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August 28, 2008
ID #
Date & Time
Title - Description
Location - Address
1Day 1 to Day 1
All Day		2004 Yucatan- Belize Tours
-- Afternoon snorkeling and reef diving as daylight permits. Evening dinner. Discussion -- most archaeological sites in Mesoamerica contain evidence that they were built by navigational peoples. Very recently, examination of 8,000 to 11,000-year-old skulls from Brazil, Kennewick, Washington and of Pericu peoples of the isolated southern tip of Baja Callifornia have revealed that these thin-faced peoples were unrelated to the modern Native American and eastern Asian groups. The first settlement of the Americas by Beringia land migration from northeast Asia has been seriously challenged. Are the pyramid builders of Mesoamerica descendants of Paleoindians or are they descendants of ancient navigators who sailed from south Asia to Australia over 40,000 years ago, and may have sailed to the Americas thousands of years before land migration was even possible? 		Club Akumal Beach Hotel Cancun
2Day 2 to Day 2
6:00AM to 7:15PM		2004 Yucatan- Belize Tours
6:00AM - 8:00AM Snorkeling and Reef Diving. Club Akumal sits on its own stretch of the Palancar Reef (150 feet offshore), and enjoys year round water temperatures of 80 degrees plus, abundant tropical sea life, and visibility of 60 to 100 feet.
8:15AM - Group Breakfast. Discussion-- Tulum -- Mayan (Toltec) myth describes a foundation of culture, by a gentle teacher and law-giver named Kukulkan (Quetzalcoatl) who originally arrived by a voyage across the seas bringing with him language, mathematics the concept of civilization. In Quetzalcoatlâs subsequent journey from Tula to the Yucatan he was said to have been accompanied by dwarfs, who aided and protected him. Given the relatively small size of the pyramids and temples at Tulum, and the very low height to the passageways, was Tulum built by and for dwarfs?
9:30AM - Departure by A/C bus for Tulum.
10:15AM - 12:15PM - Tulum. Small but spectacular. Tulum sits on high cliffs above the aqua waters of the Caribbean. The site features traces of red and blue tints on murals and the repeated motif of a diving or descending god. Described as Late Post-Classic, Tulum was a walled city and was still occupied when the conquistadors reached Mexico in 1511. The Yucatan remained fiercely independent of Spanish rule. Question: Why are Late Post-Classic cities like Tulum and Mayapan while grander and older sites like Chichen Itza and Coba flourished without defensive walls?
12:15PM - 1:15PM Swim at the beach? Lunch on your own.
1:15PM - 2:30PM Bus to Coba. Discussion en route: 60 Miles inland the large, only partially excavated site of Coba features the tallest pyramid in the Yucatan (Nohoch Mul rises 140 feet above the jungle floor). 38 Sacbeob (a sacbe is a straight limestone road or causeway that is elevated above swamplands but burrows through low hills) radiate out from this 20 square mile site. The sacbeob interconnect Coba with coastal sites and point toward connections with other major ruins in Mexico and in Belize and Guatemala (El Mirador) although these sacbeob are not yet fully excavated. Continuous occupation from the 4th C. B.C. to the 16th C. A.D. was marked by huge constructions yet, like all of the oldest and grandest sites, no traces of a surrounding wall have been found. How did the ancient Mayan city-states flourish without defensive walls while European and Mediterranean cities depended on high walls for their existence?
2:30PM - 6:00PM - Exploration of Coba. Bike-cabs will assist the weary.
6:15PM - 7:15PM - Bus trip to picturesque colonial city of Valladolid. Check-in at Ecotel Quinta Real (tree-filled gardens, pool, international restaurant, central). Dinner on your own.		Tulum, Coba
3Day 3 to Day 3
8:00AM to 7:30PM		2004 Yucatan- Belize Tours
8:00AM-9:00AM - Group breakfast. Discussion - The Classic Period (300AD- 1000AD) site of Chichen Itza has a central pyramid (Temple of Kukulkan) with 91 steps on each of its four sides. With a central step at the top, the pyramid describes the number 365 -- the number of days in a year. The northern face is more precise. From its side the nine levels (reflecting the nine levels of existence in Mayan myth) describe a feathered serpent (Quetzalcoatl) that descends on March 21, and ascends on September 21, each year with the setting of the sun. The angle of construction is perfect in its description of manâs replication of periodic astronomical events. The conventional view of Chichen Itzaâs pyramids is that they were constructed as ceremonial centers where the beating hearts of victims were sacrificed by priests and dismembered bodies were thrown down the steps as a warning to offenders. But why build them so precisely if sacrifice was the purpose? The ancient cenote, one of the crucial sources of water, has been repeatedly described as a sacrificial center. Yet why would you hurl bodies into your drinking supply? If sacrifice of young maidens was rampant, why have so few bones (mainly of young children and teen-aged boys⦠the sort you would expect to have fallen by mistake, or on a dare) been found?
