I got up this morning (overslept 15 minutes) and went bird watching with our driver from yesterday and a guy named Ben from London. No idea how I didn't hear my alarm - slept fitfully last night somehow and then missed the alarm. anyway I caught up with them right outside the main part of the hotel. Saw quite a few birds and tried for some images but it's really hard - no good ones. Was able to see closeup through his scope though. Amazing colors!
This was the best I could do with my lens - a taninger from far away
Organic vegetable gardens
After breakfast, outside our cabin
Back for breakfast and then transfer with our guide for the day Jeronimo who was really a great guy. Spoke perfect English, college graduate is a naturalist to boot. Knew quite a bit of history about Belize and the Mayans as well. He is of Mayan and Spanish descent. Interestingly I asked him a some point "What do you think happened to the Mayans"? His answer - "Nothing - I am right here"! Pretty good...
Drove for about and hour and a half the opposite direction we came from yesterday on a mix of dirt and paved roads until we arrived at the Caracol Mayan ruins:
Caracol, a Classic Period complex, covers 30-square miles of thick, high-canopy jungle, and includes five plazas, an astronomic observatory and over 35,000 buildings which have been identified.
The loftiest among them, a massive pyramid (Caana) which is capped by three temples and rises over 140 feet above the jungle floor.
Caracol's central core today, as seen by visitors, consists of three plaza groups surrounding a central acropolis and two ball courts, along with a number of smaller structures.
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| , excavations did not begin until 1950, with most of the work having taken place since 1985. Caracol can truly be described in superlatives: Largest archeological site in Belize - One of the largest in the Maya world - Tallest man-made structure in Belize (Caana) - Most structures, largest area, largest population, most hieroglyphics etc ... | 
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Many hieroglyphic texts have been found on stelae, alters, ball-court-markers, capstones and wall facades. The discovery of an elaborately carved ball-court-marker dating back to the end of the early Classic Period has been interpreted as Caracol claiming a military victory over Tikal, located more then 60 miles away in Guatemala.
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Caracol was linked together by more than 20 miles of roadways that radiated outward from its epicenter like the spokes of a wheel and it is estimated that 200,000 or more Maya lived in the area when this important City-State reached it's peak around 700 A.D.
Evidence of Post-Classic occupation is lacking, thus presenting a similar situation to that found at other Classic sites in the region.
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I lifted the above from a web site. I tried to load some images from today but the connection is too slow.
We were able to walk on all of the structures - still allowed here. Another nice thing - no vendors bugging you to buy stuff here! Plus, almost nobody was there t all - maybe 20 to 30 people tops. So, interesting Mayan structures with none of the hustle and bustle of other Mayan sites we ave visited in the past.
A nice surprise - a bunch of toucans were up in the tree tops feeding right at our level at the top of Caana. We got some pretty good images - I am sure Kasey has some great ones as she has an amazing Canon lens - big one! Can't wait to see her images!
At the entrance to Caracol with Jeronimo
Old tree in the rain forest at Caracol.
Howler monkey near one of the temples
Kasey's image of the howler
Jeronimo
Connie, Kasey and Steve scrambling up Caana.
Close up of one of the toucans
Connie and I looking out from the top of Caana.
This temple has the masks shown below
Two masks were on either side of the temple across from Caana. The bottom is the first of a jaguar - the one above was a newer image of the rain God. They Mayans buried the jaguar after a certain amount of time and built the rain God to appeal for help.
In front of Caana.
One of the temples
Left side
Right side
A stele that has been moved to under a canopy
Another stele that has been split in two pieces
700 year old Cieba tree - Oldest tree in the area.
Had a nice boxed lunch and drove back to the hotel. We went to the pool for a little while (cold water) and then walked down to swim in the river below our cottages. First we went to a small beach and later Steve, Kasey and Connie got in the river (even colder)! I stayed out because there didn't seem to be n easy way out. Slippery rocks, so I helped to pull them out of the river. They really need some sort of little ladder!
Our cabin from down by the river. You can almost see it.
Down by the river
River from the bridge
Hot tub
Another fine dinner and back to the room to post this.
Tomorrow we have an all day excursion to visit and underground cave. Sounds pretty neat - we'll see. So far, so good - not injured and that'a a good thing!!!!!
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