coming up now at the top of the
observatory I need to catch my breath
I’m Marie McCrory with National
Geographic travel Belize is home to
about a dozen major Mayan ruins which
are visited by over 300,000 tourists
every year but the largest Mayan site in
the country only receives a small
fraction of those visitors the ancient
ruins of Caracol are only about 25 miles
south of San Ignacio
but the nearly six hour round trip makes
getting there an all-day adventure the
prospect of the long journey only made
me more curious what are people missing
out on by skipping over caracal I set
out to see for myself about two hours
we’ve made a quick pit stop at rio frio
caves the 70-foot arches on either side
make it one of Belize’s most accessible
caves a little later I took a quick
butterfly breather this clump of
swallowtail butterflies was collecting
minerals from the mud in a behavior
called puddling finally I arrived at
caracol the site was lush and peaceful
with none of the typical tourist
amenities like a gift shop or
concessions but unlike many other Mayan
sites visitors are free to climb and
explore the ruins at its height around
AD 650 Caracol spanned more than six
square miles and was home to over
140,000 people that’s double the
population of Belize City the country’s
current largest
known as the skypalace kana is the
tallest set of buildings in caracal very
tough though it doesn’t look that tall
because the tiered design makes it
difficult to see the top when you’re
standing on the ground there’s also an
observatory complex that the Maya used
for astronomical observations many of
the structures haven’t been excavated
due to logistical and funding challenges
but you can still make them out
underneath mounds of dirt and trees
these extra layers actually help
preserve the ruins by protecting them
from the elements some pieces of history
that are easy to see are carvings that
are all over the site the hieroglyphs
tell the story of the kingdom by
recording significant dates succession
of rulers or even political intrigue
it’s off the beaten path today but
Caracol had a favorable location in the
ancient Maya world it had valuable
resources nearby like stone for making
tools and carving monuments and it had
access to trade routes that included the
Belize River which meant they could even
have fresh fish at the market
after taking in all the amazing sights I
started back towards San Ignacio but I
made one last stop at the Rio on pools
so nice and cool you could either sun on
the rocks or slide down them and just
like Caracol the site was not overrun by
tourists instead i spotted a lot of
locals enjoying the water in the end I
realized that even though the trip to
Caracol is long all of the adventures
along the way make walking in the
footsteps of the ancient Mayans well worth the effort
observatory I need to catch my breath
I’m Marie McCrory with National
Geographic travel Belize is home to
about a dozen major Mayan ruins which
are visited by over 300,000 tourists
every year but the largest Mayan site in
the country only receives a small
fraction of those visitors the ancient
ruins of Caracol are only about 25 miles
south of San Ignacio
but the nearly six hour round trip makes
getting there an all-day adventure the
prospect of the long journey only made
me more curious what are people missing
out on by skipping over caracal I set
out to see for myself about two hours
we’ve made a quick pit stop at rio frio
caves the 70-foot arches on either side
make it one of Belize’s most accessible
caves a little later I took a quick
butterfly breather this clump of
swallowtail butterflies was collecting
minerals from the mud in a behavior
called puddling finally I arrived at
caracol the site was lush and peaceful
with none of the typical tourist
amenities like a gift shop or
concessions but unlike many other Mayan
sites visitors are free to climb and
explore the ruins at its height around
AD 650 Caracol spanned more than six
square miles and was home to over
140,000 people that’s double the
population of Belize City the country’s
current largest
known as the skypalace kana is the
tallest set of buildings in caracal very
tough though it doesn’t look that tall
because the tiered design makes it
difficult to see the top when you’re
standing on the ground there’s also an
observatory complex that the Maya used
for astronomical observations many of
the structures haven’t been excavated
due to logistical and funding challenges
but you can still make them out
underneath mounds of dirt and trees
these extra layers actually help
preserve the ruins by protecting them
from the elements some pieces of history
that are easy to see are carvings that
are all over the site the hieroglyphs
tell the story of the kingdom by
recording significant dates succession
of rulers or even political intrigue
it’s off the beaten path today but
Caracol had a favorable location in the
ancient Maya world it had valuable
resources nearby like stone for making
tools and carving monuments and it had
access to trade routes that included the
Belize River which meant they could even
have fresh fish at the market
after taking in all the amazing sights I
started back towards San Ignacio but I
made one last stop at the Rio on pools
so nice and cool you could either sun on
the rocks or slide down them and just
like Caracol the site was not overrun by
tourists instead i spotted a lot of
locals enjoying the water in the end I
realized that even though the trip to
Caracol is long all of the adventures
along the way make walking in the
footsteps of the ancient Mayans well worth the effort
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