Since it was installed in 1975, the old hand-cranked Succotz Ferry has probably served more visitors to Xunantunich than McDonalds has served burgers.
And while it is quaint - it's also out-dated - and the motorized Succotz Ferry 2.0 was launched today.
It is longer and can carry more weight. It was replaced with funds from the Sustainable Tourism Programme - and at the launching today, the programme's director told the Press Office more:..
Christy Mastry, Sustainable Tourism Project
"Today we launched the new ferry that will now hold up to 4 small autos and 2 of the minivans than come across over to the Xunantunich site. It's really exciting for us, the old ferry is incredibly historical, it's been working for 37 years all on a hand crank and we mention the long line of people who did the cranking over the many years. It's really exciting to be uniting history and culture, the tourism sector and a lot of the really active local communities in the area because it's really been involvement in the STP with the twins towns of Santa Elena and San Ignacio and now Benque Del Carmen and especially now San Jose Succotz which is really the home of the ferry and where we will establish the old ferry as a landmark at the entrance to the town itself."
The new ferry costs $142 thousand dollars and was constructed by Cayo Steel Works.
The old Ferry was built in 1975 by Escander Bedran Sr.
It transported around 50, 000 visitors a year and up to 300 visitors a day on peak visitor days.
Email
Print