>> Duration:

16 Hours

>> Itinerary:

6:00 - 22:00 hrs

>> Participants:

2 - 12 Persons

 

>> Activities Included:

 

1. Visit to The Lost Jaguar Temple in the Jungle

2. Guided Tour in the Archaeological Site of Calakmul


3. Walk through the Rainforest Calakmul Biosphere


4. Travel to Bats Volcano (Optional)

>> Breakfast Included <<

 

 

 

 

1. Visit to The Lost Jaguar Temple in the Jungle

 

 

>> Lost in the Maya Jungle, the Jaguar Temple got its name because of the felines motifs decorating the frieze found inside the main pyramidal structure. His occupation takes place in the Late Preclassic Time, while its peak lies in the Classic period; in the early Post Classic Time gets its decline.


>> It has archelogical Peten Culture roots, and is located deep in a jungle area where you can enjoy nature while going walking through the site.


>> This place was found in 1990 and it has an area of ​​one square kilometer and is composed of three architectural groups -South, Central and North- although only two of them have been explored. The main structure of the southern group, organized around four squares, it is a pyramidal estructure of ten meters high.

>> The core group consists of two squares, wich only the north square has been excavated. This is where is located the frieze crowning a palace called House of the Four Kings, referring to the four characters that appear on it.
 

>> The frieze is the most important monument made of modeling polychrome stucco, with an height of 1.75 meters and a length of 16.8 meters. It was made between 550 and 650 AC. The scene represents an allegory of the order of the universe with figures of serpents and jaguars. Great iconographic wealth, reading to detail it reveals the complex conceptual world of the ancient Maya.

>> The dynastic cycle is matched to the solar cycle, in this conception, the ascension to the throne is illustrated by the king out of the jaws of the earth monster, like the sun out of the mouth of the Earth. The king's death is seen as a sunset, when it falls into the mouth of the earth monster.


 

 

>> This activity consists of a guided tour inside the Jaguar Temple Archaeological Site in which besides visiting the various monuments in this beautiful place surrounded by the lush jungle we are gonna visit the Temple of the Jaguar, this temple is the principal pyramidal base of this place as it is one of the few monuments that you can enter and know these monuments from the inside.


 >> Within this pyramidal base you can see the most important architectural piece of Maya Archeology, consisting of a frieze crowning a palace, called the House of the four kings, referring to the four characters, apparently sovereigns, appearing on the frieze and representing an allegory of the order of the universe, with figures of a saurian, snakes and jaguars, stylized and interleaved between them.

                     

 

     

 

 

 

2. Guided Tour in Calakmul Archaeological Site

 

 

Calakmul is a pre-Hispanic Mayan archaeological site, located in the nucleus of the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve a few kilometers from the border with Guatemala. The site covers approximately 70 kmē and has more than 6000 structures, Calakmul became the capital of a regional state of approximately 13000 kmē, having been, together with Tikal, El Mirador and Palenque, one of the main regional powers during the period classic of the Mayan culture.

 

The great importance of Calakmul lies in being the most important Mayan City of the Petenes in Mexico, as well as the largest Mayan City that is known, in our country in it we can find the largest and most impressive pyramids of the Mayan Culture of our country.


 

 

>> This activity consists of a guided tour within The Archeological Zone of Calakmul which besides knowing the various monuments in this beautiful place surrounded by the lush jungle of Calakmul we can visit an ancient ball game and the three main pyramidal bases that exists in the archaeological site, including the structure II which is 40 meters long by 40 meters wide by 55 meters high being the second tallest structure of the Mayan Culture in Mexico just after the pyramid of Tonina in Chiapas


>> Also you can visit and access the top of the pyramidal bases from where you can see the beautiful scenery of the ancient structures combined with the beautyfull landscapes of the Natural Biosphere Reserve

 

   

  

              

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

3. Calakmul Rainforest Biosphere Walk Through

 

 

The Calakmul Biosphere Reserve was declared a Natural Protected Area by UNESCO in 1989, is a region of rainforest that has a high biological diversity. It have been recorded 358 species of birds, 75 species of reptiles, 18 species of amphibians, 31 of fish, and about 380 species of butterflies and 86 species of mammals, among which of course the Jaguar, which has in this reserve one of the largest populations of Central America.

