Last June, I spent a day in Caracol, Belize, during a break from my work at a field school. It was a 3-week trip altogether, but we got to take special trips on the weekends out to places like this.
Caracol was the first of several excursions we took at the field school, and it was an amazing experience!
Located about two hours south of San Ignacio, Caracol is one of the larger and more well known Mayan sites. Years of careful excavation have yielded this popular tourist site that you can (and should) visit during your time in Belize!
But what is the typical experience like?
Well, like anywhere in Belize, you should bring a lot of water and sunscreen. Expect heat, humidity, bugs, and a lot of walking. Trust me, though, it’s worth it!
On the way out, we stopped for a quick photo op at a scenic spot. I snagged a few pictures!
First Impressions
When you first arrive at the site of Caracol, you’ll see a few modern buildings scattered around: a little covered picnic area, a visitors’ center, and a couple small showcases of artifacts.
From here, you can’t even see anything besides jungle, and if you didn’t know any better you would never suspect what awaits just down the path.
So, after getting settled in and meeting up with our tour guide (who used to work with our field school), we headed in.
Seeing these buildings appear on the other side of the jungle path is an amazing experience. A few stones on your left are the first indication of any structures. Then it feels like the sun brightens a bit as you walk through to make the plaza shine before you as you enter. Maybe that was intentional!
You find yourself in the main, central plaza, surrounded by towering Mayan pyramids in all directions. And it’s amazing to think that those were built by people over a thousand years ago.
The Main Site
Around the main plaza, you’ll see a lot of different carvings. Some are on the sides of buildings, some on flat stones on the ground.
The ones on the ground are particularly interesting, as they were trophies to mark a military victory or conquest. This includes the upright stones around the plazas and walkways. It was common for Mayan rulers to take these stelae from each other when they won a battle.
Some Quick Archaeology
As you journey through these plazas and buildings, it’s important to remember that these used to look very different. They’re very stylistically different from pyramids in other parts of the world. Mayans built homes on the ground, but they also made structures on top of these pyramids. The taller the pyramid, the more important the person.
Because these other structures were built out of thatch, wood, and daub, they obviously did not survive long after the abandonment of the cities. But it’s easy to imagine thatch rooftops on every one of these buildings and all over the surrounding area.
The pyramids wouldn’t have been simply gray stone, either. Buildings, ceramics, and other manmade constructions were either carved or painted, or some mix of both, depending on the site.
Back to the Adventure
After exploring the ground level of this plaza for a few minutes, we journeyed to the top of the tallest pyramid there.
Be ready for some steep stairs. I’m 5’10”, and these stairs were about knee-high. They’re also narrow. I found myself having to basically walk sideways to have room to stand.
This is actually somewhat intentional design. Ancient Mayans, on average, were shorter than we are, so would’ve had an even harder time climbing the steps. These stairs would’ve forced anyone climbing the pyramid to essentially crawl to reach the top, in a show of subservience.
We finally got close to the top, and found… another plaza. But this one was not on the ground level.
This would’ve been a separate area for a royal family or nobility to live and spend their days, with living space for various servants and family members.
In any location, I’d encourage you to explore as much as you can. This is no exception. I took the time to walk around every corridor, walkway, and room that I could access. You never know what interesting carvings you might find. It’s also cool to see the layout of a building from a culture so different from your own!
Reaching the Top
Atop the pyramid, we found another sort of courtyard with a building in the center.
Looking out across the plaza and the jungle canopy from atop this building, you really do feel closer to the sun, just as Mayan royalty would have wanted.
It wasn’t long before we started to hear this strange, guttural, screeching? screaming? roaring? sound that echoed across the jungle.
My first thought was ‘Did we touch some magical artifact?’ ‘What god did we just anger?’
I made a joke about just such a thing to someone nearby, and our guide (or one of the supervisors of the field school) quickly explained that it was howler monkeys in some nearby trees.
They said that if we looked carefully we could see them in some distant trees, but I couldn’t find them.
However, when we returned to the plaza a while later I did see them hanging in the branches above me.
Returning to the bottom, we spent some more time exploring Caracol. Our guide showed us some large, empty basins that the Mayans would have used to store water.
Walking through these ruins, Mayan cities don’t seem very large or widespread. But these central plazas are only a small part of the entire community that would’ve existed. Even far beyond these large pyramids and palaces, you’ll continue to find ballcourts and stone buildings.
Like a modern city with its suburbs and rural farms, Mayan societies would have spread far and wide beyond the central plazas. Those parts just weren’t stone, and thus didn’t stay preserved.
The Return Trip
Before we left, we explored the small exhibit at the entrance that showcased carvings and artifacts found around the site.
There was a lot to see, including a recreation of what the city would have looked like.
There were masks and sculptures reconstructed from fragments, stone carvings extracted from Caracol, and more. If you want to take the time to learn about them, there are plenty of signs to explain it all!
But we had limited time at this point and I was with a much larger group from the field school. We were preparing to eat lunch and then head back to San Ignacio by this point.
On the way back, we stopped at the Rio On Pools, a popular swimming spot with several waterfalls and a scenic view. Unfortunately, I never took any pictures of the area, since I didn’t want to bring my phone in or near the water.
I ended the day with a quick trip to San Ignacio’s Burns Avenue. Our trip the next day would take us to the Actun Tunichil Muknal caves and I needed some closed-toed shoes.
Conclusion
For a long time, I felt strange writing a post about Caracol (or Tikal) since I couldn’t write about every detail of the place. But since I’m mostly writing about my own personal experiences, I don’t see any reason not to.
I had an amazing experience in Belize, and my time at BVAR there gave me a greater appreciation for the amount of effort that went into excavating something like Caracol. It’s awesome to think that my excavation work might go towards something similar one day!
I hope this was an informative or, at least, fun read. If you notice any issues or have any questions, comments, or concerns, let me know below!
Love to read about your experiences!