Mountain Pine Ridge

Hidden Valley Inn

Nestled in the foothills of the Maya Mountains in western Belize is the Hidden Valley Inn.  The key word here is “hidden” – it’s a long and winding dirt road to reach the Inn, which sits amid 11 square miles of pine and tropical forests.  The other key word is luxury – swimming pool, hot tub, charming cottages with brick fireplaces and mahogany furniture.  Housekeeping staff laid a fire for us each day, and extra firewood was stacked neatly on the porch. 

 

The grounds were beautiful, too.  Lots of tropical plants, lots of flowers.

 

Bird-feeders were plentiful around the grounds – nectar for hummers, as well as seeds, breads, and fruits. 

We didn’t have to go far to see birds here. Here are shots of the yellow-backed oriole and the green jay.

 

Less colorful, but lots bigger, here is the crested guan.  There were actually three of them feeding in the bushes near our cottage, but they mostly stayed well out of sight of the camera.

Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve

The Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve encompasses 200 square miles of forest, protected by the government since 1944.  This area is totally unlike the tropical broadleaf forest and many of the pine trees are dead due to an infestation by the southern pine beetle back about 10 years ago.  It’s a bit scraggly, but the reserve is full of streams, pools, waterfalls, caves, and miles and miles of trails. 

We did some wandering around the area in search of birds.  There were plenty around, but it sure helps to have a guide who knows exactly where to look.  In this case, he knew where to find the day roost of a couple of stygian owls.

 

Another special sighting was the beautiful orange-breasted falcon.  Because of its low reproductive rate and specialized habitat needs (towering cliffs and large forested areas), this endangered bird is quite rare.  There are about 30 pairs known in this area of Belize and nearby Guatemala.  Once again, our guide knew where to look and we had no trouble spotting this guy.

Harder to see, but just as spectacular were a couple of king vultures sunning in the treetops.  We had climbed to the overlook for King Vulture Falls in hopes of seeing them soaring overhead – instead we found them taking a break.  Never thought there was much nice to say about vultures, but these guys are amazing.

And of course, there was time for seeing the sights.  Here we are at Thousand Foot Falls, said to be the highest waterfall in Central America.  The falls are actually around 1600 feet high – we got a good view from the lookout point, where we assembled for a group picture.

 

Caracol Maya Ruins

Once one of the most powerful cities in the entire Maya world, Caracol now lies surrounded by thick jungle near the Guatemala border.  It is the largest Maya site in Belize, having stretched over 70 square miles at its peak, with as many as 150,000 inhabitants.  Archeologists estimate that there are 36,000 structures here, but only 5000 have been mapped and less than 1% has been excavated.  It was a huge complex of temples, palaces, roads and causeways, craft workshops and markets.   

Caracol also must be the most difficult place in Belize to reach:  we drove over 2 hours on a crazy, bumpy, mind-numbing and muddy road.  Plus, our little convoy (two mini-vans) had to stop at the nearby military base to pick up two armed soldiers to accompany us – the government’s response to Guatemalan bandits who had robbed some tourist vehicles.  We’d have been happier if they would pave the road...

One good thing about the rotten road – we went slow enough to see some birds along the way.  Here are some red-lored parrots hiding in a tree.

And here’s a great curassow that could run faster than we could drive.

We had a picnic breakfast at the site and set off into the jungle to do some bird-watching.  The thought was to see the birds before crowds of noisy tourists arrived.  No worry about tourists, but we were accompanied by armed guards – park police kept an eye on us while we were on the trail.

 

We did see lots of birds and a few of them even sat still long enough for a picture.  Here is one of our favorites, the pale-billed woodpecker - female on the left, male on the right.

 

Another woodpecker we saw was the black-cheeked woodpecker.  This fellow was working hard on a palm tree.

Then there was the slaty-tailed trogon, who posed so nicely that we got really good looks - even the guards came over to see what all the excitement was about.  

We also got our final look at the keel-billed toucan, the national bird of Belize.  What a spectacular specimen.

We did take time to look at the ruins, but a great deal of this site is unexcavated.  All around there were mounds covered with trees and bushes.  Here's one that is partly excavated - there's clearly lots of work to be done here.

The biggest structure here is Caana (Sky Palace), which - at 141 feet – is still the tallest building in Belize.  Caana was completely cleared of vegetation only in 2003.  It is noted for its large masks and giant date glyphs on circular stone altars.

 

The other really big structure is the Temple of the Wooden Lintel.  It is thought to be a commemorative astronomical temple with burials and caches underneath.  The name comes from the fact that there are intact wooden lintels in several doorways – dating from the first century A.D.

Carcacol had a Ball Court somewhat different than the one at Lamanai.  It had a smaller center stone marker, but overall the court was many times larger.  This apparently, was the “real thing” – there are plenty of seats for spectators and losers were sacrificed to appease the gods.

These temples on are good examples of many of the buildings around Caracol.  Clustered around a large plazas, with jungle growth partly cleared away. Lots of work to be done. Note the rounded corners.

It’s a fascinating place – clearly a very sophisticated civilization, but so many unknowns.  It would be fun to come back when more excavation has been done … that is, if they ever decide to improve the road!

On the way out of Caracol, we stopped at the river to look for birds – must have been their siesta time - and time for us to head home.