Cayo Scoop! The Ecology of Cayo Culture

Read about the excavations at Cahal Pech, courtesy of Cruz Cambranes at the Cayo Tour Guide Association.

"For the past few weeks I have observed that excavations had started at the site of Cahal Pech, so today I had a chance to go and do Some investigations of my own.  Cahal Pech has been heavily excavated for the past 60 years or so, but since 2011 excavations have unearthed large portions of the site that were covered with soil and trees, particularly the triadic winged temple located on the eastern side B1, B2 and B3.  In 2011, we saw the restoration of B1 temple and it’s north wing, B2. In 2012 we then saw the restorations of B3 and the rear of B1, exposing the rear stairway, which was a surprise.  In 2013, there were several investigations on plaza A.  This project is being done under the BVAR flag.  I marked areas that are currently being investigated click HERE FOR MAP."

It's a beautiful day for a canoe race.  Cruz Cambranes got a great video of the start of the race yesterday.

"La Ruta Maya Belize River Challenge"

The Cayo Tour Guide Association wrote about how tour guides often guide on Christmas, yet still have a great, and in this case unique, time.  Cruz Cambranes got a great video showing how they create vases on a pottery wheel.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JXJ1NKpCBU

"After making our way to San Antonio, we got an introduction by Mrs. Timotella Mesh who is part of the women’s group which has been around for the past twelve years, since 2001.  The group consists of nine women that do embroidery, clay pots, figurines, and beaded necklesses to sell at their little giftshop.  The project had several young people working on it, but over the years, the group seeked training and they all have gotten jobs in the tourist industry or some have received scholarships to continue studying.  This shows that the Women’s Group is working hard, guiding and inspiring the youth. "

The Cayo Tour Guide Association's Eco Tourism Summer Camp went well.  Hopefully, it'll be happening every Summer.  They have some great pictures from the trip to Xunantunich on their CTGA website.

"The kids received a guided tour from Jorge De Leon 'Lion,' Alba Tut, and yours truly, Cruz Cambranes.  The tour went well, just as planned. The questions certainly poured in.  Down below you will find pictures of the tour.  We later left the site and went to Nabitunich where they camped for one night.  The kids and the camp leaders played a few games of volleyball."

Cruz Cambranes wrote a nice article for the CTGA about the passing of Gomez, king of the Green Iguana Conservation Project.

"Our beloved iguana named Gomez passed away. Gomez was a very famous iguana at the Iguana Conservation Project located at the San Ignacio Resort Hotel.  He was loved by the staff, by the many Belizean children that visited the grounds on their school trip and by the hundreds of tourists that come to learn about the project.  Gomez was 16 sixteen years old, as old as the project itself.  Because of his interaction with the iguana handlers and growing up around many visiting people, he was very tame and calm.  Adults and children could feed, pet and hold him. He loved being scratched on the back of his neck."

The Belize Tourism Board has released their tourism number for the first quarter, and they have broken by far previous records.  The Cayo Tour Guide Association has the entire report on their site.  This is great news for Cayo, as Cruz Cambranes explains:

"If we recall 2012 saw an increase of tourism activity in Belize and most of us did not see a low season, those numbers show a substantial increase 2013.  These records show a 7.58%, 6.0% and a 10.1% increase of tourist arrivals in the months of January, February and March compared to last years arrivals.  If we look at the month of March alone which is spring break rush there was a growth which broke its own record by reaching 28,623.  Well we certainly hope that this continues."