Day 4

Another awesome day in Belize! We began with an early breakfast followed by a long and extremely bumpy/ rough drive. After about an hour we arrived at Rio Frio Cave. While we went to a cave yesterday, this was completely different, as it's only about 3/4 of a mile long with wide openings on both ends. It was absolutely beautiful!























After leaving the cave, we drove a couple of miles to a military stop where the driver/ guide had to check in. Because this area is on the border of Guatemala, a number of people will try to sneak into Belize and steal resources, including lumber and a particular plant (it continues to grow for 45 days after it is cut). As a result, a military convoy escorts groups to the Caracol site, which was another 17 miles up the rocky road. We arrived at Caracol (meaning "snail shell"), which is a Mayan archaeological site. Its history traces back to as early as 1200 BC and lasted until around 1000 AD; there are numerous theories regarding the decline of the Mayan civilization, including overpopulation, which impacted the ability to grow enough food, etc. as well as a number of battles with neighboring Mayan communities.

The Barrio with our guide, Mario

Part of the group at the top of one of the large structures

We began our tour in the Barrio, which was a palatial structure where the royalty lived. We then walked through a few different plaza, which included a number of large structures, some of which included rooms or tombs. The structures were immaculate and few words are able to describe how amazing these buildings that were built nearly two thousand years ago are so grand and so in tact! The bricks were cut from rocks or limestone and a stucco-like substance was created by grounding up limestone into a powder and adding water to hold the bricks together. One plaza was reserved only for ceremonies and rituals, including human sacrifice. Another area, the observatory was only used by high priests in order to observe the sun (solstice) for agricultural purposes. I did climb all of the structures that you are allowed to (they do not permit you to climb the temple); it was definitely a workout going up (and especially down) all of those steps but the view was amazing! You could see neighboring Guatemala from the top of one of the structures. We were able to see some of the original glyphs and monuments that were carved, although we were told that a great deal of the artifacts are now housed in museums in other countries for protection once they were analyzed. Our tour guide, Mario, had a wealth of information about the history and culture of the Mayans, not to mention he was able to run down the steps like a champ! Following the extensive tour, we had a quick lunch and returned to the van for our next adventure! This was an awesome experience as its unbelievable that the Mayans were able to not only build these structures with no technology (there is evidence of a ramp on one structure) but that they are still standing today! Also, it is so interesting to think about what the village life would have been like- only the elite lived in these stone structures, the peasants lived outside of the village; if you lived in a rock structure, it was a sign of prestige.

A few of the glyphs we found

Ceremonial temple where rituals were held

We made it to the top!

The waterfall

Part of our walk to and from the waterfall

As a final stop before returning, we stopped at a waterfall with a swimming area. It was a difficult walk down- some rock steps and dirt- then once we reached the area, it was difficult to maneuver across the large rocks. I finally took my flip flops off (not the best shoes for this case) and walked barefoot. We spent the next 45-60 minutes swimming, some jumped off rocks and sitting under the waterfall- which was very difficult to get to due to the strong current- you could only swim so far then you had to find your footing on the rock wall and push off to the next spot. It was really awesome to sit under the waterfall. A few locals told us that legend says that the Mayan's gold is hidden behind the waterfall but that no one has been able to get to it yet. When our time was up, we returned to the van (no easy feat) before driving back. It has been a very physical couple of days and we are all exhausted! The rest of the evening was spent relaxing then dinner at a local restaurant, where the jerk chicken was so delicious! Tomorrow we are returning to Belmopan to go to University of Belize then to the Belize zoo before heading to San Pedro.