9:15AM to 10:15AM En route to Chichen Itza. Discussion of above.
10:30AM - 1:00PM - Group Exploration of Chichen Itza focusing on the great Ball Court, a possible explanation of how city-states decided disputes without mass warfare, protective walls, and deaths of civilians. At the end of the great Ball Court we find the Temple of the Bearded Man. This temple has a figure often called "Uncle Sam" after the WWII poster. However, the hook-nosed, jutting-bearded carving is more likely a Phoenician who sailed to this peninsula.
1:00PM Lunch on your own. For the weary the bus will go to the Piramide Inn Hotel in Piste (2 miles from site and walkable for the fit). The bus will return at 3:00 PM.
1:00PM - 5:00PM Individual Exploration of Chichen Itza. The colonnades of Temple of the Warriors with many bearded stelae is a must (Who were theyâ¦the Maya and Toltec had no facial hair). Also a must is the Caracol, a circular observatory with a snail-like ascending stairway and what the Spanish called the Nunnery, although it was more likely a college for astronomers and navigators. South of this excavation continues on an older Chichen Itza. Museum on site.
5:00PM - 6:15PM Check-in and Dinner on your own in Piste.
6:30PM - Bus returns to site for evening Sound & Light Show (starts 30 minutes after sunset). The Sound & Light Show is mainly Sound & Light with a lot of talk about Toltec priests carrying on human sacrifice. However, the finale is a recreation of the serpents head descending and ascending the nine levels of the pyramid as it does on the Vernal and Autumnal Equinoxes -- a spectacular and precise achievement in construction by the builders of Chichen Itza.
7:30PM Bus returns to Hotel. 		Chichen Itza
4Day 4 to Day 4
7:30AM to 6:00PM		2004 Yucatan- Belize Tours
7:30AM - 8:30AM - Group breakfast and discussion of what we saw.
8:45AM - Bus departs.
10:00AM - Izamal ("City of Hills") - Izamal reached its peak in the Maya Classic Period (A.D. 300-900) but it is probably much older. According to legend by Itzamna, the sky god, and the site became a place of pilgrimage for Mayans from all over the Yucatan. Because of its religious importance the Spaniards were particularly brutal when they capture Izamal in 1540. They quickly tore down most of the pyramids and used the stones to build their own churches.
11:00AM - Brief visit to town of Izamal where the Franciscans constructed a typical fortress-like Church on the foundations of the gutted Maya temple of Popol-chac. Called the Convent of San Antonio de Padua the church reatures a huge atrium of 9,500 Sq. Yards. It is said to be exceeded in size only by St. Peterâs Square in Rome.
11:30AM - Bus continues to Merida. Discussion en route -- Does the tearing down of Mayan Temples display arrogance by the Spaniards? Can like examples of arrogance be found in current times?
12:15PM - Check-in Caribe Hotel. Lunch on your own. Merida has scores of delightful restaurants. The Caribe Hotel sits at the center of this beautiful city. Built using the stone ruins of the destroyed Maya town of Tiho, Meridaâs architecture is diverse and often ornate. The Caribe sites on the small but picturesque Parque Hidalgo which also serves as a "taxi-stand" for Meridaâs horse-drawn carriages. overs gather at night on the parkâs benches, sometimes glancing across Calle 59 at the well-lit Iglesia de Jesus,-- a favorite church for weddings. The Plaza Mayor (central plaza) is one block south from the Caribe and hosts many of the most important buildings in Merida including the central Cathedral. Opposite the Cathedral stands the Palacio Municipal (Town Hall), striking 16th century structure with colonnades and a tall clock tower. The Casa Montejo commands the south side of the Plaza Mayor. Built as the residence of the Montejo family, this palace is regarded as one of the finest examples of Spanish Colonial architecture in the world. It now houses a museum of the Yucatan. In the plaza itself shops and stands abound. A One block walk north from the Caribe Hotel one encounters the Teatro Peon Contreras. This Italianate turn-of-the-20th-century theater hosts plays and operas. Its grand lobby features a marble stairway and large dome with frescoes as well as revolving art exhibits. Across the street the arabesque Universidad de Yucatan. A center of Meridaâs cultural life, the central building features crenellated Moorish ramparts and archways. The Ballet Folklorico is performed on many evenings.
