MAYAN TRIPS

[Note: These trips will be available when Camp Toucan starts operating.]

Bacalar is surrounded by six different major Mayan ruins – each one suitable for a sequel to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Each one is also a nature preserve, surrounded by large tropical trees, vines, monkeys, toucans, and other wildlife. During your stay at Camp Toucan you can choose to go to some of them, or all of them, with knowledgeable guides.

For each Mayan Trip, we meet at 7:00 am on the plaza, so we can get to the ruins while temperatures are still cool and wildlife is still active. Places in town that serve breakfast don’t open until 7:30 or 8:00, so we meet in front of La Tartaleta Panaderia, a small bakery that opens at 7:00, where you can get a quick breakfast. (Or bring your own breakfast. We don’t serve a group breakfast, because people’s breakfast habits vary greatly, and it would take too long to clean up and put away afterward.) La Tartaleta Panaderia is half-way along the west side of the plaza, next to the large Palacio Municipal government building, with small cafe tables and chairs on the sidewalk.

When we get to the ruins, you can walk with the guide part of the time, and explore on your own part of the time, as you choose. While you are exploring on your own, you can watch and listen for families of monkeys in the trees overhead, going from tree to tree without ever touching the ground. Small tropical mammals, lizards, and iguanas may scurry across the path in front of you. The guide will discuss with you why the Mayans went to such great lengths to build these temples and pyramids – their view of the cosmos, and the vast cycles of time, and their view of the need for very painful bloodletting self-sacrifices, done by the rulers to themselves. (If you come on more than one ruins trip, you will find that the guide discusses different aspects on different days, not the same thing daily.) As you look at the temples and pyramids as they are now, the guide will show you pictures of how they looked back in their prime, when their walls were plastered and painted with colorful, symbolic designs. You will explore the connections with temples and pyramids on other continents around the world, searching for common elements, perhaps as part of a sort of universal religion of mankind.

After exploring the ruins in the morning, we have an early lunch nearby (included in the trip). After lunch, we visit Mayan villages that are still active today, where some of the houses that were built in the ancient Mayan style are still standing, and the descendants of the ancient Mayans are still growing food, weaving textiles, tending small stores, playing basketball in open-air gyms, and speaking Yucatec Mayan with each other. Where it’s practical, our van drops us off at one end of a village, then picks us up later at the other end, so we can walk through the village at leisure for a look at local life. We get back to the plaza in Bacalar in time for Social Hour, where we compare notes and thoughts with the guide and our fellow travelers, over a drink and an appetizer (included in the trip, and your drink can include alcohol or not as you prefer).

Note that scholars use the term Maya rather than Mayan in various contexts. On this website we use Mayan to be consistent with other terms such as Peruvian, Mexican, European, and so on.

Weekly schedule:

There’s a different Mayan trip for each day of the week, Monday through Saturday, as follows:

Monday: Mayan Trip 1, Ichkabal and Mayan villages.

Ichkabal is an ancient Mayan city shaded by a lush tropical jungle, with its own small lake as a water supply. The city was founded in about 300 B.C., and re-opened to visitors only recently, in January 2025, after years of careful restoration by artisans from nearby villages. We meet in the Bacalar plaza at 7:00, then drive about 55 minutes on a newly-paved road that winds through the jungle west of Bacalar. After arriving at Ichkabal we follow paths through the jungle to the ancient temples and pyramids. You can climb to the top of two tall pyramids, for views over the trees to the surrounding hilly countryside. Or you can explore the nearby temples, and envision how people once worshiped and lived here. After an early lunch (included in the trip), we continue to nearby villages to see village life today, and look for houses built in the ancient Mayan manner. We get back to Bacalar in time for Social Hour in the plaza with family and friends (included in the trip).

Tuesday: Mayan Trip 2, Chacchoben and Mayan villages.

The temples and pyramids of Chacchoben were active from about 200 B.C. to 700 A.D. After the conquest in the 1500s, the Mayans still used the site for ceremonies, in a clandestine way, until the early 1900s. The site was restored and first opened to visitors in 2002. The extensive complex consists of several massive stone structures, some of them still covered by large trees. We meet in the Bacalar plaza at 7:00, then drive about 50 minutes north to Chacchoben, where we enter the ruins while being on the look-out for spider monkeys and howler monkeys in the trees overhead. We explore the ruins, trees, and wildlife through the morning, then have an early lunch nearby (included in the trip). After lunch we drive to Mayan villages in the area, looking for houses that were built in the ancient Mayan style. We get back to Bacalar in time for Social Hour in the plaza, with the camp guides and fellow traveling companions (included in the trip).

Wednesday: Mayan Trip 3, Kohunlich and swim in clear jungle pools.

Kohunlich is an expansive group of temples and pyramids, set on several adjacent hills in a jungle of tall trees. The site is known for the four large, elaborate masks of ancient Mayan gods that flank the steps leading up to the top of a large pyramid. We meet in the plaza in Bacalar at 7:00, then drive about an hour southwest to Kohunlich. As we walk through the jungle from temple to temple, if we’re quiet and observant we may see spider monkeys in the treetops overhead, hanging by their tails while they use their hands and feet in unison to feed on leaves and fruits. Since the site is hilly, there are some large stone steps to climb up and down, including a large staircase called “The 27 Steps.” Later we have lunch nearby (included in the trip), then drive south along the Rio Hondo (the Deep River, which is the border between Mexico and Belize), to natural, clear, spring-fed jungle pools that are great for an afternoon swim, or a short exploratory walk through the surrounding jungle. After swimming and enjoying the tropical scenery and breezes for a while, we head back to Bacalar, arriving in time for Social Hour in the plaza with friends and family (included in the trip).

