WHERE do folks read stuff like "I would like to do the drive myself but have read that it is not entirely safe to do so without a guide/tour." Goodness. Thousands of people each year rent cars in Belize and drive all over country. (I've been doing it for over 13 years.) Roads are generally pretty well marked and the main roads (Western, Northern, Hummingbird and Southern highways) are paved and in good to excellent condition.

Caracol is one of the most interesting historical sites in all of Central America. A thousand years ago, it rivaled Tikal in importance, a city-state of more than 150,000 people, with sophisticated building techniques and a wide-ranging knowledge of mathematics, architecture and astronomy (at a time when Europeans were still struggling to emerge from the Dark Ages). The trip there is half the fun. The unpaved road through the Mountain Pine Ridge and on to Caracol is in generally good condition, though after heavy rains it does get a bit dicey.

--Lan Sluder

Lan Sluder/Belize First
http://www.belizefirst.com