Caracol

Caracol was pretty interesting and the guide was knowledgable, as he had worked on some of the excavations himself. We learned a few things about Guatemala (from a Belizean)

• All Belizean Mayan ruins have been and are being looted from Guatemala
  
• Guatemala people are responsible for cutting down a certain type of palm, to make shampoo, the have cut all of them down in Guatemala, so now they are coming into Belize to steal them.
  
• Caracol had a war with Tikal and won (repeat a few times an hour)
  
• Tikal has been rebuilt, Caracol is in it`s original (i.e. as they found it) state.
  

Here is a picture of me in front of the main temple I am about to climb.

And here is the view of a smaller temple from the top

The really stunning views from the top were of 360 degrees of jungle canopy - all the way to the horizon - the view was quite spectacular, but a camera could not do it justice.

We returned in a different minivan, with different, marginally friendlier tourists, via their amazing looking resort at Five Sisters. As we descended into the valley of San Ignacio the heavens opened. We had an early night, ready for our trip to Guatemala.