Caracol is the largest temple known in Belize and one of the biggest in the Mayan world. The area covered is 15 mi2 and was linked together by more than 20 miles of sacbeob (white ways) that radiated outwards from its epicentre. Ocellated Turkeys are one of the many wildlife species that you will find in the temples. The Mayan temple became one of the most important city-states of the Classic Period in the Mayan Lowland region.
Caracol consists in 24 known stelae, 24 alters, reservoirs, causeways, 5 plazas, an astronomic observatory, central acropolis, two ball courts, over 35,000 known buildings and more than 100 tombs.
It’s located about 25 miles south of the town of San Ignacio in the foothills of the Mayan Mountains within Chiquibil Forest Reserve in western Belize near the border with Guatemala.
The ruins are not well cleared nor excavated as are other ruins in the region. A visit to Caracol is often combined with a stop at the Rio On Pools, or one or more attractions in the Mountain Pine Ridge, its location in a forest reserve allows for great bird watching and the chance to see other wildlife.