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 Central
America Belize |
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CAVING IN BELIZE On our first day we had a tour set up through the Tut family that would take us caving. Actun Tunichil Muknal was our destination. A top attraction for tourists in Belize. This cave has many underground chambers, and incredible sights, as well as ancient Mayan artifacts I will show in coming digital photos. So on our first rainy morning we were off to a virtual, historic caving wonderland and we were stoked !!!We were driven by one of the Tut sons to a rendevous with our tour guide and group of tourist about ten strong. After a long, cramped and back-breaking bumpy, bumpy ride we embarked on another twenty minute drive through the green, green rainforest to a meeting place where we were given a complimentary lunch from our hosts, the Tuts, and our miners helmets with attaching headlights. My gal and I had gone spelunking once in BC and we took to it very much. If you suffer from Claustrophobia , or you're afraid of the dark and the unknown, it won't be on your top ten list of things to do. After our second drive deeper into the rainforest we came to the first of three very rocky shallow streams, (well if you call waist high shallow).This is where our trek to the Ancient Mayan cave was to begin These streams were actually different legs of the Roaring River. It was very tricky to maintain one's balance and not get dunked while crossing the three riverlegs, but they weren't too wide so all in all we were having a blast and feeling like mini-historians. We couldn't believe we were actually wading in a historical Central American river where the great Mayan peoples once waded appoximately 6,000 years ago. The hike lasted an eye-opening and semi-grueling 45 minutes to this ancient Mayan wonder and it was also kind of threacherous for this camper, the souls on my Teevas had been wearing down, not much tread left: it had been raining for a few days and the trail to the cave was extremely muddy and slippery. I came unbelievabley close to flying up n the air so many times, I luckily maintained and got on with our wonderous journey. I was filled with awe from the sighs and sounds around me during our hike. Heather, my gal, wanted to stay in the back of the pack so she could take as many wonderful photos that her beckoning, searching eyes could find. |
In this picture you can see the hourglass shape opening of this historic cave. This cave apparantly was uncovered in 1986 : the ancient Mayan artifacts discoverd were documented and shown to the world on the Discovery Network as well as by National Geographic. In the picture you can see the glimmering teal colored water you have to swim across to get to your starting point. Our guide was careful to point out that if any of us were non- confident or weak, nervous swimmers we could carefully clamber our way along the right cave wall. We chose to swim the short distance across the cave opening keeping our helmets above water. Once inside the cave you have to figure out how to carefully clamber over the large boulders and squeeze through tight passageways. A stream flows through the cave in some of the rooms and the water is shoulder heighth in parts. The walls of the cave were very jagged and unforgiving in places ; It's not an easy thing, to navigate the darkness and uneven walking conditions when caving. The lamped miners helmets help and our guide had a very large flashlight to highlight the magical sights I'll show in coming pictures. This young, knowledgable and very likable guide whose name happened to be Abraham, had our touring party carefully following in his footsteps in single file, the person closest Abraham would relay his messages and warnings down the line to the last adventurer. It was a good system and worked very efficiently. This unbelievable, rare experience lasted just over three hours, the Mayan artifacts we were shown and the hallowed cave itself are permamamtly, engraved in our minds. More pics and stories of our Magical History tour through the ATM cave, are on the way. Day two will find us heading to another historical outdoor Mayan ruin Xunantunich, (pronounced) shu-nan-tu-nich but I have several more pics of our Day One caving experience to show. |
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Another
look at a part of the cave entrance, two travellers contemplate
there next move or precarious step. This is the turning point,
the stage of the tour where you will decide if you have the
stomach to venture into this beckoning innersanctum of wonder
and mystery, |
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Heather, my gal poses showing
off her miners, safety helmet with adorning flashlight. This
indeed is a rare photo as Heather is the main photographer
on our journeys, and rarely lets me take her picture. A good
reason to be included in our on-line photo gallery. |
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That's me in my white Detroit tiger shirt
and red miners helmet. Im wading in near waist high water with
a massive, razor-sharp, jagged, light brown limestone ceiling
hanging inches over my head. I had to stop and carefully touch
and caress the gold colored rock formation, my roof of earth
. I was also thinking that the rock bottom of the cave was also
as treacherous and constantly changing as this magical overhead.
Our guide was warning us of possible peril within this cave of
wonders and stressing the need to take our time, keep our eyes
open and to keep the lines of communication open within our tour
group. He also told us legendary stories of the Mayan culture that once occupied and used these caves for rituals and sacrifices. Actually being inside our earth was probably one of the most incredible, mind-blowing experiences I've ever had , and that's what I was thinking in this picture and during the entire trip. I'm looking ahead to the dark that welcomes the outside world and am staying back near Heather in the back of the pack. Easier to stay back and see how others are handling the caving if you're not sure or yourself. I could hear our guide and group well from the echos of our nervous, yet awestruck voices |
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I'm now sholder deep in a cool, soothing
stream, listening intently to dircections and warnings from our
tour guide, Our wade was only a few minutes long before we had
to climb along the cave wall working and squeezing our way through
tight, narrow passageways. We had to cling to the cave wall at
times to keep from sliding into the water or from slashing our
legs on the sharp rock creeping around our ankles. At times the
walls and ceiling were enclosed tight around us and the inner
terrain was continually changing with varying degrees of caving
difficulty. |
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In this picture I had to squeak my way
through this ever-so tight rock crevace to reach a beautiful
pool of water in another cavern mouth. |
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After finally scrambling over the most
scratchy, ragged rock we came to a ledged, level area where we
could all converge and relax safely, you move slow in caves because
for one you can't see well and two it's good to pace yourself
and just breathe and be calm. The toughest challenge though came
when our touring party all saw the ladder standing upright against
a tall, noble wallface that led up to a good-sized open cavern
or room if you will. Abraham our guide had his large conveinient
source of light aimed at the imposing, very scary looking steps.
