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Central American and the Carribean




Coppola's

Mundo Maya

Acclaimed motion picture director, writer and producer Francis Ford Coppola's new La Lancha Lodge near the great Mayan citadel of Tikal adds a new link to the concept of Mundo Maya, the World of the Maya, and makes it comfortably accessible to the dedicated tourist.

By Rod Lopez-Fabrega



In 682A.D., a time when Europe was overrun by barbarian tribes and in its darkest ages, priest/king Ah Kacau came to power as ruler of a vast city-state that was at the apex of a culture already 1,000 years old, with an advanced knowledge of mathematics and astronomy and great achievements in architecture and fine art--but, curiously, no knowledge of the wheel. That city-state was Tikal, and the place was an area including parts of present day Belize and Guatemala. The accession to power of King Ah Kacau and his queen, Lady Xoc, marked the beginning of the splendid Classic Age of the Mayan civilization.



Today, it is possible to visit the site of this great metropolis in the Petén rainforest of Guatemala as well as the competing city-state of Caracol in western Belize and many other spectacular Mundo Maya sites. Mundo Maya is a promising concept intended to make the citadels of this ancient culture more accessible to tourism and archaeology within the five Central American countries that were the world of the Maya: Mexico and the Yucatan, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and part of El Salvador. While Mundo Maya is still only a concept, Coppola Resorts comes close to making it a reality with its trilogy of elegant and imaginative lodges. These stretch from two properties in Belize, Turtle Inn on the Caribbean coast and Blancaneaux Lodge in the western highlands to the brand new La Lancha Lodge near Tikal just across the Belize border into Guatemala. Unconfirmed rumor hints that a fourth Coppola Resort is being considered near Copán in Honduras.



Turtle Inn Revisited

The Turtle Inn (use this link for more information), actually Francis Ford Coppola's second hideaway in Belize is like walking into a motion picture set. The inn is a tribute to Mr. Coppola's interest and love for Southeast Asia--possibly stemming from the films he has made there. For the construction of this unusual resort, Mr. Coppola brought in craftsmen from Indonesia, and he and his wife personally chose lush fabrics, carvings and furnishings from Bali to turn Turtle Inn into a fantasy--a sort of Bali West. Located on the Placencia Peninsula along the Caribbean coast of Belize, the inn sits among the mangroves defining a coastline facing the world's second longest barrier reef. With its own dock and PADI-certified diving personnel, Turtle Inn is an excellent base for exploring the undersea world of the great reef.



More importantly for the Mundo Maya explorer, it is a good base for visiting Lubaantum, "The Place of Fallen Stones". A late classic ceremonial center, it was one of the last major sites before the tragic and puzzling collapse of the Maya world. Noted among archaeologists for its dry masonry, unlike the highly finished architecture of more western Mayan sites, Lubaantum also has drawn international attention in recent years as the site where the mysterious--and controversial--crystal skull was found. This amazing artifact is a life-sized skull carved out of clear quartz crystal and having required sculpting technology thought to be beyond the reach of the ancient Maya or even of today's craftsman. Speculations regarding its origins slide into science fiction, but the reality remains unproven. The skull itself is now hidden away in private hands in Canada. One tour offered by Turtle Creek includes both Lubaantum, the ceremonial Mayan site of Nim Li Punit and lunch with a Mayan family.



Blancaneaux Lodge Revisited

Blancaneaux Lodge (use this link for more information) is Francis Ford Coppola's first lodge, originally purchased as an escape for himself and his family and later greatly expanded and improved as a resort for paying guests at the urgings of visiting friends who were impressed by the beauty of the remote property and its location in the interior highlands of Belize. The property is actually within the Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve--once containing a unique tropical pine forest, now devastated by a recent beetle infestation--but still lush under its rainforest canopy. It would be accurate to say that, "a river runs through it". The property stretches along the Privassion River and draws its 24-hour electricity from its own hydroelectric power station.

Blancaneaux offers lush accommodations spaced along the hillside and down many steps from the reception and dining spaces to the river's banks. (Note that some seniors may find all these steps a challenge.) Accommodations include riverside cabanas, garden cabanas, six luxurious two-bedroom villas, each with a Japanese-inspired bathroom, soaring hardwood and hand-woven ceilings, spacious verandas open to the forest, a kitchenette and all the amenities of a many-star hotel. The Francis Coppola Villa adds a family-size dining area seating up to 14 people and is available when Mr. Coppola and his family are not in residence.



