Caana
The sky palace.
ryanacandee — CC BY 2.0 · R Barraez D´Lucca — CC BY 2.0 · Devon Jones — CC BY-SA 3.0 · R Barraez D´Lucca — CC BY 2.0
Belize's largest Maya city, set in dense forest on the Vaca Plateau at about 500 metres. At its peak around AD 650 it was a vast city of perhaps a hundred thousand people or more, and in the sixth century it defeated Tikal itself in war. At its heart stands Caana, the «sky palace», a pyramid and palace complex about 43 metres high, still the tallest man-made structure in Belize. Visitors climb to its upper courts and the three temples on top, looking out over the city and forest to the horizon. Around the plazas are carved stone altars and stelae and a ballcourt. The road in takes about two and a half hours through the Mountain Pine Ridge forest, so trips usually combine it with that forest's waterfalls and pools in one day. The forest around the ruins is rich in birds, including toucans and parrots. The last tour starts around 14:00, and visitors must be out of the site by 15:00. Heat and humidity are high and mosquitoes plentiful, so carry water, repellent and a hat. The site is near the Guatemalan border, so keep to marked paths and go with a licensed tour or in daylight.
The sky palace.
Stone altars.
Toucans and parrots.
Vaca Plateau in the Chiquibul reserve, about 40 km south of San Ignacio
On a full-day tour from San Ignacio, about two and a half hours each way, usually combined with the Mountain Pine Ridge falls.