Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
WILDLIFE AT CARACOL
As a
Natural Monument Reserve
, Caracol is also home to abundant wildlife. Bird sightings
include the
orange-breasted falcon
and the very rare
harpy eagle
. You may catch sight of
ocellated turkeys feeding in the plazas, while tapirs dine at night on succulent fresh shoots in
the clearings. Another awe-inspiring sight is an immense, centuries-old
ceiba tree
- sacred to
the Maya - with enormous buttress roots twice as tall as a human.
can examine depictions of jaguars as well as the Witz (“sacred mountain”) monster,
wearing a headdress of water-lily pads being nibbled by small fish. In Maya cosmology,
this design symbolizes the evening sun transforming into the jaguar god of the
underworld and descending into the watery underworld of Xibalba to fight the Lords
of Death. Legend dictates that if he's successful, he will rise again as the sun god.
To the side of Plaza B, images on
Altar 23
- the largest altar here, dated to 810 AD
- show two bound captive lords from the conquered cities of Ucanal and Bital, in
present-day Petén. Other glyphs and altars relate the course of the war between
Caracol and
Tikal
(see p.160), with regional control alternating between the two great
cities. One altar celebrates the victory over Tikal in 562 AD that set the seal on
Caracol's rise to power.
San Ignacio
The friendly, relaxed town of
SAN IGNACIO
, on the west bank of the Macal River
22 miles west of Belmopan, draws together much of the best of inland Belize. The
heart of Cayo District and the focus of tourism in western Belize, it offers good food,
inexpensive hotels and restaurants and frequent bus connections. The evenings are
relatively cool, and the days fresh - a welcome break from the heat of the coast - and
there are far fewer biting insects and mosquitoes. The
population
is varied, mostly
made up of Spanish-speaking mestizos but with significant Creoles, Mopan and
Yucatec Maya, Mennonites, Lebanese, Chinese and even Sri Lankans.
Undoubtedly the town's best feature is its riverside location, amid beautiful
countryside and surrounded by hills, streams, archeological sites, caves and forests.
Major attractions in the immediate vicinity include the Maya site of
Cahal Pech
and the
Iguana Conservation Project
, but San Ignacio also makes an excellent base for day-trips
and overnight expeditions further afield. Local hotels and tour operators run excursions
through western Belize, as well as across the border to Tikal in Guatemala.
Among the best times to visit San Ignacio is for Belize's premier
canoe race
,
La Ruta Maya, when teams of paddlers compete in a four-day race to Belize City
(
W
larutamayabelize.com), to mark Baron Bliss Day on March 9. Anyone can enter,
but local guides always win.
4
Brief history
Named
El Cayo
by the Spanish, San Ignacio is still usually referred to as
Cayo
by
locals (and that's often the name you'll see indicated on buses). Meaning “island”,
the word is an apt description of the location, on a peninsula between two
converging rivers, and indicates how isolated the European settlers felt, amid
indigenous jungle inhabitants who valued their independence.
Tipú
, a Maya city at
Negroman on the Macal River (5 miles south), was the capital of Dzuluinicob, where
the Maya resisted attempts to Christianize them. The early wave of European
conquest, in 1544, made little impact, and the area remained a centre of rebellion.
Two
Spanish friars
arrived in 1618, but a year later the entire population was still
practising “idolatry”. Outraged, the friars smashed the idols and ordered the native
priests flogged, but the Maya once again drove them out. When they returned to