1:45PM - The architectural tour continues with a visit to the nearby Paseo Montejo. This wide laurel and tamarind-lined boulevard is dominated by mansions built by 19th century plantation owners. Laid out along the lines of Parisian boulevards the mansions often display imported Carrara marble. Their style is more reflective the architecture of France than it is of Mexico or Spain.
2:00PM Museo de Arqueologia y Historia. We visit one of the most ornate mansions on the Paseo which today houses a museum of Archaeology. With Doric and Ionic marble columns and marble floors and stairways this mansion houses an impressive collection of Mayan artifacts on the main floor and the decorative and colorful dress of the Maya and other Mesoamerican peoples on the 2nd floor.
3:00PM - Bus departs for Dzibilchaltun. This large site that had over 8,000 buildings was built in the Archaic period (1500 BC or older), and was still inhabited when the Spanish arrived. Many of the structures excavated date from the Pre-classic (3rd to 1st c. BC) Its central cenote (sacred pool) has yielded over 30,000 artifacts, but few human skeletons. It is clear that it was not a site of human sacrifice. The cenote is easily accessible for a cooling swim. A wide sacbe (raised limestone roadway) has been restored. As at Coba, there is evidence that Dzibilchaltun had many sacbeob, with one running ten miles to the present-day port of Progresso on the Gulf of Mexico. Other Sacbeob may have interconnected the great Maya sites of the Yucatan.
6:00PM -Bus returns to Hotel Caribe. Dinner on your own.		Izamal
5Day 5 to Day 5
7:30AM to 3:30PM		2004 Yucatan- Belize Tours
7:30AM - 8:30AM Breakfast on your own.
8:45AM - Bus departs for Uxmal. Discussion en route -- The impressive yet sedate architecture of the Puuc Maya (Uxmal, Labna, etc.) stands in contrast to the grandeur of the Mayan sites that were later rebuilt by the Toltecs (Chichen Itza, Izamal). Unlike the Toltec sites, there is scant evidence of human sacrifice at purely Mayan sites. Why?
10:00AM - Arrival at Uxmal. This impressive site flourished during the Maya Classic period (300-900 AD) but it is believed that it was occupied by earlier settlers. The Puuc style of decoration -- smooth walls are embellished with thin limestone cladding with lattice patterns -- seems to have replaced thick stucco carvings found in the eastern and southern regions of the Yucatan. The most impressive building is the 115ft tall Pyramid of the Sorcerer (Magician). It is very steep and, atypically, it is oval in shape with rounded walls. Like Tulum, it is reported by myth to have been built by dwarfs. Curled appendages to the sides of many of Uxmalâs temples seem to represent the trunks of elephants. Similar elephant trunks, with a seated human driver above them, appear at Copan in Honduras. At both sites academic archaeologists, believing contact with Asian elephants was impossible, have pronounced the ornaments as "stylized macaws." However, the sideways "S-shaped" curvatures of the embellishments are nothing like the beaks of any known birds. The Nunâs Quadrangle (as dubbed by the Spanish) is surrounded by low, graceful buildings that have been rebuilt at least five times. Rather than a nunnery this area may strike the observer as a university of mathematicians and astronomers. The spanish named Governorâs Palace covers over 5 acres. A Jaguar altar and an ancient eroded megalith point toward 24 chambers with arched vaults. This structure has been called the most perfect building in pre-Hispanic America.
2:00PM - Departure for the Caribe Hotel in Merida. Discussion -- Construction -- Precise layout of tons upon tons of stone yet no commitment to protective walls. Why? Decorations -- Mammoths with similar trunks once roamed throughout the Americas. Do the horizontal "S-shaped" decorations at Uxmal reflect a past knowledge of this animal, which disappeared 11,000 years ago, or do they reflect a knowledge of animals transported across the Pacific in later times?
3:30PM - Free afternoon for visits to Meridaâs museums or shopping. Dinner on your own.		Uxmal
6Day 6 to Day 6
8:00AM to 6:20PM		2004 Yucatan- Belize Tours
8:00AM - 9:00AM Breakfast on your own.
9:30 AM - Bus departure via Puuc Hills route to Kabah, Sayil and Edzna.
11:00AM - Only 16 miles south of Uxmal, Kabah is largely unexcavated but it has at least 2 remarkable structures. One is the now free-standing "Arch of Triumph", a notable example of the Mayan corbelled arch. This distinctive arch is formed by placing each higher course of mortared stone so that it projects over the lower course. This is repeated until the two sides of the arch meet at the top. Often a large lintel (horizontal crosspiece) is placed at the top to connect wide archways. The Kabah arch is of particular interest in that it marks the start/end of a wide sacbe that runs straight to Uxmal.
