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An Intrepid Tour of Belize’s Wild Gardens

By Jan Landin  Yawanago

Why intrepid? Simply put, it’s Belize, and it’s a jungle out there. It seems to be a natural human instinct to plant and nurture things, even in the jungle. We covet, collect and cultivate plants that bring us pleasure wherever we reside. In the Cayo district of western Belize near San Ignacio you can find some very interesting examples of wild gardens. 

A lovely way to spend a few hours is to take a walk through the botanical gardens and orchards at DuPlooy’s, located east and north of the Macal River. The DuPlooy family has planted over 2,000 trees and a large assortment of plants, and has an orchid house and pond on the property.  Many resident birds grace the estate. The DuPlooys have an especially nice array of tropical fruit trees, and I experienced my first sight of lychee nuts and citron fruit growing when I was there recently. 

Less than eight miles from San Ignacio, and also on the Macal River, is Ix Chel Farm. You can take a wonderful walk there on The Rainforest Medicine Trail, once known as the Panti Trail. Ix Chel is the Mayan goddess of the moon and wife of the sun. She is the patroness of weaving, childbirth, and most important in this case, the patroness of medicine. There is a research center at the farm that actively seeks remedies from indigenous plants for curing cancer, AIDS and other afflictions.  

A walk along the medicinal plant trail reveals a wealth of knowledge in a very compact space. You can learn about the Doctrine of Signature the bush doctors use to help them decide which plant cures to use. The Doctrine of Signature, though rejected by modern botanists, was first observed by Paracelsus in ancient times and still has many herbalist followers. The belief is that medicinal plants give a physical sign, which indicates what they will cure. For instance, a wild yam has a knotty and gnarled root, which indicates its use for arthritis, while its heart-shaped leaf and the yam’s shape itself indicate its use in blood tonics.  

You may get to see the black orchid, which is the national flower of Belize, or tropical products we use everyday, like pineapple, banana, coffee and cashews. The names of some of the other plants and trees may captivate you: give and take palm, red gumbolimbo, chico zapote, tie tie or ki bix.     

The trees at Cahal Pech 

The ruins of Cahal Pech, which is even closer to San Ignacio, is located on top of Cahal Pech Hill in San Ignacio. Reconstructive work has been going on at the site since the late 1980s. Looting was a big problem before that time. Experts think it was a ceremonial and administrative center from 900 B.C. to 800 A.D.  

On this property you will find many varieties of trees. One especially nice chico zapote sits on the edge of Plaza A. I have seen a pair of keel billed toucans there, clacking their enormous bills together at the fortune of finding a ripe fruit. Zapote, or sometimes sapote or also called Sapodilla, produces a fruit meant for the gods though its fruit is rather small and covered with an ugly brown skin. The flesh is very compact and not the prettiest color either, but the taste is rich and satisfying, like buttery brown sugar packed into a fruit shell. 

It is also known for the resin or chicle. The resin was collected furiously in the past for chewing gum until a synthetic form was developed. The wood of the tree is well known for its durability and it’s use for carving. It was used by the Maya to build lintels in their structures and some still can be found holding up doorways.  

In some cases, those lintels are all that is left, having outlasted most of the stone walls surrounding them. The site contains 34 structures and a rather new museum opened around 1998. I returned many years later to this site after hearing a museum would be built; now, I can say gratefully, it’s there. 

The Ruins of Xunantunich, located only seven miles from San Ignacio and near the village of San Jose Succotz, can provide a memorable view of the many cohune palm trees located there. A hand-drawn ferry will take you across the Mopan River to reach the ruins, which are perched on top of a hill. As you climb the hill, you’ll pass under the cohunes’ grand fronds. Due to their deep, dark, green color, they have a rather mysterious appearance. I once heard that if you wanted to discover your own ruin you should look for a large group of cohune palms.  

The Maya were very dependent on the oil they pressed from the palm nuts. The oil was used for cooking, skin, hair, healing and fuel for lamps. The nuts left whole were used to make charcoal and the husks burned for fuel. The meat can be eaten but it contains 40% fat, which is still rendered today for cooking oil and other uses. The heart of the palm is still eaten as a delicacy, especially at holidays.  

Belize’s Mayan high-rise

The name Xunantunich means iron maiden and El Castillo is its most prominent structure. El Castillo is 130 feet high and held the record as the tallest structure in Belize for many years. From a room at the top of the roof comb you can see into Guatemala. Beautiful masks surround the structure and a lot of reconstruction in recent years has helped make the masks more visible. 

Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve Is south of San Ignacio. It covers over 300 square miles of tropical pine forest, bordered by the Maya Mountains to the south. The Rio On flows through the area, providing caves and pools to explore. Some pools even have their own natural water slides. A highlight is 1,000-foot-high waterfall, spectacular in the rainy season.  

As you leave town, the Cristo Ray road winds along the Macal river, where you might glimpse some great views of the enormous bromeliads and epiphytes growing on the trees near the river. One variety, which undulates over and under the great arms of the trees, is called “devil’s guts” by the locals. As you approach the reserve, you may find yourself scratching your head a bit to see pine trees, mahogany and palm trees all growing together. If you are fortunate enough to see some of it’s resident macaws, you may become even more enchanted. The Chiquibul Road, which winds through the reserve, will eventually take you to the ruins of Caracol. The road is unpaved and access to Caracol becomes next to impossible when it rains. 

The Ruins of Caracol is in the Chiquibul National Forest within the boundaries of Caracol Natural Monument Reservation, about 53 miles south of San Ignacio. When I arrived there last, I was surprised to see a profusion of red impatiens growing from the roofs of most of the thatched roof out-buildings. It seems that one of the archaeological workers brought them there to beautify her quarters and the birds helped them to proliferate over a vast area. A nice spot to view plants and wildlife is the reservoir. Water plants dominate the area and provide a wonderland for waterfowl and small mammals.  

My favorite plant at the site could involve bird propagation, as well. It is a tree with very small peppers growing on it, near the main complex. I believe archeologists would call it a chiltepin. It could be thousands of years old. The plant may have been cultivated by ancient residents at the site. Before I saw it, I hadn’t really thought about peppers growing on trees before.  

The Sky Palace at Caracol, when discovered to be at 138 feet in height, eclipsed El Castillo at Xunantunich and broke its longstanding record of being the tallest structure by eight feet. Caracol is well known for its defeat by Lord Water of Tikal and the later defeat of Naranjo which secured Caracol’s dominance in the region until late in the 7th century A.D. The population here at its peak is estimated to have been at around 150,000. 

Wild or cultivated, Belize’s gardens are always wonderful. Their biological diversity will exceed your expectations, and you will understand why the country has become a world-class, cultural adventure destination.