Mayan Adventure Tours-The Ruta Maya

Our guides, Serge Riou and Luis Tellez, provide archaeological expertise and the most current information about each site. Serge, a site documentation photographer, is widely recognized as an authority on the Rio Bec sites. He was instrumental in the rediscovery of Xpujil II, Palace of the Lost King. Luis is our contact with Mexico's National Institute of Archaeology and History, enabling us to get visitor permits to sites not yet open to the public. He is also an authority on exotic bird species of the area.

Gorgeous Rancho Encantado serves as the base for all our expeditions. By day, we trek the jungles of the Yucatan, exploring pyramids, frescoes and stellae. In the evening, we return to the tropical elegance of the Rancho, to excellent food and drink, cool lagoon waters, spectacular sunsets, luxurious private lakefront cottages and abundant Caribbean birdsong.

Won't you join us for an archaeological adventure in the secret heart of La Ruta Maya?

Dzibanche, located directly west of Rancho Encantado, is a recent discovery of great importance. Some archaeologists are calling this beautifully preserved site the "Tikal of Mexico", with its towering pyramids and gleaming limestone facades. Elaborate hieroglyphs provide scholars with important information about relations between Dzibanche and rival cities. Near Dzibanche lies Kinichna, the Temple of the Sun. From this magnificent pyramid, the view extends across unexcavated mounds rising from the surrounding jungle.

Balam Ku (House of the Jaguar) is known only to a handful of archaeologists and locals. Visitors from the Rancho are among the first to walk these sacred grounds since the ancient Maya lived, worked and worshipped here. New excavations have removed classic-era structures to reveal elaborate frescoes carved into the walls of preclassic temples beneath. The original red paint is still vivid. The Rancho's guide, Serge Riou, published the first photographs of these masterpieces of Mayan cosmology.

Lamanai is accessible only by boat up Belize's New River. The earliest occupied Mayan site in the region (ca. 800 B.C.), Lamanai was once a large prosperous city. Now its ruins are surrounded by tropical rainforests where howler monkeys may be heard jin the jungle canopy overhead. The New River area is rich in tropical bird life. Alligators and turtles lounge along the river banks. The on-site museum at Lamanai contains original artifacts in beautiful condition.

Becan is considered the capital of the Rio Bec region and is currently undergoing extensive new excavation and restoration. Settled in 600 B.C., the city was a major population center, surrounded by a moat two kilometers long which was crossed by seven bridges. At least one temple is being left unexcavated to await new archaeological technology.

Rio Bec is the most remote site on the Rancho's menu of adventures. We begin our journey at a Mayan village where we board a sturdy jeep to carry us through a vast jungle preserve. We emerge at a large plaza where the primary temple of Rio Bec towers against the sky. Apart from archaeologists and local present-day Mayans, few people have explored this isolated site. Serge recently discovered a large acropolis flanked by two beautifully preserved stellae. Beyond the ball court, a subterranean room contains original white plaster covered with ancient graffiti.

Chicanna, just west of Becan, is known for its elaborate stone architecture. The structure of Temple 2 represents the Mayan "Earth Monster". The doorway is his great mouth, through which the high priests entered the Mayan underworld to communicate with the ancestors and out of which they emerged transfigured by the encounter. Other architectural details depict eyes, teeth and the "vital breath".

El Resbalon, less than an hour from Rancho Encantado, is an unrestored site of major archaeological importance nestled in the jungle's heart. Preliminary excavations have uncovered three extraordinary hieroglyphic stairways containing the first known references in the Mayan world to the major city-state of Calakmul. El Resbalon provides a unique opportunity to experience what archaeologists must feel upon finding massive ruins still obscured by tropical foliage. A major excavation project is beginning, which Rancho tours may access by permit.

Hormiguero is perhaps the most exotic site within reach of the Rancho. As visitors emerge suddenly into a clearing in the jungle, an exceptionally ornate temple rises to greet them. The elaborate stucco work reveals influences from all over the region and remains in excellent condition. Evidence of a revolution reveals the destruction of all symbols of human ancestors but the careful preservation of icons of the gods.

Choc Choben, north of Laguna Bacalar is currently under excavation. Accessible only by permit, it is proving to be one of the most exciting sites to be uncovered in recent years. The site archaeologist is a fountain of information about this and other sites in the area. INAH plans to open the site to the public after the main plaza is excavated. It may well become the area's adventure destination of choice.

Calakmul may soon take its place in the ranks of Guatemala's Tikal and Caracol in Belize as one of the most important Mayan sites. Many stellae and some of the tallest pyramids in Mesoamerica cover its huge area. Archaeologists recently discovered the remains of high-ranking captives, providing further evidence of Calakmul's power and influence. We enter the site through the vast acreage jof the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, one of the last of the Yucatan rainforests. The Reserve's population includes howler monkeys, spider monkeys and hundreds of exotic bird species.

Rancho Encantado tours may also be arranged to other sites, including new excavations. To arrange custom tours to any of these sites, please call us at (800) 505-MAYA.