One of my favourite sayings has always been...'Be a tourist in your own backyard'. Too often we put our noses down and focus on the must-do stuff and we don't see the fun-to-do things that are all around us. A couple of months ago we bought a gift certificate at the Belize Wildlife Referral Clinic's fundraising auction. It was for a horseback ride to the Mayan ruins of Xunantunich. When we holidayed in Belize years ago, we did a horseback tour and it was one of the most fun days of our vacation. We haven't gone again since we moved here.
Horses have been a part of our lives for most of our lives, especially Adam. He's a cowboy from a way back so he really enjoyed getting back in the saddle. I've been around horses for years, too but I can't call myself a cowgirl by any stretch of the imagination. I tolerated our horses most of the time but I was really looking forward to this. Our friend, Bart joined us, too. Bart is from Saskatchewan so he is genetically predisposed to being a cowboy! It may have been a few years (25 or so!) but Bart is a trooper and he was happy to come along for the ride!
Our guide for the day was Santiago at Hanna Stables. Hanna Stables is one of the top TripAdvisor activities for this part of Belize so I was so happy to finally find out what they are all about. Again, it comes back to being a tourist in your own back yard! Santiago is the owner and a great guide. We arrived at the ranch at 9am and met our horses for the day. We were all a little concerned that they might be the tiny, under-nourished horses that you sometimes see on these tours. Nothing to worry about. The horses were tall and strong. Adam's horse was actually kind of huge. After a bit of riding and getting used to our mounts I found out that my horse, Sapphire, was 32 years old!!!! That is seriously old in horse terms. I had a bout of guilt but she was great. I had visions of never living down the shame of actually killing a horse on a tame, tourist, trail ride!
Our guide for the day was Santiago at Hanna Stables. Hanna Stables is one of the top TripAdvisor activities for this part of Belize so I was so happy to finally find out what they are all about. Again, it comes back to being a tourist in your own back yard! Santiago is the owner and a great guide. We arrived at the ranch at 9am and met our horses for the day. We were all a little concerned that they might be the tiny, under-nourished horses that you sometimes see on these tours. Nothing to worry about. The horses were tall and strong. Adam's horse was actually kind of huge. After a bit of riding and getting used to our mounts I found out that my horse, Sapphire, was 32 years old!!!! That is seriously old in horse terms. I had a bout of guilt but she was great. I had visions of never living down the shame of actually killing a horse on a tame, tourist, trail ride!
We rode along the river to Succotz. That's the town where Xunantunich is located. We loaded the horses onto the ferry and crossed the river. Yup, on the ferry!
Santiago left us on our own to wander around the site. We are kind of old hands at this 'Mayan ruin' thing so we didn't need a guide. We hiked a bit in behind the main site into an area that's not terribly excavated but it's interesting even if it takes a little more imagination. And then it was out into the glaring middle-of -the day sun! Of course being the cowboys that we are, we were all dressed in riding gear so it was a quick spin around the structures, a few 'yups' and 'wows' and were headed back to the shade of the trail!
A nice, leisurely ride back along the river and we were at Santiago's ranch. What a beautiful spread. He has crops, livestock, guest cabins, and tours. I'd highly recommend a visit to Hanna Stables even if (or maybe especially) Belize is your home. It was a lot of fun to remember part of the reason we were drawn to this beautiful country in the first place.
Santiago left us on our own to wander around the site. We are kind of old hands at this 'Mayan ruin' thing so we didn't need a guide. We hiked a bit in behind the main site into an area that's not terribly excavated but it's interesting even if it takes a little more imagination. And then it was out into the glaring middle-of -the day sun! Of course being the cowboys that we are, we were all dressed in riding gear so it was a quick spin around the structures, a few 'yups' and 'wows' and were headed back to the shade of the trail!
A nice, leisurely ride back along the river and we were at Santiago's ranch. What a beautiful spread. He has crops, livestock, guest cabins, and tours. I'd highly recommend a visit to Hanna Stables even if (or maybe especially) Belize is your home. It was a lot of fun to remember part of the reason we were drawn to this beautiful country in the first place.
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