Caracol by JAMES PARKER

The Tickle Sticks took an amazing trip to Belize. One of the main attractions was Caracol, which is a Mayan Ruin. Big John, who was the staff on this trip, wouldn’t have done it without the help of two friendly fellows staying at the Trek Stop with us. These two fellows were Eric and Collin, both of whom were extremely fun and it was a joy to talk to others outside of our group for once. The drive was not something normal people experience. A large majority of the drive was on unpaved roads with large potholes all around. Not only was it not on paved roads, it was fairly long, about two hours. As we drove down this long lonely road we all thought to ourselves what this ruin would be like. After Big John described it he made it seem like it was the most incredible structure around. Anxiousness struck everyone in the van. We all wondered how much longer this drive was going to last. As we neared our destination and could see the park in the near distance. The excitement in the large 15 passenger van rose. We were here. The long journey ended and we were finally at Caracol. As we stepped out of the van into the warm tropical air everyone was full of energy from sitting for so long. We walked through the jungle a bit until we stumbled upon some massive trees. The name given to these trees are the Trees of Life. They have been around for ages upon ages. After seeing such incredible trees we continued the walk through the jungle to a clearing. We were behind an incredible structure. This structure was the great Caracol. Some of us climbed to the top of this structure and the views were incredible. Looking out you could see a court yard and another structure. Big John had definitely made this place up to seem what it really was. Everything he said was so true. After seeing this we didn’t think it could get any better but boy were we wrong. Following a trail we stumbled upon another massive and incredible structure. This was the main part of the ruin. As we climbed up towards what you thought was the top of this incredibly steep ruin we thought we would come upon a courtyard. Climbing up here was exhausting and just as you saw the courtyard and thought it was the top, there were more stairs to climb up till you were really at the top. Once we were at the true top of Caracol the views were amazing. What we saw is something that your average person never gets a chance to see. A courtyard below us followed by another part of the ruin then over the top of that part you could see miles and miles of mountain tops. It was so beautiful. Big John definitely was right. This was possibly the most amazing thing any of us had seen. Climbing down from such a height on such steep and oversized stairs was a bit sketch, but we all made it down safe and sound. After eating lunch in the provided picnic area, we hung around and discussed what our favorite parts were. After all this was done it was time to continue the long journey back to the Trek Stop. On the way back Big John surprised us by taking us to a swimming hole that had a huge waterfall flowing into it. There were some rocks that we were allowed to jump off of and everyone in the group pushed their comfort level and jumped off. After about an hour or two of having fun in the warm waters of Belize, it was time to pack up and continue the drive back to the Trek Stop…Joy.