12:00 Noon - Nearby Sayil ("The Place of the Ants") is a late Classic Mayan site notable for its Classical Puuc style. Each floor of the magnificent 80 meter long "palace" is recessed so that the roof of a lower story is a balcony of the higher story. Each story is supported by a long line of Greek-like stone columns above which stand intricately sculpted friezes, masks of Chac (the rain god), and images of the Descending God (as at Tulum). A view from the hill across from the entrance is a must.
1:00PM - 2:00PM Lunch on your own.
2:00PM - Labna ("The house of Old Women") probably constructed in the 5th Century BC is the oldest of the Puuc sites. The Labna Arch may be the most remarkable in all Mexico. The passageway through it is 20ft high and 10ft wide. It is topped by ornate decorations including mosaics, geometric patterns, and several images of Chac.
2:45PM Bus leaves for Edzna.
3:30PM Edzna ("The House of Grimaces") - Settled as early as 600 BC this city flourished in the Classic Periods (300-900 AD). The central structure here is the Temple of the Five Stories. The temple on the highest story is crowned by a 21 ft. roof comb that had been embellished with intricate carvings of grim-faced masksâ?¦ hence the name of the site. The sun appears directly overhead on the first day of the Maya year, suggesting that this was the site where the Mayan Calendar was first expressed in stone.
5:30PM - Bus departs for Campeche. Discussion -- The Maya Calendar may have first been expressed at Edzna. The Sacred Calendar has 13 numbers that contain 20 named days each. When a 260 day cycle ends, a new one begins. It would make a very confusing year were it not for the 13 month calendar of the Long Count which contains 12 months of 30 and an extra "unlucky" month of 5 days. Why have two calendars that intermesh and begin with year One only every 52 years? The Conquistador Hernan Cortez arrived at the coast of Mexico on a Day One. How did this help him destroy the Aztec recipients of the Maya-Toltec culture? The Long Count began in the year 3114 BC and will end on December 21, 2012. Since 4 previous Mayan Ages ended with cataclysms, followed by a rebirth of civilization, what does this Maya end date mean to us?
6:20PM Check-in at Del Mar Hotel, Campeche. Dinner on your own. Campeche, now a quiet city of 250,000, was the port through which gold and silver were shipped to Spain in the 16th and 17th centuries. Pirates preyed on the city and its ships repeatedly often decimating large sections of the population. In 1686 contruction began on a defensive wall that was eventually 2 miles long, 8-10 ft thick, and up to 26 ft high. It was augmented by 8 Moorish forts and fortressed cathedrals. Today the well-lit walls, ramparts and battlements of the fortified city provide an impressive sight from the upper floors of the Del Mar Hotel. The small Museo Regional rests in a fort on a hill overlooking Campeche. Entry is over a drawbridge. The museum, with artifacts from many Maya site, is open from 8-8 Tues-Sat. 		Kabah, Sayil and Edzna
7Day 7 to Day 7
7:30AM to 6:30PM		2004 Yucatan- Belize Tours
7:30AM - 8:30AM - Breakfast on your own.
8:45 AM - Bus departs Campeche. Continued discussion of the meaning of Mayan Calendars.
10:30AM - Balanku - Discovered by accident in 1990, this almost unknown site is beginning to attract the curious because of its magnificent stucco frieze in the "House of the Four Kings". Inside the temple the frieze first seen in 2001, measures 20 meters long by 4 meters high and features 3 very large round-bellied figures sitting cross-legged (Buddhas?) above a row of jaguar bodies that have dog-like heads that resemble depictions of ancient Egyptian jackals. Curious?
11:30AM - Becan - This site had become a major population and trade center by 375 BC. Many items from Teotihuacan (Valley of Mexico) have been found. Becan went into a 750 year decline but reemerged as a major city in 500AD only to be abandoned completely in around 1200 AD. It is distinguished by a series of canals that surround the site.
12:30PM - Box lunch en route. Discussion of upcoming sites of Kohunlich (Mexico) Santa Rita and Cerro Maya (Belize).
1:30PM - 3:00PM - Group Exploration of the largely unexcavated site of Kohunlich. The lack of tourists at this somewhat remote site make it appealing. The rolling green hills make the lush landscape tranquil (note the wildflowers and orchids on the treetops), especially when you realilze that each hill represents the site of a temple or pyramid. Kohunlich is famous for its unique giant (5ft. 3in. High) stucco masks. Dedicated to the Mayan sun god, the masks seem to portray a figure with oriental features and Fu Manchu mustaches.
