Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
CARACOL
B-Group
B-20
To the Temple
of the two Stelae
B-18
B-19
B-64
Causeway to the
Northwest Group
Ceiba Tree
Caana
B-28
Barrio
Group
Ball Court
Altar 23
Museum
Visitor Centre
& Main Entrance
Picnic
Shelter
B-5
A-3
Temple
of the
Wooden
Lintel
Toilets
A-2
Raleigh
Group
A-Group
A-6
Aguada
Central
Acropolis
A-1
Archeological
Camp
Ball Court
N
Stela
A-13
Causeway to the
Machete Group
Aguada
D-18
D-17
South
Acropolis
0
metres
200
Causeway to
Retiro
Causeway to
Pajaro-Ramonal
D-Group
0
yards
200
4
Ten miles south of the base, which is usually the roughest section of the trip, the road
- by now no longer o cially called the Chiquibul Road - crosses the Macal River (and
a geological fault line) over the low Guacamallo Bridge . Beyond that, the vegetation
changes from riverbank pine to the broadleaf jungle of the Chiquibul Forest , and the
road reverts to a paved surface, at least for a narrow central strip, for the final eleven
miles to Caracol.
The site
The road into Caracol ends at the site's visitor centre , which holds a scale model of the
ruins, some excellent displays and several artefacts. By the time you read this, a new
pavilion should have been completed to house assorted stelae, stucco carvings and
other monuments, and there's also a large, thatched picnic shelter and clean toilets.
Only the core of the great city itself is open to visitors, though as that consists of 32
large structures and twelve smaller ones, gathered around five main plazas, it's more
than most manage to see. To be all but alone in this vast abandoned site, the horizon
circled by jungle-covered hills, is an incredible experience.
The dominant feature, Caracol's largest architectural complex, Caana , or “sky place”,
towers 141ft above the forest. Still to this day the tallest building in Belize, this
immense, restored edifice is the central structure of the B Group . Each of its three
separate tiers is so broad that, as with climbing successive peaks, you can't see the next
level from the one below. At the very top a plaza holds three further sizeable pyramids.
When you finally (and breathlessly) climb B-19, the tallest of the three, you'll be
rewarded with views of seemingly endless ridges and mountains - a perfect
environment to contemplate the Maya concept of time's enormity. Beneath Caana, a
series of looted tombs still show traces of original, painted glyphs on their walls; some
have lintels of iron-hard sapodilla wood supporting their entrances and are decorated
with painted text.
Excavations on Temple B5 , facing Caana across Plaza B, uncovered fantastically
detailed, stucco monumental masks on either side of the central staircase, on which you
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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