Caracol

I visited Caracol with Jorge and Jenifer. There are others in our group, but not as big as the cave tour. A newlywed couple Kendra and Chris from Illinois from the cave tour (different group) also there. They got married in Belize in a very small ceremony. Our guide this day was not as good as Martin, our cave guide, we saw Martin guiding a group young American volunteers. He was going to lead a night time cave tour after the Caracol tour.

It was another perfect day of sun and puffy cloud, again even at noon time, the picture was still very good (yes harsh shadows still).

Caracol is a vast Maya city hidden in the Jungle of Belize near Guatemala border. Our guide told us that raiders and robbers from Guatemala have coming to the area to cut down trees, and plants as well as rob tourists. So now there is a heavy military presence here. We saw many military vehicles and check points, even a guy with rocket launcher. British military is also present here, they are doing joint exercise with Belize military. Anyway the site encompasses some 35 sq miles with over 36,000 structures marked so far. It was occupied in the post-classic period of 300BC to AD1150, at its height there might have been 150,000 people not much less than the current population of Belize!

One of the building in Caracol, Canna (Sky Palace), the tallest structure in Caracol, at 138ft reportedly still the highest building in the whole country of Belize!

Strangely our lunch consisted pretty much the same thing as yesterday, yummy :(

We ended our tour with a dip in the nearby river, it was nice to cool off since temperature was around 85F.

Later in the evening, Jenifer, Jorge, and I went for a meal and we met Kendra and Chris, and had a drink after. Kendra and Chris are going home tomorrow, and Jenifer, Jorge are heading to Tikal. Jenifer mentioned she want to run for office one day, that made sense since she worked for a senator. And Jorge (23) who's mother is French (divorced from his dad), is going to school, but spend of most his time on vacation. I might see Jorge again since he is going to Palenque in a week or so, and I will be there around that time as well. Isn't it nice to be young and have someone else pay for everything?