Today was awesome!!! We booked a tour through one of the local companies that we had heard was awesome; none of us really knew what we were getting ourselves into but we were very excited to say the least. We had to be downtown at 730 ready to go. We rode in a van for about an hour, but most of it was on very crappy dirt roads and we even drove through the river; these people in Belize think cars can do anything. The ride there was pretty exciting because we hadnt seen much of the jungle yet; it was cool to see all of the crops growing and also the houses that are that far from a city. As we got closer to the mountains we all got pretty excited and jittery. Once we got to the site they gave us packs with our lunch in them and we could put our water, socks and snacks in there as well. I used the nastiest bathroom I think I have ever had to use and the toilet seat was so far back from the edge of the wood stand that squatting was extremely hard for the vertically challenged like me.
Our tour guide was pretty much the best person we could have gotten and he might be our favorite person from the whole trip. Patrick took good care of us and was extremely intelligent and knowledgeable about the jungle. He said when he wass 3 he was given his machette and started to learn the ways of the jungle. He and his father, who was a medicine man, would go on 2 week long trips into the jungle and he also grew up riight by the jungle. He also went to college in Boulder, Colorado and is certified in flying hot air balloons. He is creole, meaning he is half african and half mayan. He has had the chance to travel all over the world and has seen so much, so talking to him was really exciting. He also had a great sense of humor. He discovered this cave in 1986 with one other man. Since then the government has taken control of it and has many laws. Nothing in the cave can be preserved or touched. The way it was found is the way we saw it today.
The tour started out with a hike and within 5 mins we were waist deep in the water. We continued hiking for about an hour while patrick showed us tons of plants and animals. He had us smell some plants and things like that and told us what type of medicine is still made from them today. We finally made it to the entrance of the cave which was amazing. We ate some lunch and then we were off on our 3 hours adventure into the cave. To get into the cave you swim a small distance first. Then we trekked through water for 90% of the cave and climbed a little more than I expected too. There are definitely some spaces we went through that would not fit the fat americans as patrick said, " we would need a lot of oil". Patrick gave us tons of information ranging from history to the science behind all of it.
Once we got to a certain point we had to climb up to the next chamber of the cave where we took our shoes off and had to have socks on so nothing would get ruined or altered from our shoes. We then kept climbing into higher chambers to see all of the artifacts that were left from the mayans. There were so many pots and pottery as well as skeletons and bodies. It still hasnt hit me that we werent in some disney world exhibit, but that it was actually real.
After all that we ate lunch at the campsite and trekked back for our ride home.It was an awesome experience and I am so glad we did it.
The rest of the day consisted of stopping by the market and a few shops. After that I shower, relaxed and had dinner. After dinner seems to be the time that i hang out with Adma and Marlin the most. We talked for a few hours. I love talking to them. Today Marlin told me he can see his daughter being just like me when she is older, she is 9 now. He said she wants to be a doctor just like me and has a very similar personality, so that was cool. They also told me that whenever i want to come back just get a hold of them and they will give me a deal and I can stay with them anytime. They really want me to stay longer, we were all getting sad at dinner tonight about my trip being half way over.I guess I will just HAVE to come back!!
Tomorrow we are going to mountain pine ridge which has a 1,000 foot water fall and some cliff jumping. It should be pretty cool. Hopefully are your weekends are going well!
Miss you all!!
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