As for the flora, they have been accounted for some 1,500 species of plants, wich 10% are endemic to the region, also you can find many species of trees including hardwoods such as mahogany and sapodilla, which have been the cause of deforestation in the region .


The geography of the region and limestone deposits create small flood gouaches, called akalche where other types of plants such as water hyacinth, nopales, or chucum arise.


They are semi-deciduous forests where a significant percentage of vegetation loses leaf during dry season, but most preserves.

 

 

>> We will conduct a walk in the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, where you can admire the lush vegetation, a incredible ladscapes, a lot of birds, and we'll find some species in the reserve as the Monkey Spider Monkey Howler, the White-tailed Deer, The Coati The Ocellated Turkey, Small Eagles etc.


>> Also during the ride on the vehicle it can be observed some species such as The Grey Fox, and if we're lucky some felines like The Ocelot or the Jaguarundi.

 

     

 

     

 

       

 

 

 

 

4. Tour to Bats Volcano in Rainforest

(Optional)

 

 

The Bats Volcano is a daytime shelter that has a vast amount of bats of eight different species of which six are essentially insectivorous and eats fruit. This is an appropriate place for rest, reproduction and protection against natural predators. This cave is considered among the ten most important caves in the world wich conservation is a priority in Mexico.

The population of the Bats Volcano is estimated at between 800,000 and 2,300,000 individuals and these caves are rare in tropical areas such as the Yucatan Peninsula; likewise, this type of caves that serves as shelter for more than two species of bats at a time are rare, this cave accommodates 8 different species of bats making it a unique natural wonder in its kind.


Every day, at sunset, you can hear the intense buzz of millions of bats forming an spiral out of the mouth of the cave, forming an impressive cloud of bats that come out of it at the same time.

According to the BBC that has carried out films of this cavern, this "explosion" of bats only occurs in Calakmul Campeche and the Gunung National Park in Malaysia.


The main cave is about 600 meters deep and continuous underground into the cave about 400 meters from the entrance where is located a rock from and water flows of it.


One of a kind with this beautiful show we close our excursion into one of the most beautiful and important places for conservation in the region.

 

 

>> We will carry out a small hike in the jungle of Calakmul to the entrance of The Bats Volcano and wait for the sunset to observe as they come out of the cave, also if we are lucky we will see some of their predators like hawks and snakes waiting outside of the cave to hunt them.

 

   

 

              

 

 

 

 

2 Persons:

$3100 MXN P.P

Bat Volcano Optional

3 - 7 Persons:

$2800 MXN P.P

Includes Bat Volcano

8 - 12 Persons:

$2700 MXN P.P

Includes Bat Volcano

 

Minors From 6 to 12 Years:

$2700 MXN P.P

 

 

>> Conservation fees are per person and Includes the following:

 

>> Transportation Hotel - Jaguar Temple - Calakmul Archaeological Site - Bat Cave - Hotel

 

>> Regional Breakfast Included

Includes; 1 Main Dish (Different Type of Eggs, Chilaquiles or Pancakes) and Fruit Water

>> Entrance to Calakmul  Archaeological Site

>> Entrance to the Museum of Biodiversity

>> Walk Throw Calakmul Rainforest Biosphere

>> Bats Volcano Trip for 2 Persons is Optional and Has Aditional cost of $100 MXN P.P


 

 

 

> Departing Points <

Bacalar Hotels

Chetumal Hotels

 

 

 

>> Conservation Fees help us to keep our conservation projects, to help to protect  the Biodiversity and Nature of the Rainforest and its amazing biodiversity

 

 

 

 

 

       

            

 

 

 

 

Balam Ku