Travel Past 50

Howler Monkey, Tikal, Guatemala

Tom Bartel — Fri, 17 May 2013 13:22:39 +0000

A family of howler monkeys, we’re told, usually consists of a male, a few females, and the offspring. The family that lives in the jungle which surrounds our hotel inside the Tikal, Guatemala Archeological Preserve, consists of seven that I counted. They make this ungodly loud roaring sound at irregular intervals. One guide told us [...]

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By River in Belize to Lamanai

Kristin Henning — Fri, 17 May 2013 01:57:33 +0000

One of our two adventures in Belize was heading to the Mayan city Lamanai by river. Booked through our hotel, the Black Orchid Resort, the day trip was a great balance of jungle river tour of flora and fauna, plus a leisurely walk through the ruins of Lamanai with just four others. Our guide, Carlos, [...]

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Mayan Tower with Masks, Lamanai, Belize

Tom Bartel — Thu, 16 May 2013 14:34:11 +0000

Several of the pyramidal temples at Lamanai, Belize featured large masks on the facade. Some were well preserved with fiberglass coatings, others, like these, are suffering the ravages of the jungle. Belize, we were told by our guide, has no organized preservation effort going on their Mayan sites. When I asked him why the government [...]

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Cutting in Line with the Global Entry Program

Tom Bartel — Wed, 15 May 2013 21:49:16 +0000

I haven’t had the chance to use it yet for return to the United States, but I’m looking forward to breezing by the lines at United States Immigration with my new Global Entry status. Here’s how it works. In most points of entry at US airports, there are electronic kiosks where you insert your passport, [...]

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Temple of the Masks, Lamanai, Belize

Tom Bartel — Wed, 15 May 2013 14:48:29 +0000

A few of the temples at Lamanai sported large masks on their facades, the first time we’ve seen this on Mayan ruins. Here, the mask had been walled over by subsequent generations of Mayans, and archeologists discovered this, and another like it on the other side of the stairs, when they began to restore the [...]

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The ATM Cave in Belize is Older Than I Am

Tom Bartel — Tue, 14 May 2013 16:09:32 +0000

Our exploration of the Actun Tunichil Muknal (The Cave of the Crystal Sepulchre, known simply as ATM here in English-speaking Belize) in western Belize today inspired me to add a category of posts to Travel Past 50: “I’m Too Old for This Shit.” When I expressed this sentiment to Kris, she corrected me. “Tom, you [...]

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Temple of the Wind, Tulúm, Yucatán, Mexico

Tom Bartel — Tue, 14 May 2013 14:53:06 +0000

Tulúm, the Mayan ruins by the sea, guarded the approach to the major Mayan city of Cobá, 50 kilometers inland. The Temple of the Wind, it seemed to me, also doubled as a lookout point. We were glad, as we toured yet another Mayan site on a very hot Mexican day, for whatever breeze the [...]

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Mayan Ruins, Tulúm, Yucatán, Mexico

Tom Bartel — Mon, 13 May 2013 12:45:13 +0000

One of the best things about the ruins at Tulúm was their compactness. They’re only spread over a few acres and the site can be easily seen in a little over an hour. Also, their location next to a beautiful rocky shore–which was part of their reason for existence as a fortification against invasion–provided a [...]

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Crocodile, New River, Belize

Tom Bartel — Sun, 12 May 2013 13:27:08 +0000

We took a 25 mile motor boat trip up the New River in Belize two days ago to get to the semi-remote Mayan ruins site at Lamanai. As we motored, sometimes fast and sometimes slow, past the various wildlife, we occasionally stopped when we saw something very interesting. Like this crocodile. There were a lot [...]

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Temple Carvings, Kabáh, Yucatán, Mexico

Tom Bartel — Sat, 11 May 2013 13:59:08 +0000

One of the recurring motifs at many Mayan sites is the curved nose of the rain god, Chaak. The curve, in the sense that it both descends and ascends, represents the rain falling from above and the collection on the ground. Most Mayan cities had elaborate cistern systems to collect rain water to augment that [...]

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