Caracol

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Monday morning was our class trip to the largest Maya city in Belize, Caracol. In it's hayday, Caracol boasted a population of some 150,000, and even beat out Tikal when war broke out. The big attraction is Canna, which has remained the tallest structure in the country for some 1500 years. Much of the site remains largely unexcavated to this day.

The ride out took us on the pine ridge dirt road once again, this time for close to 3 hours, but not without a brief stop at the ranger station. The station was where we met up with our armed escort of 2 national guardsmen with M16's. The escorts are mandatory on the road as there was instances of bandits robbing tourists along the way. Upon getting there, we found out that there had been a miscommunication on our end and that we might have to pay an additional $15 to get in. A quick phonecall to Jaime Awe (a Galen Professor and Director of the Belize Institute of Archaeology) solved the problem and we headed in.

The first thing we saw were the twin Ceiba trees. The Ceiba tree was sacred to the ancient Maya, as it was a representative link between the heavens and the underworld (stalagtites in the sacred caves were though to be their roots). The trees themselves were incredible, seeming to stretch up forever (I'd estimate some 160 feet). We were informed that these twin giants were not even the largest Ceiba trees on the site.

The next stop was a tent housing large Maya rock carvings. Most depicted meeting rulers, benevolent gods and the sacred calendar. Our next stop was the 10 foot stella, at which point it started pouring. I spent most of the stop to the ballcourt under a tree to stay dry. The first group of temples we saw was a private plaza for the Maya elite. This is thought to have astronomical significance, as the rising equinox sun casts precise shadows through the tops of the temples. It was also the site of ritual sacrifices.

Our next stop was the public plaza which housed Canna. The climb to the top was exhuasting, some of the steps were easily 3 feet tall. The view from the top was incredible, it made me realize that I might never have been in such a remote place in all my life. The temple was built on different layers, with the supreme ruling family residing at the uppermost level. There was even a royal burial chamber at the top. Once the rain started again we headed back down the front of the temple and back to San Ignacio.

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