Finding a little heaven in San Ignacio,Belize!

San Ignacio is a small town in Western Belize, it is the hub and starting point to access most of the beautiful, adventurous attractions such as ATM Caves, Mountain Pine Ridge, Barton Creek Caves etc are located, making it a convenient stop to spend a couple of days or a week. It was my third day here and I wanted to see the Barton Creek Caves. August being a low season, there weren’t many tours going here which added to my frustration as each tours operating have a minimum requirement of two people. Mike, the owner of Cohune Palms Resort where I was staying, got me in touch with David from David’s Adventure Tours, the owner and also the man who discovered the Barton Creek Caves. My excitement level just shot up after hearing this. More than the Cave, I was now excited to meet David!

Meet David, the man who discovered the Barton Creek Caves

The next day, I meet David for the tour. I see a friendly man with long dreadlocks reaching his knee, wearing a hat. He greeted me with open arms and warmth that instantly put me to ease! Calm and composed, having wa lee puff as they say here, he introduced me to Sara who was another guest joining us on the excursion. While talking to Sara I learnt that she was staying at David’s place which got me curious. Turns out David has a place called Guaca Mayo Campground, which does not adequately describe the beautiful jungle home and buildings located on his land about 10 miles up the Macal River.

David built everything himself, carving a masterpiece in synch with nature. It is open for people to stay either camping or in a southern style cohune leaf palapa and experience the Mayan lifestyle, see his farm and immerse themselves in the beauty of the nature that his place has to offer. That’s when I found out that David is half Mayan and half Kreol. I was intrigued, I had never come across his place while researching for places to stay in Belize. Apparently, it’s only known to the people whom he knows. Now I wanted to see this place and I asked him if he could show me after the tour, he was very welcoming about it. A spirited man of adventure, extremely knowledgeable as I learnt later.

And we stop to admire!

Sara and I had a great meal at Eva’s after the tour and left to see David’s familiy’s home at the Guaca Mayo Campground. It was almost 25 minutes of a drive from the town. The views just kept getting better and the roads as usual kept getting worse till we reached a dead end. As he parked his very sturdy International Harvester 4×4 here, I was surprised to still not see a trace of a human or a house. We hiked down for about 3 minutes towards the Macal River where I saw two canoes parked. We paddled to the other side of the river. Still no houses or humans to be seen, until we walked a little ahead from the river and saw a series of cement steps  going up a hill, 200 stairs he said! While we were climbing those challenging stairs, I saw a girl peeking through her binoculars. She was Davids daughter, waiting for us.

Soon we found ourselves on top of the crest on a clearing. There it was a small little heaven, David’s home with his wife and daughter in one beautiful palapa along with the palapa guest house and two other cabanas called Gaucamayo campground! 4 cabanas including Davids’ and his Family’s. Within the huge guest palapa, with a ceiling of almost twenty feet there are four separate accommodations each with an occupancy of 4-6 people. There is  an outhouse toilet nearby and an outdoor rainwater shower and chickens running and pecking all over the place!

This beautiful homestead  is one of the oldest un-excavated Mayan sites in the region. The 30 acre land used to be a forest, until David turned it into a small paradise that has a farm, a small jungle for bird/animal watching, a chair on the hill overlooking Macal River and a pyramid shaped mound to view a gorgeous sunrise from. What else do you want in life?

I was surprised at the commute. Where David and his family climb those stairs up and down, canoe from one side  to the other across the Macal river and another hour worth of a drive everyday, which they absolutely love. David says, that’s how he stays fit! I was stunned to see people so happy with the minimalistic lifestyle where he spends most of his time touring around and when back home takes care of his farm and family, and then enjoys his lee puff at the end of a long day on the  bench overlooking the Macal river and mountains across from his family home.

Your only sources of entertainment up here is to explore the wildlife, walk into the jungles, listen to the chirping birds, animals and insects, go star and bird gazing, watch a beautiful sunrise/sunset from one of the Mayan mounds, munch on some delicious, fresh avocados and fruits, talk to David and his wife and learn about Mayan culture, take a splash in the Macal river, listen to the roosters crow in the morning, and more often than not see the Scarlet Macaws and Toucans that come to this paradise early morning to feed. In short, disconnect yourself from the world to truly connect to your surroundings. But thats the whole of Belize for you! As you keep going down south, you see this kind of lifestyle is a norm. I was amazed to see how happy, carefree, true to nature, connected and well aware people were.

After David dropped me back to my Cabana in the city, I thought to myself if I could ever find the contentment like this! Well as it turns out I could easily stay in a place like this for a weekend or a week knowing that I would be getting back to the city, in my Puget Sound facing apartment in Seattle. And now that I am back in Seattle, all I can think of and truly miss is this little heaven build by David far away from Civilization.

You can stay and enjoy the beautiful Guacamayo campground by emailing David or you could just drop by his office right next to the bus stop in the town of San Ignacio. This place will change your perspective towards life! What is it that heart wants? For now, more experiences like these 🙂