Took a tour to Caracol today. The bus ride was a daunting 2 hours on mainly unpaved roads through the Mountain Pine Ridge park. The van was rocking so hard, I thought the slide door would fall off or the AC hanging in the back would come down. The site itself was amazing. It was much larger than I expected. It made a big difference that we could climb the steps. It helped me to gauge and appreciate it's size more. The largest temple called Caana is 140 feet tall. When you climb to the top, you get a 360 view over the trees in the jungle. It is the tallest in Belize. They say it reached its peak in 700 A.D. I haven't been exercising much so my legs were shaky after climbing three temple. The main reason I climbed so many was that I didn't know the first one one wasn't the main temple. Haha. Aside from the temples, there were several ball courts and a reservoir. The walls and altars were covered with hieroglyphics which gave insight into the Mayan people and culture. As we walked around the site, the guide pointed out the areas where the ground was raised. These were where the middle class built their homes and lived. By having their homes raised, they could literally look down at the lower class. We already know they're extremely smart and created an accurate calendar system.
There was a tree in the forest which looked like a really thick vine. It would support itself by attaching to a tree. It would eventually wrap around host and kill it. We were guessing what the name of the tree was and the guide told us it's called marriage. Haha.
On the way back, we stopped at Rio On Pools where there were small waterfalls with pools below them. They were followed by more falls and pools as far as I could see. Some people were swimming in the water and sliding down the smooth rocks. I dipped my feet but the water was brown so I didn't go in much further. I walked around and took photos. My photos may have come out nicer than the actual area.
I will make a note of this on Tripadvisor but I did not like the tour company -- Mayawalk Tours. In my opinion, it was too expensive for what they were offering. The van was air conditioned but it sounded like it was falling apart. It was braced into the ceiling above the last row of seats. I checked the nuts to make sure they weren't loose. The padded lining on the door was falling off. The entire car made a really loud shaking noise. Of course I had to take a video clip of it with my camera. I swear that AC was going to fall down. Lunch consisted of two bologne sandwiches with a leaf of lettuce and 2 thin slices of cucumber. We also had some fruit, a dessert and a small juice (red or purple). They didn't provide us with any water and it also wasn't available for purchase at the ruins. It's a national park so you have to carry your garbage out. At the least, I feel they should provide a garbage bag for the group. To top it all off, the tour guide spoke super fast. Last time I checked, English was my first language and I could not keep up with this man. Aside from all of the negatives I just mentioned with the tour company, this was my favorite Mayan ruin.
I retained one piece of information from today's tours. It's pretty funny. The guide told us how the Mayans acquired their name. When the Spanish came to the Yucatan, they asked the natives what their people were called. They responded with "Maya" which means I don't understand.
There was a tree in the forest which looked like a really thick vine. It would support itself by attaching to a tree. It would eventually wrap around host and kill it. We were guessing what the name of the tree was and the guide told us it's called marriage. Haha.
On the way back, we stopped at Rio On Pools where there were small waterfalls with pools below them. They were followed by more falls and pools as far as I could see. Some people were swimming in the water and sliding down the smooth rocks. I dipped my feet but the water was brown so I didn't go in much further. I walked around and took photos. My photos may have come out nicer than the actual area.
I will make a note of this on Tripadvisor but I did not like the tour company -- Mayawalk Tours. In my opinion, it was too expensive for what they were offering. The van was air conditioned but it sounded like it was falling apart. It was braced into the ceiling above the last row of seats. I checked the nuts to make sure they weren't loose. The padded lining on the door was falling off. The entire car made a really loud shaking noise. Of course I had to take a video clip of it with my camera. I swear that AC was going to fall down. Lunch consisted of two bologne sandwiches with a leaf of lettuce and 2 thin slices of cucumber. We also had some fruit, a dessert and a small juice (red or purple). They didn't provide us with any water and it also wasn't available for purchase at the ruins. It's a national park so you have to carry your garbage out. At the least, I feel they should provide a garbage bag for the group. To top it all off, the tour guide spoke super fast. Last time I checked, English was my first language and I could not keep up with this man. Aside from all of the negatives I just mentioned with the tour company, this was my favorite Mayan ruin.
I retained one piece of information from today's tours. It's pretty funny. The guide told us how the Mayans acquired their name. When the Spanish came to the Yucatan, they asked the natives what their people were called. They responded with "Maya" which means I don't understand.
they should name the vine "La Mujer"
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