By Lyn and Arthur Dobrin
Caracol, the Mayan Ruins in Belize
Five Sisters Lodge packed our lunch and we were off with our personal Yute Expeditions guide to tour one of the most awe-inspiring attractions in Belize. Caracol, a Mayan city lost in the tangle of jungle for nearly 500 years, was uncovered in 1937 by Rosa Mai, a woman logging for mahogany.
Caracol is not as well-known as the Tikal world heritage site across the border in Guatemala. Because of its relative obscurity and recent uncovering, Caracol remains far less visited than its more famous neighbor and thus a more satisfying experience.
- It isn’t that Caracol is less impressive than Tikal. Far from it. A spontaneous “Wow!” issued from our mouths as we came into the clearing and there before us stood a gleaming, massive pyramid.
Amazingly, Caracol had a population nearly equal to Belize’s today (roughly 200,000) and still contains the tallest human-made structure in the country, the massive sky palace, Caana.
While a great deal is known about the ancient cities since the Mayans possessed one of only five complete writing systems in the world (calendars, history, names of rulers and religious information are etched on stelae, altars and facades), there is still much of the attractions history that remains unknown, waiting for the patient hand of archaeologists.
We walked and climbed among the stone buildings, trying to imagine what life was like in this city of 36,000 structures (fewer than one percent are excavated). What was it like to play a ball game in which the winner’s life is sacrificed, or to worship a jaguar god? With only about another dozen visitors at Caracol, it wasn’t hard to picture the original inhabitants going about their lives more than a millennium ago.
We lunched in the shade at picnic tables in Caracol. There are no concessions at the attraction, nothing to buy. We were left with the palms, the hardwood trees, the ropy vines of the jungle, a small hill covering yet another structure (a house, an altar, a store?) and strong impressions of this vanished city-state.
On our way back to Five Sisters, we stopped at Rio On Pools, just off the main road and a short hike through the jungle. We changed into our bathing suits and let a waterfall cool our hot and somewhat weary bodies.
The Beach and Water Attractions of Belize
Most visitors come to Belize for the sea. So after a few days we headed south, down to the beach in the Stann Creek District,. But we weren’t quite finished with the jungle, for at Kanantik Reef and Jungle Resort (pronounced cannon teak), the Caribbean and the rain forest meet.
Before turning off the road to the resort, we passed Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary, home to more than 200 jaguars. Kanantik has a bird-watching tower next to a pond. There we watched iguanas settle in trees for their night’s rest as a full moon appeared before sunset.
As the largest barrier reef in the northern hemisphere and the world’s second longest, the Belize coast is one of the world's most popular diving attractions. It stretches from one end of the country to the other. It is a haven for scuba divers and we took pleasure in watching our fellow lodgers put on their gear and fall backward into the water off the edge of the Kanantik boat that took us 12 miles offshore to South Water Marine Reserve, a protected area of a five-mile radius.
- We headed off a few miles away and snorkeled. Close to our fingertips shone the colors of coral and sea fans and fishes, a phantasmagoria as magical as advertised.
Kanantik Resort reflects the care of its designer, Roberto Fabbri, who owns and manages the lodge (which took six years to build) and captains the boat that shuttles guests to the reef.
Each of the 25 cabanas is spacious and inspired by the Mayan style, all wood and thatch. There is no glass or shutters in the cabana, only screens and roll-up bamboo curtains. The furniture is handmade, from local Santa Maria wood, and the highly polished, beautiful floor in our spacious room was cut from Sapodilla hardwood. There is little decoration; any would have been too much, for it is the refined simplicity that gives Kanantik its aura.
The shower is partially outdoors. In all modesty we looked out on hibiscus flowers and sea while shampooing.
A small boardwalk winds from the large cabana, which is the restaurant and reception area, to each suite. This passes the pool, where some guests read while others doze. On our lounge chairs on the deck in front of our cabana, we were lulled by the Caribbean lapping the shore no more than 20 yards away as we took an afternoon snooze.
Kanantik is a dream resort — secluded, quiet (no phones, no TV), good food, soft sand, calm waters and safe swimming, a place that is clean, beautiful, attentively staffed and impeccably maintained. What more could a couple want in the way of attractions?
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