Inland Adventures, Part II

We arrived in San Ignacio one week ago today. The next few days were full of excursions! We started Friday off by stopping by a huge, open cave called Rio Frio. It was so neat inside! We only had time to stay there for a few minutes. Next we drove to Caracol, which is an ancient Mayan archaeological site. The road there was long and very bumpy! I was in the back of the van, and I caught air numerous times. When we finally got there we were able to climb the tallest Mayan ruin in Belize, as well as tour a number of other ruins. We also saw howler monkeys in the jungle! We'd seen them at the Belize Zoo, but it was really special to see them in their natural habitat. We ate a picnic lunch and then left for our last stop of the day, Big Rock Falls. It was a great way to end our day! We swam and some of us jumped from the rocks into the water. The waterfall was beautiful!

Rio Frio

Caracol

At the top of a ruin

Our group in the Rio Frio cave

Big Rock Falls

On Saturday, we toured the Actun Tunichil Muknal cave, or ATM. It is sacred to the Mayan people and many ancient Mayan artifacts can be seen there. After a short hike, we prepared to enter the cave. We had to swim in, and the water was chilly. Once we made it in, the only available light was from our headlamps. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures or take anything at all into the cave, because of accidents in the past when artifacts were broken. It was an incredible experience that included swimming, wading, squeezing, and climbing under and over rocks. I was glad to have a helmet because I hit my head several times! After climbing pretty far into the cave, and up onto one of its upper levels, we saw lots of ancient pottery and even some human remains from sacrifices made by the Mayans. I'll include some pictures below, from when cameras were still allowed on the tour (thanks, Google!)

Just before our ATM tour

Entrance to the cave, where we swam in!

Human remains, found inside the ATM cave

Our last day inland was Easter Sunday. It was very strange to be away from home on this day, but our day was very special, as we spent it in Guatemala. After clearing the border, we went ziplining through the jungle near Tikal, another Mayan ruin site. It was my first time ziplining, and it's something I've always wanted to try. It was a BLAST! After ziplining we went to Flores, a precious little island town for lunch and a little shopping. I was able to bargain and get some good deals on souvenirs for some sweet family and friends.

Roman Catholic church in Flores