La Ruta Maya! Early one morning we headed out to the nearby San Ignacio town at the crack of dawn to experience one of Belize’s most exciting community events, La Ruta Maya. Started in 1998, La Ruta Maya is a four-day canoe race across the country by way of the Macal and Belize Rivers. Participants vary in canoe experience; from international competing professionals to the laid back folks just seeking laughs and memories. The route was once the only means of transportation between the inland and Caribbean Sea regions of Belize. The race also serves as a commemoration of Baron Bliss day, a Belizean holiday in honor of Baron Bliss, who was a traveler that willed two million dollars to Belize (then British Honduras) in the early 1900’s.
With the river banks and the Macal river bridge loaded with shouts and applause, the excitement couldn’t be held in! Hundreds of canoes everywhere: some fast, some slow, some tipping over in the commotion, frantically trying to dump out the water for a 2nd try! We cheered until the very last boat went by and still made it back in time for breakfast.
San Ignacio was bursting with commotion as spectators crammed the lower bridge across the Macal River to send off the canoes in proper Belize fashion
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