, by now its pitch black and we're a good distance from the mouth
of the cave. When it's as black as it was at that point in our
journey that big flashlight really came in handy as it shone
a yellow bright sweeping beam. I've got to finish about the ladder before I describe the pics though. So we all carefully stood in a virtual miners sort of cue, listening to Abraham as he was talking us through our paces to ascend the ladder with ease and security. Everyone is looking at the ladder and listening to Abraham, then impishly and forelorn-like looking around, nervously giggling and muttering! Well we all conquered the task at hand but I sure don't want to do that much in my life. I remember thinking, just don't look down, take your time, use your sight, hearing and co-ordination the best you can, if anyone was to fall the results could even be tragic with so much jagged rock and water around. If the persons above me slip and fall will they take me with them, or will I slip and take the people below me down. Whew !!! I'm trembling and excited just thinking of that ladder. On the way back out of the cave I found descending the ladder a bit harder and so did a poor-we-soul of a young lass who was very frightened, I could hear her voice shake and quiver and she was up top for a good spell before she got up the nerve to try and descend that nighmarish ladder. I have to confess I was also afraid but I was confident and optomistic that I could get down the steps without a mishap. The girl was maybe in her early twenties or late teens, she was at the edge of the cavern floor looking down to the first step of the ladder, you know the way you have to approach the top of the ladder and then spin your body around so that you're facing the ladder : well you need to be able to stretch your leg down to the next step. That's the hardest part, going so slow and hoping you can hit the next step flush on and have a smooth glide downward. With guidence and assurance from Abraham and her friends the sweet, timid young lady finally made her way down the ladder safely, Heather and I made eye-contact and I could see she was also relieved and as happy a I was for the girl and her pals. Heather had done another fabulous job of highlighting a gorgeous-looking image of rock with her digital, with Abraham lighting up 'The Statue Of Liberty' as he called this amazing, illiminationg even arty looking formation of stone, you can see what I and many tourists have seen and will see. The shadow on the front of the rock looks so sillouette like, and the jet black background really makes this shot one of my favorite inner photos. It's like looking at a work of art or a brilliant, fascinating sculpted masterpiece. |
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Yes that's a 5-6 thousand year old Mayan
skull eerily peeking out a gap in the cavern floor. Looking at
that skull really made us think, WOW!!! That's someone's skull,
an acutal cranium of someone who had died in this cave all those
thousands of years ago. Totally boggles the mind to say the least.
Our guide had our attention for sure now, and he started showing
us possible alters and spots in the cavern where sacrifices and
rituals might have taken place. He talked at length about the
Mayan way of life and their beliefs and religion, their architecture
and the way they calandered and kept their sense of time and
being. This cavern was a good spot to ust stand still, take searching looks around and soak it all in. We were near a half mile inside the cave and I thought to myself that I'm standing inside the earth, pretty deep inside our planet for this city-boy tourist. We had another tight squeeze of a climb to yet another spacious cavern, and I literally had to crawl, squirm and squeak my body through that narrow, crack of a passageway. With our parties helmet lights and Abrahams big light I found conditions visually agreeable and that was a big help since I don't have the best blinkers in the world. Hope you liked these pics: I think the skull picture would have made a great album cover years back, hey the sculpted pic could be the back cover. Whoo-hooh as Homer would say. |
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We saw quite a good collection of ancient
mayan pottery that is sectioned off from the tourist pathway
with illuminating reddish-orange tape. We as tourists were cautioned
to please do not touch or go near the Mayan artifacts we were
being shown. This is only one of many pictures Heather has of
the Mayan cookware we saw. You can see the biggest, probably
main cooking pot and some smaller pots or bowls . What was it
like I had to wonder, all those years ago? So far inside this
dark foreboding cavernous world! We were told only Bats and packrats could live in this type of world and climate so that had to be a plus for Mayans seeking shelter from the dangers of the outside world, Much of the danger came from Man and beast alike and is documented indepth in books of Mayan culture, on the net and on TV documentaries. |
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| My partner and
I had a blast in Beliize. I conquered my fear of the water and
found that on vacations, you just need to be willing to get outside
of your comfort zone. You need to be willing to do things that
are unexpected and out of character. Doing this builds character,
it broadens your horizons and allows you to enjoy all aspects
of the country you visit. Would I go back to Belize? In a heartbeat! |
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