We were invited to the Mopan River Resort to attend a wedding, but the location could not have been better if we had had the location hand-picked just for us. The adventures, the food, the setting were all spectacular. We stayed for eight days as Mopan guests and then travelled to the southern coast for a few days on the beach.

The Mopan driver picked us up at the Belize Airport and gave us a running tour of the country as we travelled from the lowlands into the hills of the Mopan River. The resort owner, Kim, greeted us at the ferry, and brought us up to the lodge for our first Banana Velvet and a relax after our long day of travel. We stayed in a thatch roof cabana at the edge of the jungle and looking out on the river.

Our days at Mopan started early with a choice of breakfasts cooked for us. I think I tried everything; it's all good, but don't miss the cinnamon buns. 7:00 seemed too early at first, but soon I found myself waking up to the morning jungle sounds. Then it was off to the ferry for the day's tour; 8:29 sharp. After a day's tour it was time for relaxing and yacking with guests in the lodge. Supper was always spectacular, with a different international theme every night.

The tours were amazing, I kept thinking that the latest tour was the best, and then having to revise that thought as the next tour proved better. Here's what we were able to do and see:

Xunantunich Maya Ruins is about 2Km from the resort; in fact there is only a single property block between the resort's back acreage and the ruin site. The hand-crank ferry was unique. Later that afternoon we went kayaking down the river. It is moderately slow-moving with quick rapids every 500m thereabouts. So much fun that I kayaked again later in the week.

We visited Barton Creek Cave in the morning. In canoes we paddled up a slow jungle stream and entered a tall cave opening. We were able to paddle through the cave for about 1Km until the roof became low enough that we could not continue without bumping the stalactites. We saw a few bats, an Mayan skull and a couple of Mayan pots. On our trip back we stopped at a butterfly farm.

Tikal was the long day. We got up at 6:00 to breakfast and 7:00 we were off to visit Tikal Mayan ruin in the neighbouring country, Guatemala. Is is an amazingly large city covering 50 acres or more. There are several large temples that we could climb, including one that I needed a ladder to go up. Renee even climbed one of the large temples. The view of the jungle canopy was spectacular.

Cave tubing day! Here the river flows through the mountains in cave tunnels. We hiked up and drifted down through the caverns through large galleries. There were few side passages, but being in a group, I was not able to explore them. Having the dive light along was great for seeing into all the interesting corners.

We visited the Che Chem Ha pottery cave. This cave had been undisturbed 2000 years or more. The Mayans had stored food and water supplies in large clay pots on the high ledges of the cave. Twenty years ago, a young man was hiking with his dog. When the dog followed a rabbit-like animal into a hole, the boy followed it to help. This same man became Belize's premier cave conservationist and explorer, and he was able to lead us through his cave.

The morning of the wedding we visited Cahal Pech, called "place of ticks" by the explorer who found it. This ruin featured several tunnels and ancient Mayan homes. There was also a couple of active archeological digs in progress. It was interesting to see the pottery shards, shells and carvings that the archeologists had uncovered just that day.

On our last day we went to the larger town 20 minutes away to see their Saturday market. There were a hundred stalls selling used clothes, farm produce, fruit, spices, un-refrigerated meat, vegetables, tools and everything else. I bought a new hat and some cashew wine, and Renee bought a top and some other bits. Later Renee had a massage, and I went for a hike along the jungle perimeter of the resort property. I saw an ant hill the size of a room and now I have a whole new layer of insect bites. I also saw a poison-wood tree; it's sap is deadly, if you get any on you it will instantly cause your skin to blister. I also saw a bunch of new butterflies, bugs and caterpillars.

Then our trip continued to the Belize coast. We were sad to leave the Mopan River Resort, but excited to see the beach and the barrier reef. I'm sure we will be back at Mopan sometime soon.