Caracol
A heavy rain fell all night, stopping only in the early morning.
Departure at 7:30 with " Brighton ".
It takes us 3 hours to reach the site via a semi-flooded road and our driver-guide has a hard time keeping his vehicle on the road.
Thanks God we’ve taken this option, even if we are bloated from left to right ... hard for our vertebrae !!!
Located near the Chiquibul National Park, the site of " Caracol " meaning "Escargot" is the largest Mayan site in the country.
It was occupied in B.C.1200 and reached its peak in B.C. 650 and had a population of more than 140,000 inhabitants.
This Mayan city emerged victorious in battles against Tikal and became the main Mayan city in the region.
The site is a set of squares surrounding a central acropolis and two ball playgrounds.
Our guide is not the best. His explanations are short and very confused, but this does not prevent us to appreciate the beauty of the place.
During lunch our friends « mosquitoes » invite themselves around the table. We do not stay too long.
Back in late afternoon under a beautiful sun , we prepare our passage to Guatemala.
Tobago San Ignacio / Xunantunich
It rains all morning. We do some shopping and laundry while waiting for the nice weather ... which arrives in the early afternoon.
We leave immediately to visit the " Xunantunich ".
Xunantunich, which means " the girl from the rock " is an ancient Mayan ceremonial center and dates from the pre-classic period.
It is quite small and houses three ceremonial places in enfilade, 26 temples and 6 palaces.
* El Castillo. This temple is decorated with frescoes and masks. The view from the top of the temple over the surrounding area is sublime.
To get there we must cross a river by ferry. It does not accept our companion… We so, have to walk more than one mile on a steep road.
Luckily a couple of Americans gave us a lift ... Great !
We walk back in the company of howler monkeys.
San Ignacio
"San Ignacio", in the footsteps of the Mayas, offers numerous visits, either cultural ones or nature oriented ones.
We organize our trip to "Caracol".
The 60-mile road leading to this site is unpaved and difficult to access. We have to take a private tour.
As the weather forecast isn’t very optimistic for tomorow, we book our tour for the day after.
San Herman Cave
We gently head towards the Guatemala border where several «Mayan» sites are concentrated.
We cross the "Maya Mountain" in the heart of a lush jungle surrounded by citrus fruit orchads.
We buy natural fruit juices ... a real delight.
We camp in St Herman’s Blue Hole National Park.
The park is famous for its natural crystal blue swimming pool. We do not swim there and prefer to explore the park to discover the caves and the local fauna ... Nothing exceptional ... but a very pleasant break.
ROAD BOOK 072
MAVROS ODYSSEE