Caracol, Rio Frio Cave, Big Rock Falls, and Scary Ferris Wheels!

Yesterday was our second day of cultural explorations out of San Ignacio. We left our hotel in the morning with our guide, Mario, who happened to be the brother of the guide we had the day before at ATM. On Holy Saturday of every year in Belize there is the Cross Country Cycling Classic. The race is about 140 miles and the cyclists start in Belize City, ride to San Ignacio, and then go back to Belize City. We had to leave our hotel early enough that we didn't get stuck in race traffic, but Mario listened to the race on the radio and stopped the bus so we could watch part of the race. We stayed for about 30 minutes waiting for the cyclists and then cheering on the ones that passed. It was really cool to see especially since they don't shut down the roads so police officers had to make sure that cars didn't try to get in the way of the race.

Once we saw the cyclists go by, we hopped in the car and headed to Caracol! The ride there took about two hours and the majority of the time it was on unpaved roads. Mario drove like a champ! He was swerving around ditches and passing other cars left and right... It was definitely not his first rodeo!  You have to get to Caracol at a certain time so that the military can escort you in. In the past, Guatemalans have robbed people while they were entering/exiting Caracol because it is so close to the Guatemalan border. The high military presence has made it not be an issue, but it's important to ride in with them and to not be left there!

Mario loves trees and birds so while we were walking we learned a lot about various birds and trees that grow in the area. We learned about the fruit called "dog vomit" (which is named for how it looks), which has extreme numbing power so the Mayans probably used to use it as a sort of anesthesia.  We also stumbled across wild cilantro and a berry referred to as "butt stopper".  As Mario explained it, it's sweet so people like it, but if you eat a little bit of it it will act as a laxative and if you eat a lot it will act as a "butt stopper".

The main attraction of Caracol was the ruins. It was fascinating because only 10% of the area had been excavated and it seemed like a ton. We got to climb on the majority of the ruins and race our way up to the top Rocky style. The views were great from the top and it's crazy to think how the Mayan people built such large and symmetrical structures without modern day mahinery. The descent down the steps were a lot slower and far more frightening. Tumbling down the steps would not end well. Although the Mayan people were very short, the steps were huge. There are discrepancies about why the steps were so big when the people were so little, but most people think it's because it acted as a defense mechanism because the royal people were at the top of the temples. (It reminded me of the tree house my dad built in our back yard that had huge gaps between the rungs so that it would be a challenge to get to the top.)  We spent awhile exploring Caracol and the various temples and neighborhoods that had been excavated.  Mario said that anytime we saw man made mounds, there were Mayan ruins underneath, but there currently isn't enough money to excavate them all and they're safer when they're protected from wind/rain/etc. 

We had to pack up quickly at Caracol to beat the military convoy out and then we made our way to Rio Frio Cave. Rio Frio means cold river so I didn't even try touching the water to see if it lived up to it's name. The cave was different than ATM in that there weren't Mayan ruins still in it, it was a lot smaller, and a lot taller. The cave was about 80 feet high and was beautiful. It's home to a lot of bats, but we didn't see any while we were traipsing around on the rocks.

From Rio Frio, we moved on to Big Rock Falls, a waterfall in the same state park. We left out stuff into the ran and walked down some rickety stairs (which were apparently new) to a gorgeous waterfall. There was a lot rock to jump off of into he river that Mario said even the chickens like himself could do. We all jumped I to the water and then most of us made our way to a bigger rock. The issue was getting up there. The easiest way, which was quite difficult and painful because of the sharp rocks, was just attempting to crawl and just shoving your feet and hands into any nook available. It was a struggle to get up, but the jump down into the water was about 20 feet and a lot of fun! There was one other higher point that you could jump off but none of us could figure out how to get there so we just hung out in the water instead. After that it was another bumpy ride back to San Ignacio!

The Easter fair was going on in San Ignacio so we figured it would be a fun cultural experience. It was pretty much just like a fair in the U.S. with a lot of food, games, and some rides. We ate dinner there, got roped into dancing with some kids who were putting on a show, and explored a little. We thought it would be fun to ride the Ferris Wheel so we bought tickets and were pretty excited while we were waiting in line. And then we started noticing that the motor for the ride was producing A LOT of smoke. We got on regardless and ended up riding what has to be the scariest and fastest Ferris wheel in the world. Ferris wheels definitely aren't designed to go that fast and the seats definitely should not have been swinging that much. It didn't take us long before we were all screaming for it to stop. Not only was it fast, but the ride lasted forever. We were all pretty happy to be on solid ground afterward and that was the end of my ride career at the fair!!!  Here's a view from the Ferris wheel before it started moving! 

Today we spent Easter in Guatemala ziplining and exploring the island of Flores! We head back to San Pedro tomorrow bright and early so I'll blog about that once I'm back... I even have some zip lining videos I may be able to post!