MACAL RIVER ESTATES
About The Estate
Macal River Estate is located on the out skirts of Cristo Rey Village, 3 miles from San Ignacio, and on the road to the Mountain Pine Ridge.
The owner bought this property back in 2008. It was developed into lots and a model home was built on lot 5. The property has utilities (water, electric and septic) installed including access to an optic fiber network.
The property is located on the road to The Mountain Pine Ridge a national forest with great attractions like Caracol and 1000 feet falls attracting thousands of tourists and locals every year.
Cristo Rey
Charming little village of Mezito population that is home to several off-the-beaten-path hidden gems.
The people of Cristo Rey are warm and genuine. Laughter and camaraderie are commonplace throughout the village, and a general air of happiness and contentment can be felt as you pass through.
Mountain Pine Ridge
The Mountain Pine Ridge Forest, also known as “Pine Ridge” to the locals, is a native Belizean pine forest that is quite different from other forests in Belize and has some very majestic views. There are a variety of activities to see or do, including:
- Rio Frio Cave
- 1000 ft Falls, the tallest in Central America
- Rio On Pools
- Carocal Mayan Ruins
Cayo District
The town was originally named El Cayo by the Spanish. On 19 October 1904, El Cayo was officially declared a town by the government of British Honduras. In the past a creek ran between the Macal and the Mopan rivers one mile outside San Ignacio going toward Benque Viejo. This creek then fulfilled the definition of an area of land completely surrounded by water and thus the name Cayo, “island”. There was a large wooden bridge across this creek in the late 1940s, but since the creek eventually dried up, the area was filled with limestone gravel and today there remains no evidence of its existence. The demise of the creek, however, took away the distinction for the classification of a ‘cayo’ from the venerable western town of ‘El Cayo’ and returned it to a regular land mass.
Belize is a celebration of diversity. And perhaps nowhere is this more evident than in the Cayo District, the Caribbean’s truly wild West. As the largest district in Belize, Cayo is home to some 53,000 people and takes in more than 2,000 square miles of tropical forest, rolling hills, rich pasture land, vibrant rivers and an amazing assortment of Maya archaeological sites.
San Ignacio
San Ignacio is a town in the Cayo District of western Belize, on the banks of the Macal River. It’s linked to the town of Santa Elena by the metal suspension Hawksworth Bridge. On a hill south of town are the Mayan ruins of Cahal Pech, abandoned in the 9th century. There is a small museum amid the plazas and temples. Nearby, the Rainforest Medicine Trail explores the medicinal properties of indigenous plants.
San Ignacio is surrounded by lush broadleaf jungle and rolling hills. What’s not so apparent is that this jungle is sitting on the limestone remains of ancient coral reefs uplifted from the nearby Caribbean Sea millions of years ago.
San Ignacio is a one-of-a-kind border town with Guatemala, a unique mix of culture, also home to a harmonious mixture of Creole, Maya, Mestizo, Garifuna, Chinese, East Indian, European and other ethnic groups. Known as the breadbasket of Belize, Cayo produces much of the country’s dairy, meat and agricultural products, from the traditional citrus, bananas, maize and vegetables, to newcomers such as mozzarella cheese and pastrami. The Mennonite farming community of Spanish Lookout supplies an abundance of poultry and other produce, and the many small family farms keep local markets and shops supplied. However, eco-tourism is now a mainstay of the economy, and Cayo is slowly becoming one of the Caribbean/Central American region’s most vibrant tourism destinations.