3:15PM - Bus to border with Belize near Chetumal. Customs, immigration, etc.
4:30PM - Short ride to Santa Rita. Most of this ancient site (founded around 2,000 BC) lies under the modern town of Corozal. Continuously occupied for over 3,500 years, Chactemal, as it was called, was still a Mayan capital when the Spanish arrived, looking for gold, in the 1520s. Today only one structure remains standing and it has been stripped by looters of its most distinctive asset -- a large mural depicting the sea-going Chontal Maya. But from its top you can see the Rio Honda, New River and across Corozal, Cerro Maya. From this view you can see how the Maya of Chactemal were able to dominate the Mayan trade routes that carried cacao, honey, and vanilla.
6:00PM - Check in Tonyâs Beachfront Hotel.
6:30 PM - Group dinner- Tonyâs - Discussion - Who were the Chontal Maya? Since the current consensus among Maya scholars is that they were a largely sedentary and introverted people, how do we account for Chontal Maya accounts that speak of exploratory voyages across the Caribbean and along the shores of Florida and the Carolinas?		Balanku
8Day 8 to Day 8
7:30AM to 7:00PM		2004 Yucatan- Belize Tours
7:30AM - 8:30AM Group Breakfast
9:00AM - 12:30PM - Boat trip from Corozal six miles across bay to Cerro Maya. Cerro Maya means "Maya hills" but Cerros has no natural hills. It has three large acropolises flanked by pyramids. The largest pyramid rises 72 feet above a central plaza and has wonderful views of Corozal, the Bay, and a view toward the open waters of the Caribbean. Part of this pyramid are under the waters of the bayâ?¦ estimates range to 35 feet of submerged pyramid, which means the pyramid either sank, or that it was constructed at a time when sea levels were lower. It is at least 3,500 years old but could date to shortly after the end of the last age, 9,500 years ago. Like Becan, it is surrounded by a circular canal much like that one Plato once described in the Critias.
1:00PM - 2:00PM Lunch at Tonyâs
2:15PM - Bus to Orangewalk Town (30 Miles).
3:00PM - 6:00PM River boat trip to Lamanai - "Submerged Crocodile" Continuously occupied for over 3,000 years Lamanai in situated on the New River lagoon in the biological diversity of a tropical rain forest. Flora and fauna abound. There are spectacular views from several of Lamanaiâs large temples. Museum on site.
6:00PM - 7:00PM Bus trip to Belize City. Check in Princess Hotel. Dinner on your own.		Cerro Maya
9Day 9 to Day 9
7:30AM to 6:00PM		2004 Yucatan- Belize Tours
7:30AM - 8:30AM Buffet Breakfast. Open Discussion.
9:30AM - Bus trip to San Ignacio (70 miles)
11:00AM - 12:00PM - Visit to nearby Cahal Pech. Led by Dr. Jaime Awe, Belizean archaeologists have now excavated 18.5 meters below ground level to an area populated 1,000 BC. Here theyâve found a distinctive soft pottery, marine shells from the coast, sea urchin quills used for sewing, and obsidian blades imported from Guatemala.
12:00PM - 1:00PM Lunch at Marthaâs Guest House.
1:00PM - Bus trip to Xunantunich - Built among 3,000 foot high hills, this siteâs largest pyrmaid rises another 130 feet above its plaza, offering views into Guatemala as far as Tikal.
2:30PM - 4:00PM Return to Belize City.
4:00PM - 5:30PM - Visit to the NICH (National Institue of Culture and History).
6:00PM - Return to Princess Hotel or roam city. Dinner on your own.		San Ignacio
10Day 10 to Day 10
8:00AM to 4:00PM		2004 Yucatan- Belize Tours
8:00AM - 9:00AM - Buffet breakfast
10:00AM - Boat trip through cayes to Caye Caulker (40 min). This is a delightful caye 20 miles off the coast but a mile within the reef. It is the starting place for reef dives to feed sharks, shallow reefs for a variety of smaller sea life, and to sunning beaches. You can walk anywhere in town or flag a golf-cart taxi and go anywhere for $2.50 (very few autos are allowed on the island). Shops and restaurants abound. Lunch and Diving on your own.
4:00 PM - Boat from Caye Caulker to Belize City. Dinner on your own.		Caye Caulker
11Day 11 to Day 11
7:30AM to 9:30AM		2004 Yucatan- Belize Tours
7:30AM - 8:30AM - Buffet Breakfast
9:30AM - Bus departs for Belize airport. Flight to Cancun, Mexico.		Cancun

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