Bianca's Vacation in Belize
The Mayan Ruins At Cerros

We made time for a quick trip to the Cerros Maya Ruins. Cerros is a short drive from Corozal Town on mostly dirt roads. About 15 minutes out of Corozal we came to the New River, which is crossed using a very rustic ferry. The ferry only holds about 5 cars and is hand cranked. The trip across the river took about 10 minutes. We continued down the dirt roads for about half an hour to the Cerros Maya Ruins.

The history of the Mayan people is the history of Belize. Everyone has heard of the Mayan calendar, thanks to the 2012 Myth, but not everyone has stopped to see the Mayan temples. The artistic talents and labor that went into these giant structures is truly mind boggling.

While Cerros does not contain the largest temples in Belize, these are the oldest known ruins in the country. It is known that the masking on the temples was made of stucco and therefore is very difficult to preserve. Finding an ancient ruin with visible masking on it is rare. One of the smaller temples we saw at Cerros had the most beautiful masking all along the front of it.

What makes these temples hard to find is that the majority of them have been grown over by the plant life of Belize and so they look like big hills, called Maya Mounds. The nice surprise is walking around them and finding all the steps to the very top. Each of them is a large step which makes them seem that much more beautiful because you realize just how much effort when into each of those master pieces.

The Mayan's were known to be smaller than the average person now and so making something so large made everything that much more challenging. I myself am considered to be a shorter person and climbing up them was a bit of work, but well worth the effort. The scenery from the top will take your breath away, nothing but green and blue around you. Yet another scene that words will never been enough to explain.

Photos and Commentary by: Bianca Pengelly