BELIZE (Commonwealth Union)_The first downpour of the rainy season has broken the forest’s oppressive heat with a torrent of quick, fatty droplets as the sky have opened over the rough foothills of the Maya Mountains. Thunder and lightning exchange blows, and streams nourish the Macal River’s parched banks. It seems as though something in the universe has changed when the weather exhausts itself at daybreak, the light rises again, and the birds begin their symphony. It’s a striking entrance onto Belize’s untamed western edge.
When the river rises so high that it floods this road, “we merely boat the guests across—or put up zip-lines between the trees.” We are leaving Black Rock Lodge when we encounter a water-logged road. We go on regardless of little rain. The off-grid cluster of cottages is a mainstay of the nation’s developing ecotourism industry and a popular destination for savvy birders. It is powered by water turbines and a new rack of solar panels. However, we’re traveling several hours south today.
The Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve, which has cavernous caves that snake into the granite massif, waterfalls that tumble over steep cliffs, and a complex of freshwater springs where we stop for a swim, over rugged roads through ranchland. Final stop is an enormous, important Maya site that rivals Guatemala’s Tikal or Mexico’s Chichén Itzá, and it is located at the end of a rutted jungle trail. If only more individuals were aware of it.
At its peak, this kingdom would have had 100,000 residents, which is double the population of Belize’s current largest city. It overthrew numerous other kingdoms, including the powerful Tikal, and rose to become the dominant force in the area in the ninth century. Caana, sometimes referred to as the Sky Palace, is a humbling pyramidal complex made up of lofty staircases, temples, tombs, and royal residences. The kings of Caracol would have been 139 feet above the forest canopy, at the apex of the known world. It continues to stand as Belize’s tallest man-made structure today.
