late Classic Period, no new major monuments were built at Tikal and there is evidence that elite palaces were burned. These events were coupled with a gradual population decline, culminating with the site’s abandonment by the end of the 10th century.

Airport Shuttle

Philip S. W. Goldson International Airport (BZE) is an airport that serves Belize's largest city, Belize City. It was named for now-deceased politician Phillip Stanley Wilberforce Goldson. The airport is about 30 minutes drive from Belize City's center, in Ladyville. The best way to get to and from the city center is via taxi. Although an airport bus service exists, it is very infrequent and unreliable.

Airlines and destinations:

• American Airlines (Dallas/Fort Worth, Miami)
• Continental Airlines (Houston-Intercontinental, Newark)
• Delta Air Lines (Atlanta)
• Maya Airways (Caye Caulker, Caye Chapel, Corozal, Dangriga, Flores, Placencia, Punta Gorda, San Pedro Airstrip, Savanah)
• TACA (Houston-Intercontinental, San Pedro Sula, San Salvador)
• Skyservice (Toronto-Pearson) [seasonal]
• Tropic Air (Caye Caulker, Corozal, Dangringa, Flores, Kanantik, Placencia, Punta Gorda, San Pedro Airstrip, Sarteneja)
• US Airways (Charlotte)
• Atlantic Airlines de Honduras

K'IN 'WINIK JUNGLE TOUR HOME | CONTACT INFORMATION

© 2008 - 2010. K'IN "WINIK Jungle Tour. All Rights Reserved. Created by Kolibri Web Design