Thursday: Mayan Trip 4, Oxtankah, zoo, museum, murals, and Chetumal.

We meet in the plaza in Bacalar at 7:00, then drive about 55 minutes southeast to Oxtankah, which is a series of several ancient Mayan plazas strung out through a shady jungle, near the shore of a bay of the Caribbean Sea. Each plaza has pyramids and temples on four sides, to form a rectangular gathering place. You can imagine how ancient people once met in these plazas to buy and sell things, discuss local politics, and worship. After Oxtankah we drive a short distance to Chetumal, where we stop at a small zoo to see the crocodile grotto, the monkeys, the spotted jaguar, the black jaguar (black panther), and other animals, trees, and flowers of the region. From there we proceed to the Mayan Museum, which dramatically re-creates a night-time walk through an ancient Mayan jungle, with sounds of wildlife in the trees around you, until you come upon Mayan sculptures and displays, spotlighted in the darkness. We have lunch nearby (included in the trip), then we walk down the main shopping street, looking into the open-air stores along the way, to the state legislature building. In the main lobby, large artistic murals colorfully depict the major episodes in the history of this region, from the creation of mankind (from corn) to modern times. From there we walk along a broad walkway by the bay, to admire the breezy Caribbean, and a series of sculpted monuments to sailors and sea gods. We get back to the plaza in Bacalar in time for Social Hour with our traveling companions (included in the trip).

Friday: Mayan Trip 5, Dzibanche, Kinichna, and Mennonite Salamanca.

We meet in the Bacalar plaza at 7:00, then drive about an hour west to the two adjacent Mayan ruins of Dzibanche and Kinichna, which are on separate hilltops about two kilometers apart. (A kilometer is 62 percent of a mile.) Both hilltops provide commanding views of the hilly countryside, which is the headwaters of the Rio Escondido (the Hidden River). There are usually few other visitors present, so we enter the first site with quiet reverence, imagining the ceremonies of the ancient Mayans in these same places, while looking and listening for monkey families swinging through the trees. Then we drive over to the second site (since the rough road between them is not good for walking) and compare the views, wildlife, and ambiance. After an early lunch nearby, we drive to an entirely different spiritual community, the Mennonite community of Salamanca, west of Bacalar. The Mennonites originated in the 1500s in German and Dutch-speaking regions of central Europe, and today the Mennonites in Salamanca still speak a historic version of German. They still get around in horse-drawn buggies, and they wear clothing reminiscent of past centuries. We drive slowly down the dirt roads, viewing their homes and small farms, and pulling aside as their buggies go by. Later we stop at their community store to see the choices of fabrics sold there, which they use for sewing their own clothes at home, and perhaps get an afternoon drink or ice cream. We may have a conversation about the community with one of the farmers who speaks enough English or Spanish to converse. We return to Bacalar in time for Social Hour by the plaza.

Saturday: Mayan Trip 6, Mahahual, Caribbean beach, and reef.

This trip does not go to a Mayan ruin, but rather to the Caribbean seacoast village of Mahahual, where a reef creates a long, protected beach under coconut palms. We meet in the Bacalar plaza at 7:00, then drive about an hour and twenty minutes northeast to Mahahual. Half-way through this drive, we stop to visit a tropical butterfly sanctuary, where we walk into large, screened enclosures to observe the butterflies up close, as they land on leaves and branches just inches away. The sanctuary also raises melipona bees, which make fragrant tropical honey while living in hollow logs, which we can observe up close since these bees don’t sting. When we get to Mahahual, we walk along the broad walkway through the village, along the beach under the palms, where small outdoor vendors sell all sorts of handicrafts, large tropical seashells, and tropical hats and clothing, and masseurs offer outdoor massages in the shade by the water. You can wade in the shallow turquoise pools along the beach, and perhaps wade and swim out near the reef itself. On this trip we don’t do a group lunch, because participants typically want to wade in the pools and explore the town at their own pace, and there are numerous small restaurants along the walkway by the beach, where some people want grilled fish or lobster while other people want vegetables and tropical fruit dishes. Behind the restaurants there are rustic open-air showers, so you can rinse off after wading and swimming. In the late afternoon we head back to Bacalar, stopping half-way through the drive at roadside fruit stands that sell tropical fruits and chilled juices. We get back to Bacalar in time for Social Hour by the plaza, with a drink and appetizer (included in the trip). It will be Saturday evening, so there may be live outdoor music, and vendors selling freshly-made snacks, while kids play on little playgrounds and their parents watch and chat. (Note: If you have friends or family on Kayak and SUP Trip 6, which goes to Mahahual at the same time as this trip, you may want to plan to meet them at one of the beachfront restaurants for a late lunch, after they finish paddling.)