Of special pride at Blancaneaux are its gardens, a full-scale farm where the lodge grows all the vegetables and many of the fruits for its restaurant. The project, fully staffed with six gardeners, has drawn international attention as well as that of the Belize government as a guide toward more efficient and ecologically sound methods of farming than the destructive "slash and burn" used traditionally in Mundo Maya. Additionally, full control of its produce allows Blancaneaux to serve its guests fresh salads and legumes that are as safe to eat as those from their supermarkets back home.



Tours and Activities at Blancaneaux

Blancaneaux is totally TV-free, of course, but without that distraction, there is plenty to do outdoors. A variety of tours are offered, and these range from horseback trail rides in the rainforest to a self-guided one-and-one-half-hour hike to the Big Rock Falls on the Privassion River (with picnic lunch) to a canoe trip traveling almost two miles into a remote cave once used by the ancient Mayans as a burial site and for ceremonial purposes. Tours also are offered to various Mayan archaeological sites, among them Xunantunich and a somewhat arduous trip to Tikal in Guatemala (more about that later).

For its guests to unwind from this or other outdoor activities and excursions, Blancaneaux has added its Waterfall Spa on the premises. Prasert, a resident expert from Thailand offers a variety of Southeast Asian massages and treatments.



Caracol

One of the most important and least visited sites in all of Belize is also the closest to Blancaneaux. That is the ancient metropolis of Caracol, known to the ancient Mayans as Oxhuitza. Formerly accessible during dry season on a difficult two-hour-plus drive on a pitted, rocky dirt road from Blancaneaux, the road has been greatly improved, and the site is now accessible year-round on a pleasant one-hour drive from the lodge.

Caracol was one of the largest ancient Mayan cities of the Classic Period. It had an estimated peak population of as many as 180,000 people around 700 A.D. One monument on the site records a military victory over the army of the great city-state of Tikal in 562. Today, the explored portions of Caracol cover 30-square miles of thick, high-canopy jungle. Over 35,000 buildings have been identified, and these include five plazas, an astronomical observatory and a number of pyramids--among them Belize's tallest structure. The central core consists of three plaza groups surrounding a central acropolis and two ball courts, along with a number of smaller structures. There are over 40 monuments dated between 485 to 889 and recording the dynastic sequence of Caracol's rulers.



The site is still being excavated by various U.S. universities. Archaeological excavations are conducted during dry season, and it is interesting at any time to see the archaeologists' base camp and to understand that the overall objective is to protect the structures from inevitable erosion by wind and rain and jungle growth and the ravages of artifact hunters. This is being accomplished by clearing choking vegetation from the towering structures, surfacing them with new bricks to protect the underlying surfaces and covering priceless friezes and sculpted reliefs with exact Fiberglas reproductions.



La Lancha, the new Coppola Resort

Coppola Resorts' newest property is La Lancha, located a short distance away from the incomparable Mayan metropolis of Tikal in Guatemala (use this link for more information). Inaugurated in December of 2003, La Lancha is located on the shores of Guatemala's spectacular Lake Petén Itzá approximately a one-half-hour drive from the entrance to Tikal. Designed to Coppola standards, La Lancha provides one or two night's lodgings either as a destination unto itself or as part of Coppola Resort's new three-lodge package that includes Turtle Inn on the coast, Blancaneaux Lodge in the western highlands, and now La Lancha near Tikal in Guatemala.

It is a small property with ten sparklingly groomed rooms, a swimming pool, a dock for water activities in and around the lake, and a soaring open-air public space for dining and for enjoying the splendid view of the lake in the company of abundant bird life. This nature spectacle includes brightly plumed parrots, toucans, the rare motmot and, on occasion, a late night serenade by two neighboring bands of howler monkeys, a rousing experience for the uninitiated. Dining here is an adventure in local Guatemalan cuisine, unlike Blancaneaux which features a more international menu.



Parts of the lodge are still under construction as this is written, and to some extent, La Lancha is still a work in progress; but it is one with great potential and a real haven for visitors to Tikal. Here is the way manager Elvin Requena explains progress at La Lancha, "We are not doing any real finesse finishing right now because we are waiting for Mr. Coppola. He and his wife are the ones who come up with all the ideas for the lodge. His wife does all the decorations, the rooms, the gift shop, everything."

La Lancha can arrange for tours to various points of interest in the area, but most people come for the big one: Tikal.



