The Chiquibul Forest

The Chiquibul is the largest continuous block of protected forest in Belize, around a thousand square kilometres of broadleaf forest on limestone running to the Guatemalan border, and it holds both the Maya city of Caracol and the Chiquibul cave system, one of the longest in Central America. It is also one of the last places in the region where scarlet macaws breed in numbers, nesting in tree cavities along the Macal and Raspaculo rivers. That population has been under sustained pressure from chick poaching for the pet trade, and a ranger programme guarding nests through the breeding season has been the main thing keeping it going.

What you actually see

• Scarlet macaws - nesting along the Macal and Raspaculo in season.
• The forest block - the largest continuous protected forest in Belize.
• Caracol - the Maya city at its heart.
• The Chiquibul caves - among the longest systems in Central America.

When to go

December to April is the dry season and the only time the roads are reliable. Macaw nesting runs roughly February to June, which is when the guarding programme operates and when the birds are most visible. Access to the cave system is restricted to research.

Honest expectations

Access is on rough roads through the pine ridge and takes hours; most visitors see it only on the way to Caracol. Illegal logging, poaching and cross-border incursion have been persistent problems and the area is patrolled. The caves are not open to general visitors. There are no facilities.

Nearby

Caracol is within it; the Mountain Pine Ridge is the route in.