Roads to Caracol Remain Deplorable

The Caracol Archaeological site is located approximately fifty miles from Georgeville in the Cayo District. But due to the condition of the road, the journey can take anywhere from two to three hours. Small vehicles cannot make the trip, and in many spots even four wheel drive vehicles are forced to slow to a crawl on the badly gutted road, with deep ruts and gullies carved by the rains. The site is the largest in the Belize, and is undeniably impressive. Visitors from all over the world make time for Caracol on their itineraries, and the high season is just around the corner. So why hasn’t there been some attempt to maintain that long, terrible stretch of road? Today, Archaeology Director, John Morris, told News Five that it’s in the pipeline.

Dr. John Morris, Director of Archaeology, NICH

John Morris

“I’ve been working t Caracol for the past thirty years and the road has improved…compared to then, this is a highway to me. But I can imagine that people who are coming in, it can become quite torturous. We are in the process of working with the Ministry of Works and Forestry to try and improve the protion between Douglas D’Silva and the FCD Camp, at Tapir Camp, just by the Water Maya Bridge. As you notice a portion of it is paved and that just needs bushing on the side and some maintenance. But the previous ten to fifteen miles would require graving and dumping and we are going to work with Forestry and the Ministry of Works to try and get that portion upgraded.”

Jorge De Leon

Jorge De Leon, Tour Guide

“When you left Tapir Camp, you saw a section that is very bad. Vehicles will be damaged if that isn’t fixed like fast…small vehicles wouldn’t be able to come. Today, we have a couple vans came in and in the next couple weeks, if the rains continue, and right now we have the B.D.F. and the soldiers that are here training. They are using those big trucks and those big trucks are just tearing the roads. That’s something that we have to deal with every year. These guys come in. They might contribute monetary to the government, but we would like to see that money that they give be put into the road. And that is something that just needs to happen. The peak of the season is around the corner and normally before the peak starts, before the tourism season starts, they fix the road. Right now they haven’t gotten to that and it is just a matter of time before they come fix the road. I just hope that it is sooner than later.”

Tour guides told us that when the road is particularly bad, they must travel in convoy so that they can assist each other when their vehicles inevitably get bogged down.