We headed towards Caracol, the largest Maya site in Belize. The road is rough and slow, so we planned to camp half way and then get to Caracol early the next day. Before setting up camp, we stopped at Rio On Pools and played in the water for a few hours.
The view of Rio On Pools from the road.
The river cascaded over a series of little falls, gathering in several pools along the river.
It was fun to play here, we could have spent the entire day in this river!
The campground at Douglas Da Silva is set among old abandoned forestry buildings (there used to be 300 people living there) and it initially looked a bit spooky. As we were setting up a forestry worker came to talk to us and told us that they were working on getting the place fixed up and were hoping to have more people camp there in the future. He was super friendly and told us to come see him if we needed anything, and suddenly the place seemed a little less spooky.
Then the parrots started flying overhead. Later the fire flies danced on the edge of the forest and the stars came out. Piper found a small scorpion in the grass. We ended up really enjoying the campsite and sat outside for quite a few hours that evening, talking, listening to music, eating and drinking.
Piper’s scorpion.
The next day we visited Caracol, again with Piper.
Our first view of the large pyramid.
Derek and Piper at the top of the first flight of steps.
The view. On top of the pyramid there were three smaller pyramids.
One of the three smaller pyramids at the top of the structure.
Here is a video Derek shot on top of the main pyramid.
We are amazed by the exacting standards to which these and the other mayan structures were built.
Here you can see that the bedrock was incorporated in the structure.
There were several groups of buildings at Caracol.
These birds, with the name of Montezuma Oropendola, or yellow tails if you prefer, build hanging orbs for nests.
Giant Ceiba trees…my new favourite.
The branches are home to many different plants.
This tree was sacred to the Maya. See the picture above with Derek, Randi and Amy standing by this tree to get an idea of how big these buttress roots were.
We picnicked at the parking lot and began the drive out. Along the way we stopped to visit Rio Frio Caves and Big Rock Falls.
The entrance to the Rio Frio Cave. It is huge inside.
Randi and Amy by the river that flows through the cave.
The cave is about 800 meters long and has another entrance where the river enters it.
A quick swim at Big Rock falls before we drove on to our camp for the night.