Belize is home to several important Maya archeological sites. Cerros is the closest Maya site to Orchid Bay. The bayside temple at Cerros is estimated to have been built around 50 AD.

While most of the site remains unexcavated, it includes pyramids and ball courts common to many Maya sites. Cerros also includes a canal network and raised fields.

Did the Maya predict the end of the world? The Maya calendar measured time and predicted celestial events not only during the height of their empire, but for thousands of years into the future. Recently, much has been made of the fact the Maya calendar ends on December 21, 2012.

Many records of the Maya astronomers were destroyed by Catholic priests in the 1500s. The study of remaining documents and hieroglyphs as well as information recorded by early European explorers has expanded our understanding of Maya culture and astronomy, but much of its meaning remains undiscovered.

Maya mathematics, celestial observations and notation are impressively accurate. The Maya devised methods of time keeping, based on long term celestial observation, and reached a level of accuracy surpassed only by modern scientists.

In the absence of more complete records researchers are at a loss to identify the motivation behind the Maya calendar. Were the Maya motivated by a quest for knowledge similar to the Greeks who made their observations at a similar point in history? Or, were they motivated by their belief systems? Were they precisely observing, measuring and predicting celestial events as a way of way of proving their belief in the cyclic nature of life? We don’t know.

We do know they used their ability to measure time and celestial movement to predict everything from planting seasons to lunar and solar eclipses. Does the end of the Maya calendar predict the end of time or did they carry their measurements to a specific point in time to reach numbers meaningful and sacred to them?

The Maya saw path of the Sun in relationship to other celestial bodies as the Sacred Tree. On December 21, 2012, the winter solstice sun will be at a crossing point with the center of the Milky Way. The Maya considered the Milky Way to be the "Heart of the Sky."

In Maya mythology, this alignment allows for the ascension up the Sacred Tree through the dark cleft in Milky Way to the afterlife.