Gas ~$5/gl in Belize vs ~$3 in Guatemala. All prices here are quoted in US$ (=2B$)
11/28, day 11. At the big Belize immigration building, a guy by the door gave me a form, and checked it after I filled it. It asks how long and where I'd be staying. At the counter, they took the form, stamped it and my passport and gave me the bottom 1/3.
There's a large billboard on the wall listing taxi prices from here. $7.5 to Xuanantunich ($10 to San Ignacio). I asked to be dropped off at the ferry. Maybe the price includes all the way to the park. The ferry is free. Two guys operating the ferry parked it on the other side of the river (in the shade). They saw me walking there and moved the ferry to me. It's a very short ride, and the cranking of the cable is fairly easy, as I asked to try it, and ended up moving the ferry all the way to the other side with just one hand. Don't know why you need 2 employees here. One of them talked to me in perfect English. Great, I won't have language problems.
I walked 1 mile uphill to Xuanantunich ruin. A large restroom building, a couple of vehicles in the big parking lot. Then the ticket office ($5). I left my pack behind the bench in the empty visitor center. This is not a big site. I only walked in Group A. There're B, C and D, but not excavated. Cannot see the outline of those. 
The view above El Castillo is excellent, can see all the countryside around. More cultivated here. No jungles. Belize ruin restoration has steps leading to various parts, no wooden steps scaffolding the pyramids. Saw a few small guided groups (1-4 people). One guy from California commented that the steps here are easier (not as big) than in Guatemala, as I was passing him on my way down. When a large group arrived, I left. Walked back to the ferry. As I walked on the ferry, the California guy and his guide in a big van pulled in behind me. Back on the road, I asked if he could give me a ride to San Ignacio (on his way to Belize City), he declined.
I hailed for a collectivo. A car pulled over. I inquired about the price, he said it's free. It turns out that he's recruiting clients for his brother who owns Maximum Adventure Tours next to the hotel I'd be staying. It was closed when we arrived. I checked into Venus Hotel at 11:30. It was in the process of remodeling, dust everywhere. I Googled the tour company and found good reviews on tripadvisor. So, I decided to buy tours there. In the two blocks of pedestrian-only street, there're 4-5 tour agencies. All offer the same tours, same price. Max finally showed up. $80 for ATM cave, $85 for Caracol, cash. The latter was still pending until the evening, when 2 others signed up.
I went to Cenaida for lunch, recommended by the hotel receptionist. Happy with the choice. I had the traditional stewed chicken with rice and beans, a tiny salad ($3.5) + coconut water ($1.5).
Walked to the local Mayan site Cahal Pech ($5). Not worth going. About a mile. Too hot to walk. I carried my umbrella. Did see one independent tourist like me, without a guide. The site is small, no tall structures, so no views. There's, again, lawnmower noise, and some mosquitoes.
Around 4:40, sun was low enough, I walked to Midas Resort (a sister property of Venus Hotel) to use its pool. Nice looking hotel on the edge of town, more catered to people with a car. I didn't like the walk much, but liked the pool. No one in the pool. It's only 4' deep, so safe. Clay lizards adorned the walls. Quite cute. A bar. 3 ladies sat by the pool, under an umbrella, not drinking anything.
I walked back to town via Guava Limb, rated #1 restaurant on tripadvisor. Empty, maybe too early. Nice setup. Fancy menu. 
Continued my walk to town, ended eating at Erva, rated #2 on tripadvisor. Similar price. They had one table occupied, by a Dutch couple. The bartender was talkative, gave me some pineapple cocktail smoothy, and invited all 3 of us to the kitchen to see the chef preparing our dishes. I had coconut barracuda ($12.5). I like the vegetable and rice cooked in coconut juice, but the fish was too salty, overcooked, and didn't taste fresh.
11/29, day 12, Wednesday. Cloudy. 8am tour to Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM cave). No photo of the tour, because we were instructed to leave everything in the car. No camera allowed in the cave. I borrowed a pair of watershoes from the office, which turned out to be very useful. Everyone else is late. Thanks to the proximity of my hotel to the agency, I was able to fetch things from my room twice. We had 7 in the van (a young couple from Ohio, a retired couple from Long Island, a mid-aged couple from Toronto). AC in full blast. Same as my previous experience, the first stop is to fill gas. At the turn off from Western Highway, we were joined by a German couple (from Cologne) staying in Belmopan (picked up by another guide) who were on their retirement trip. They paid $120, instead of the standard price of $95 from San Ignacio.
If you've never been to a wet cave, you are in for an adventurous treat. If you have, this is nothing special. To get to the cave entrance, you need to walk about 1km flat trail, and wade 3 streams. We are required to put on life jacket and helmet (neither is necessary). First river crossing is just steps from the parking lot (park fee is $15, included in the package). This is the deepest. A rope is strung across, so it's easy to pull through even if you cannot swim. The other 2 are only ankle deep. Water looked clean, colorful bed rocks.
You swim into the cave, but afterwards, mostly you wade. We separated into 2 groups. The max allowed is 8 per guide. We are forbidden to bring anything into the cave. Need to leave the water bottle outside. The guide makes sure your safety and the preservation of the cave. He carries extra batteries for the provided head lamp. The lesser importance is explaining the geology and history. At the end of about 45 minutes wading, we had to leave shoes behind, and walk up a chamber, or multiple chambers where broken clay pots are lying around in the dry section. We were instructed in walk between colored tapes, so not to be too close to the artifacts. Total we saw 4 skeletons, lots of pots. We did see a small hole with bats. I like the guide, he tried to explained the hypothesis of these remains: ritual, possibly for rain. The more recent relics are deeper in the cave. I enjoyed scrambling in the cave.
