Caracol Mayan Ruins, Rio Frio Cave & Rio On Pools

Friday, July 23rd we went to the Mayan Site of Caracol followed by a quick tour of Rio Frio Cave and a dip at Rio On Pools (Rio On is the name of the river).

Our guide, Selmo, picked us up at the lodge and we took a 1.75 hour drive on up the Georgeville Rd. to the Mountain Pine Ridge road past the Macal River and on to the ruin. The roads are dirt and it's the rainy season - can you say potholes and washboard? It was a beautiful drive up into the mountains where the air was cooler. Mountain Pine Ridge is an area of the jungle which is primarily tall pines. In 2001 the Pine Bark Beetle came in and wiped out about 70% of the trees - so while there are pines, and not typical jungle flora, there are not many trees - looks bald. Once you cross the Macol river, boom, you're back in heavy jungle. We saw lots of different birds on this trip.

The last few miles of the trip are paved, and it was nice to be on a smooth road. I should also note, that about 15 or 20 miles before you get to the site, you have to check in at the Belize Defense Force (military) post and pickup an escort. There had been some hold-ups at the site. Guatamalan bandidos were walking across the border (it's about 4 miles from the border) and holding up the tourists. Once the military made their presence known, there haven't been any more hold-ups. We encountered no bandidos!

The site is large and there are many ruins which haven't been excavated. They simply look like nice hills covered with trees and all sorts of plants.



The site contains living quarters, the ruler's living quarters and temple, and an astronomy complex. There were many stele which were being stored for inclusion in the museum they are building. As well as ball courts for playing a game in which the loser is sacrificed.

The ruler's temple is called Canaa - which means high place. They kept building higher and higher to be closer to their gods so they could more clearly hear their petitions. In all classes of the society, they buried their ancestors under their dwellings to be near them. There were many, many acres of farm land when the Mayas lived there. It is believed that a drought and the growth of their population that spelled the end of their civilization. They simply couldn't feed themselves.


Our guide showed us many interesting things and told us the names of so many plants my head was spinning! The leaf cutter ants had little paths cut in the grass, about 3" wide - fun to watch them work!

In addition to tasting an All Spice berry, he introduced us to the delicacy of termites.
The large nests were everywhere and Rayne took quite a liking to them! They taste to me like the wood they eat, but others describe them as a minty carrot. They made a nice snack on our tour!

After climbing all over the site for 2.5 hours, Selmo provided a wonderful lunch of burritos (bean & meat) with fresh sliced avacado, pineapple slices, peeled oranges, fried plantain chips, and Coca-colas for Steve & me and orange Fanta for Rayne - it was delicious and we were starved!



Our next stop was at the Frio Rio Cave. There are many, many caves in Belize. A river runs through this one. It is a HUGE cavern with formations, and a sandy beach. You can see the light from the entrance and exit, so it's not too dark inside.









After all that hiking, climbing, and sweating, we finished our outting at the Rio On Pools swimming area. This is a beautiful series of waterfalls that we took a swim in. The cool water felt really nice! We got back massages in the big waterfall and then slid through shutes from pool to pool. Because it't the rainy season, the water was a bit murky. In the dry season (April & May) it get really clear. We hung out for a while playingin the water and cooling off! We even got our guide, Selmo, to join us in the water. Steve practiced his Spanish with him and I caught about every 5th word. Selmo conducted all of our tour in perfect English. I always admire people who know more than one language. We put on dry clothes and hiked back up to the car for the 25 minute ride back to the Lodge and Marge's home cooking. After dinner we wandered back to our cabin and fell quickly to sleep!