4 Best Sights in Benque Viejo, The Cayo District

On private land, Actun Chechem Ha, which means "Cave of the Poisonwood Water," is a Mayan burial cave with artifacts that date back three millennia. There are many pots and a stela used for ceremonial purposes. This cave may have the largest collection of Mayan pottery in one place anywhere in Belize, possibly the world. To examine the pottery, you'll have to climb ladders, and getting to the cave requires a 35- to 45-minute walk, mostly uphill. The cave is on private property, and the landowner's family sometimes gives tours. Tour companies, with registered guides, also visit here from San Ignacio and Belmopan (BZ$150–BZ$200 per person) and include transportation, lunch, admission fee, and sometimes swimming at Vaca Falls.

Belize Magnificent Tours in San Ignacio is one recommended tour company for this trip.

Due to the hike to the cave entrance and climbing in the cave, you need to be reasonably physically fit to visit Chechem Ha. 

The mission of Benque House of Culture, one of the government-sponsored houses of culture in Belize (others are in Belize City, Orange Walk Town, Corozal Town, San Pedro, and San Ignacio/Santa Elena), is "promoting beauty and goodness." Housed in the former Benque police station, this little museum (and we do mean little) has displays on the history of Benque Viejo and also offers classes for local schoolchildren and their teachers. There is a large rosewood and mahogany marimba (a xylophone-like musical instrument) on display.

One of the most unusual and least-known attractions in Belize, Poustinia Land Art Park is a collection of about 30 original works by artists from a dozen countries, including Belize, Norway, Guyana, Brazil, Guatemala, and England, scattered about some 60 acres of a former cattle ranch. It's owned by an architect, who calls Poustinia an "environmental project." Among the works of outdoor art, which some would call funky and others fascinating, are Downtown, by Venezuelan artist Manuel Piney, and Returned Parquet, a reference to Belize's colonial history in mahogany parquet flooring by Tim Davies, a British artist. Nature is taking over the artworks, which apparently is part of the plan. Getting around the park, which is open by appointment only, requires sometimes strenuous hiking; bring insect repellent and lots of water. Make arrangements to visit the park and for a tour guide at the Benque House of Culture in Benque Viejo.

One of the most accessible Mayan sites in Belize, Xunantunich (pronounced shoo-nan-too-nitch) is located on a hilltop site above the Mopan River west of San Ignacio. You take a hand-pulled ferry across the river (it carries pedestrians and up to four vehicles) near the village of San José Succotz. The ferry is free, but tip the operator a Belizean dollar or two if you wish. Tour guides offer their services as you board the ferry, and although you do not need a guide to see the ruins, we recommend them so that you can get more information and history. After crossing the Mopan on the ferry, drive or hike about a mile to the visitor center and the ruins. Although settlement of Xunantunich occurred much earlier, the excavated structures here, in six plazas with about two-dozen buildings, date from AD 200 to 900. El Castillo, the massive 120-foot-high main pyramid and still the second-tallest structure in Belize after Caana at Caracol, was built on a leveled hilltop. The pyramid, which you can climb if you have the energy, has a spectacular 360-degree panorama of the Mopan River valley into Guatemala. On the eastern wall is a reproduction of one of the finest Mayan sculptures in Belize, a frieze decorated with jaguar heads, human faces, and abstract geometric patterns telling the story of the Moon's affair with Morning Light.