Caracol + Rio Frio Cave & Rio On Pools

“Maya lords fought their own battles and a king often paid for defeat in the coin of his own capture and sacrifice.” In 562 AD a war was waged in the jungle of the Northern Peten, Guatemala. After the smoke cleared, a king was captured and he was taken to the city of Caracol. Pomp and circumstance ensued; he was handled with respect, as any royal ambassador would have been, but his fate was written in stone – literally – on a marker that was found at a ball court in the great city of Tikal. This defeated city fell “silent” (nothing was written on it) for 130 years! The Caana (Sky Palace) was the tallest building the ancient Maya built in Belize and it rises out of the Maya Mountain jungle to 140 feet above the plaza floor. This monument contributed to Caracol's status as one of the most majestic and powerful ancient cities in the classic period (300AD – 900AD), within the central Maya lowlands. You will get to explore all of this city that is filled with plazas, palaces, sacbes (ceremonial white roads), temples and the most tombs in the Maya area. Then you will have the opportunity to explore Rio Frio Cave, which is a limestone tunnel that is the remains of an underground river that carved through limestone and exposed the base of granite after millions of years of flow. A second highlight is the Rio on Pools. This is a river flowing over granite stone dams which create low waterfalls and deep swimming holes – a great refreshing dip and swim await you here!