A drive to remember and forget...

Our guide meets us on time in as we just finish our morning coffee. Today our trip is to the Mayan site of Caracol:

Caracol is the largest known Maya center in Belize and is the best ruin this side of the Guatemala border. It has giant temples to climb and from which to see the view of miles of protected Chiquibul forest. As a bonus you can often see real live archaeologists at work here. Much work has been done but the restoration will continue for many years to come.
Since Caracol is located in the Chiquibul Rainforest, there is a plethora of flora and fauna to enhance the true beauty of this magnificent Maya center. With most of the Mayan sites, the preserved forest surrounding the ruins (primary forest is still evident) has exceptionally good birding. There is also great birding at various sites on Mountain Pine Ridge (including Thousand Foot Falls for Orange-breasted Falcon).

The name Caracol is Spanish for "snail shell" and was given because of the inordinate numbers of snail shells found there. It is one of the more difficult ruins in Belize to access, but conversely, it provides one of the most scenic drives.
At the peak of its existence, the Mayan city of Caracol covered some sixty-five square miles and was home to more than 100,000 people. It is a Classic period urban centre, comprising a central ceremonial area converged on by causeways leading to the outlying structures. The site's special features include the buildings surrounding the A court, which functioned during the Early Classic period as an astronomical observatory.

The above information is from a web source. I thought I would add some factual information as the link feature does not work with IPad and blog.

Pedro our guide is of Mayan descent. He take us to a four wheel drive vehicle where we meet Herbert our driver. We are informed that the drive would be long, arduous over difficult roads but will take us through, rain forest, mountains, countryside villages, waterfalls twisting and turning until we reach the National Park where the site is located. Needless to say, Bill and I are beaming awaiting the day's adventure. Well, he wasn't kidding a drive that would take under normal road conditions about 50 minutes, took this and a half hours! The Belizean Government should put some money into its infrastructure as the road was basically unpaved, narrow, filled with potholes and ditches. The good thing was on the way there we witnessed some wonderful scenic beauty. I sat in the front and let Bill sit with the guide in the back so he could here him. Pedro provided interesting commentary of Mayan and Belizean culture as well as on the scenery. Herbert as well talk up a storm and bad rapped the Government as well for doing anything but steal the money that is suppose to be used for roads. The raconteur that I am whips him into a revolutionary frenzy and made sure the drive was not devoid of humor. The drive was a challenge to my kidneys and had me making the bathroom the most important stop in Mayan country. Bill made of sterner stuff than me did not have the same call to duty as your author.

The day which began cloudy threatening rain, cleared up as the sun shed its glory on the Mayan Ruin. The fascinating tour began with informative information on plants, trees, birds and wildlife that I was pleasing surprised how much of it I enjoyed. Sarah onced mentioned to me about visiting rain forests as she has dear friends who travels for those reasons I mentioned. My limited interests in such endeavors cause me to make a surprisingly closed minded response that it did not interest me as I am a city boy. I was fascinated by how the Mayan were self sufficient because of the household, eating and medicinal uses of the various plants and trees.
For the next two hours, we climbed temples, stuck our heads into burial chambers, rested, took photos, and received a cool education experience. As great as the drive to the site was wonderful, the drive back seemed like it would never end and took an extra 45 minutes making the ride home three and a half hours. We were all tired as the drive home was relativitely quiet. Herbert is an amzing driver and I am glad we did not attempt this on our own in a rented car.

I am going to post some photos and let them tell you of the day... I will be saving one interesting photos of Bill and an old friend for another post.