The Winding Road to Caracol

In 1995 Belize was working on a massive undertaking – the excavation of a site of Mayan ruins that had been discovered in the 1930s by a local logger. Now, decades later, archaeologists were devoting extensive time and money to the project. They hired dozens of local Belizeans to assist with the excavation work. Among them was an energetic 18-year old named Leo who was excited about the opportunity and eager to learn. He hiked the twelve-mile foot trail that provided the only access to the site and camped in makeshift dorms for six months while working on the project. They followed a strict schedule and we’re carefully instructed by the resident archaeologists and scientists about how to do their work properly. Leo repeated this process for the following two years. As he and others hikes the winding road that led to the ruins, many complained about how they felt like they were circling the spiral shell of a snail. This was borne the name, “Caracol,” which is Spanish for “snail shell” or more generically a spiral shape.

Today we followed that same winding road to Caracol. However we enjoyed the comfort of a Toyota 4×4, driven by our guide for the day: Leo. Yes, the same Leo mentioned above who was part of the excavation crew twenty-seven years ago!

The road was mostly dirt and riddled with pot holes, so in addition to the wealth of historical information that we gleaned, we were also very grateful for an experienced driver and someone else’s vehicle.

Caracol was a formidable civilization in its day, even conquering the more notorious Tikal and bringing its king back for a short life of servitude before execution.

In addition to all the fascinating historical tidbits, Leo also took us around the back of one of the buildings where they tunneled in beyond the outside layer and discovered four different tombs, each containing skeletal remains and various artifacts.

Leo also exposed an archaeological secret: in order to preserve elements of the buildings, sometimes a replica is created in front of the specified area (in this case a stone etching of several masks representing gods) using fiber glass and a thin layer of limestone. Limestone is the same material the Mayans used thousands of years ago, so the goal is to make it look as authentic as possible.

Afternoon rolled in with an unmistakable reminder that we were in a rain forest, so we completed our walking tour in a sheet of rain before seeking as much refuge as possible in a thatch-roof hut to eat the lunch prepared for us by several ladies from the village.

On our way back, we stopped to admire the Rio On Pools, but opted not to hop in for a frigid swim. The impromptu shower was enough getting wet for us!

We ended the day with gratitude that God saw fit to delay our journey to Caracol by a day so that we ended up with a private tour from none other than one of the early excavators of this magnificent site. Thanks, Leo, for a wonderful experience. And thanks, God, for unexpected blessings!