A journey into the underworld. Part 3.

Caracol is probably Belize’s premier Mayan ruins. We had spoken to several other travellers and some had skipped it because of the difficulty visiting. We heard rumours of wild, rough roads, the danger of bandits, the need to be accompanied by a military escort and the necessity to camp in a creepy abandoned town in order to be there in time for the military escort had deterred them.

We spoke to a dramatic young North American couple who had just returned from a visit, they spoke of a rough four-wheel drive track and a perilous race to keep up the military escort. Of tight corners, dangerous turns and challenging, rough roads, suitable for only the hardiest of vehicles. But they also spoke of stunning ruins, well worth the effort.

We had also read that one of the temples was so big that it had it’s own temple and plaza complex built on the roof.

We were in.

Like all good stories however, the tales of drama, rough roads and military escorts were vastly over-exaggerated. What we found when we drove to Caracol was that:

• We could depart from our comfortable campground in San Ignacio at a reasonable hour, allowing plenty of time to arrive at the military checkpoint.
• There was no need to camp in a creepy abandoned town.
• The creepy abandoned town wasn’t actually that creepy, although it did look pretty abandoned.



• The road was actually in pretty good condition. The part closest to the ruins was actually paved—if a little overgrown.
• It wasn’t actually required to leave with the military escort, you just couldn’t go any earlier than them.
• The military weren’t really on high alert, the soldiers were just as stoked to be there as we were and were mostly just taking the opportunity to snap some photos of the ruins and check out the scenery.



_{The army detachment tasked with photographing… I mean securing the ruins.}

• According to some locals we spoke to, a trip to Caracol was actually a much safer proposition than a day trip to El Pilar.

So there you go. Don’t listen to the rumours.

Although the one about the pyramid having it’s own plaza and temple complex on the roof? That one is true:

_{It might be a bit hard to believe, but this temple complex is built on top of an even larger temple. We’re impressed.}

It also happens to be the tallest structure in Belize.

Within a few days we had gone from being jaded and disinterested at Altun Ha, one of Belize’s most popular ruin sites—to standing, awe-struck on top of a temple, on top of another temple, in the mountains of Belize, excited to explore the rest of the Caracol site.

Conveniently, a morning trip to Caracol left us with plenty of time to explore some of the highlights of the surrounding Mountain Pine Ridge Reserve, including a huge limestone arch and a river consisting of several pools, waterfalls and swimming holes. Also plenty of leeches. We didn’t get any photos of these but that might be for the best as Ben would really like to be able to forget the time he was covered in dozens of hungry baby leeches.

Here’s some photos of the pleasant stuff instead:

_{1000 foot falls. Which is actually 1600 feet high. We like how Belize really under-sells some of its natural beauty.}