The Mayan face

Out of all the stories I have written about in my blog, the one that has seemed to touched a nerve was my small story I wrote April 21st on the missing Mayan face. A neighbor in the Shores, Tom, commented from Atlanta, that he had seen it the last time he was here in January. A few others had seen it over time and were aware it was there, but most of the recent times, it had been obscured by the overgrown brush. But early this year I had the front of the lot cleared of the brush and trees that had begun to overtake the seafront. It was then that the Mayan face was exposed to the sea, once again. But it was also exposed to everyone that visits our lot and uses our seawall to fish, swim or whatever.

Everyone that has commented to me, whether through the blog or to me, personally, all lament the loss of the Consejo Mayan face. We have several Mayan ruins here in the Consejo area, most of them are now just overgrown dirt mounds. But there are areas throughout Belize that still have original pottery, carved designs and even a few Mayan bones that have been undisturbed for 500 years or more. I just hope as more people visit this beautiful country of Belize, that they realize that these treasures are here for all of us to enjoy. Take pictures, write about them, tell your friends about them, but please, leave them there for others to enjoy. If everyone that visits these wonderful places takes just one shard of pottery, one bone or in my case, a Mayan carving, we all lose, as these treasures will be gone forever. So, where ever you visit, please respect the local country and leave these artifacts undisturbed.

Have You Seen Me? The Missing Mayan Face.

When we first purchased our lot in Consejo, I happened upon a Mayan face carved into the stone at the seafront portion of our lot. He seemed to be looking out over the bay. What was he looking for? How long had he been keeping watch over the bay?

The upper portion of his limestone face had been eroded over the course of time, but the nose, lips and chin were still clearly visable. I was looking forward to preserving this reminant of the Mayan past and incorporating it into our beachside plans.

Unfortunately, someone else also had plans for our Mayan face. I came back this April, only to find someone had removed the stone carving. It was here in December '08 when I took these pictures, but is it now gone forever. Never to look over the bay that he has probably gazed upon, for over a half of a millenium.

Sorry to say, but he's probably sitting on a shelf, in somebodys' home, overlooking a 42 inch Plasma TV. What an end to my reminant of the Mayan past.