When we returned to the parking lot, we were fed a stewed chicken lunch with rice and beans, and rum punch, both are tasty. A very late lunch, as my group doesn't have the most agile tourists, and we started later. I saw maybe 20-30 other tourists. This is not high season. On the drive out, as we passed an orange grove, the Toronto couple and the NY wife wanted to pick oranges. Our drive actually stopped and let them out. Here's a proof.
I walked to Macal River as the sun set. It's right next to the market, close to downtown. This market is not big, don't have any interesting produce. 
For dinner, I went to Ko-ox Han Nah (Let's Go Eat), also rated high on tripadvisor. More casual. I had coconut rice and stewed beans (almost like a soup in a separate bowl) to accompany my protein (beef). Note, this is the standard beans and rice dish, not to be confused with rice and beans:) If you order rice and beans, beans are solid and cooked together the rice. They add a 12.5% tax to the bill. Not sure if it's legit.
11/30, day 13, Thursday. Overcast. 7:30 Tour to Caracol. Again, I had to wait for the others. The ride is quite bumpy and longer (SW of San Ignacio near Guatemala border). Same driver (Edwin) as yesterday. We were 7 tourists: a couple from Ashford, WA, a Japanese girl, a boy from southern England, a boy from Lyon, and a girl who didn't talk to anyone. Leo, our guide, introduced some fancy resorts on Mountain Pine Ridge, including Francis Coppola's Blancaneaux Lodge. We only saw the signs at the road turnoff. All the Caribbean Pines we saw here are small. Mainly due to the 1949 fire and the bark beetles (1999-2003). 
9:30am, at Douglas D'Silva's military checkpoint. I wasn't allowed to take a photo, so took one from the van. This is a ghost town being fixed. Can camp here. There's also a Dutch jungle training site here. We didn't have any army escort, drove to the ruin without any incident. Leo also mention the conflict with neighboring Guatemala peasants, the halt of tourism development here.
Caracol is an expansive city covering nearly 6 square miles and rivaling Tikal in size and power. In the heart of the Chiquibul Forest Reserve, it's said to be only 1% excavated. So what we saw today is only 3 interconnected parts. Doesn't seem large. 
At its peak, with over 150,000 inhabitants and 30,000 structures, including an astronomical observatory, ball courts, plazas, reservoirs (see photo to the left). Caana pyramid (Sky Temple) is the highest man-made building in Belize to this day, ~135 feet above the courtyards below. The stela in the right photo depicts the very first king of Caracol.
Leo participated in excavation many years ago. Good to hear about it. He also pointed out why one relief replica was done wrong.
Lunch is the same as yesterday, plus a watermelon slice. The stewed chicken is very tasty. Belizean stewed meat uses achiote seeds which has a great flavor and has a curry like yellow color. I inquired about the food. Was told that they source from some local lady, not from any restaurant.
In Caracol, I saw many Fishtail Xate, with strange stick-like flowers. Their leaves have oil, can be made into cooking and soap.
On the drive out, saw a turkey crossing the road. A bit too far to get a good look.
After checking out at Douglas D'Silva's military post, we turned left (west?) for ~5 minutes to Rio Frio Cave, the largest cave opening in Belize. Very nice. There's a creek running through. You can also see the other end. Yes, a short but big cave.
Continue back north through the Pine Ridge area, we did another short detour to Rio On Pools, a series of natural swimming holes. 
As it wasn't hot, no one intended to swim. We went to take pictures. I changed to my sandals, left my pack on a rock, and wade into the pools. At one crossing, the current is a bit strong, so I turned back. A couple of minutes later, I heard a scream, the Japanese girl got swept away right there. Leo caught her somewhere lower. Edwin and I rushed there too, but she was jammed. Leo told us to go to the other side of the water. I tried to cross that current gingerly, but got swept away too. However, I managed to grab on some rock soon and climb out. 
Edwin found a better crossing further upstream, so I also crossed there. We were able to pull the girl out of the current this direction. Her ankle maybe twisted. At least she can walk, no major damage. However, her camera is gone, and her purse was filled with water. Thanks to the lanyard that I tied my phone case to my neck, even though I got soaked, I still had my phone. But I was stupid: should have left my phone on the rock with my bag before this rescue mission. It got wet and had some brain damage.
Back in town at 6pm. My phone showed 9/9, 12:34am, and was complaining about charging from non compliant charger, without connected to anything. I left the phone's back open, took out the battery, placed it in front of the fan, and went out to eat. Had stewed beef at Cenaida with rice and beans. The rice didn't have enough coconut flavor. Beef was good. Had the national Belkin beer (stout). Was ok. Rained a couple of times tonight.
Overall, I like San Ignacio. It's a small town, even though it's the 2nd largest city in Belize. It feels genuine, despite of all the tourists here. No McDonald's alike. A healthy mix of ethnic groups, including Asian (often operate small grocery stores), Garifuna blacks, and Mennonites. A convenient base to explore the caves and ruins. There're a lot more caves and waterfalls, if you have your own vehicle.