Tikal

With six square miles of excavated sites to explore, a minimum of two days is required to visit Tikal. There are day trips from Guatemala City, and for those really pressed for time, it is possible but exhausting, to do the visit in one day by air from Belize City. A must for visitors when beginning the tour of Tikal is to hire a knowledgeable guide on site to explain the complex Mayan culture as he conducts them through a sampling of this remarkable site. La Lancha tour packages will include an approved guide.

One of the greatest ceremonial centers of the Maya, Tikal had its origins around 900-300 B.C. The great metropolis of Tikal did not come into its glory days until the Late Classic period (600-850 A.D.) along with Calakmul and Palenque in today's Mexico and Copán in what is now Honduras, before being abandoned for unknown reasons around 900 AD.

"Today's visitor to Tikal sees impressive Early Classic structures such as the recently restored Lost World Pyramid and portions of the Northern Acropolis and the royal necropolis. The site's dominant character, however, comes from its Late Classic architecture in the Great Plaza and adjoining areas. Here tall pyramidal structures reach over the top of rainforest canopy, flanked by extensive, low lying palace structures of limestone with corbel vaulted rooms." (Athena Review, Vol.2, no.2. GeorgeWisner)

For visitors it is mind-boggling when walking through the broad avenues of Tikal under the shade of the ever encroaching rainforest to understand that all of this once was cleared of trees by the ancient Mayans. The entire city was built on huge elevated plazas, with its monumental buildings plastered and painted in brilliant colors. Neighborhoods were connected by great causeways, and the effect must have been truly awesome. But the ancients may have paid a price for this splendor. One theory about the precipitous collapse of Tikal is that the fragile rainforest ecology was destroyed in part by the over-harvesting of lumber required for fuel to burn the lime to make the enormous quantities of plaster used by the Mayan architects.



Travel Options

U.S. Airways serves 26 cities throughout the Caribbean plus service to and from eleven major capitals in Europe and 17 states in the United States. U.S. Airways service to Belize is from its Charlotte, North Carolina hub to Belize City with several daily flights.(Despite of its current economic difficulties, U.S. Airways is still very much in the air and is fully committed to honoring its commitments to its passengers. Reports are that it may drop some of its European gateways and will enhance its Caribbean destinations.)

Coppola Resorts will provide land transfers between all its three lodges, and at additional cost can provide air transfers on Sofia, its private aircraft. For the adventurous, reliable public bus transportation is available from Belize City to San Ignacio in the vicinity of Blancaneaux Lodge.

The best option for those with limited time is to fly Tropic Air, Belize's regional airline, providing prompt, courteous, scheduled small-plane service to most of the major cities and towns in Belize as well as two daily flights from Belize City directly to Flores, Guatemala, the closest city to Tikal. Founded in 1979, it is the first regional airline in Belize and flies state-of-the-art Cessna Caravans. In addition to flying internationally to Tikal in Guatemala, Tropic Air has scheduled flights from Belize City to San Pedro, Caye Caulker, Placencia, Dangriga, Corozal, Orange Walk and Cayo inside Belize. For those with more time to explore Belize, Tropic Air offers a series of packaged tours to all of its destinations and their many attractions.

One suggested strategy for getting to Tikal is to fly Tropic Air from Belize City to Placencia (Turtle Inn), rely on ground transfer from Turtle Inn to Blancaneaux Lodge, then rely on ground transfer from Blancaneaux Lodge to cross the border to La Lancha in Guatemala. Yet another option for those whose main interest is in Tikal is to fly on Tropic Air directly from Belize City to Flores Airport in Guatemala, close to Tikal, with accommodations at La Lancha, at Flores hotels or at the excellent Camino Real Resort at Lake Petén Itzá. The most rapid and convenient return to Belize City from Flores to connect with your U.S. Airways flight back home is on one of Tropic Air's two daily one-hour flights.



Be aware that crossing the border into Guatemala requires the payment of a Belize exit tax and departing from Guatemala back into Belize requires payment of a Guatemala exit tax. Then, even for transit passengers, departing Belize for the United States requires payment of yet another Belize exit tax.

Useful Contact Information:

Francis Ford Coppola Resorts: info@blancaneaux.com; www.blancaneaux.com; U.S. Toll Free 1-800-746-3743

Tropic Airlines: www.tropicair.com; Toll Free 1-800-422-3435

U.S. Airways: www.usairways.com; Toll Free 1-800-622-1015 (International)

Photo Credits: Rod Lopez-Fabrega; Mary Ashcraft; Contributed; Tikal photos courtesy of:
McKenzie Studios; Jorge Perez de Lara


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© 2004 ROMAR TRAVEL GUIDES