It was an AMAZING experience.
We started by
meeting our guide on the speed bump in front of our house. We had fewer participants than expected, and
he offered to lower the price even more.
(We were already getting a smoking deal on the day's activities). He said that it was more about sharing his
culture than the money. We then got in
the back of a 15 passenger van and started out toward Belmopan. About half way there, we turned off the road,
and had beautiful vistas of the foot hills.
We passed Mahogany and Tea farms along the way. It was a bit of an adventure just riding in
the car. We got there, and they gave us
each a helmet, and we began hiking in the jungle. It is the very end of the dry season right
now, so there really isn't a lot of lush greenery--comparatively speaking. We were still hiking in the jungle under the
canopy. It was still a life tile. We had to cross the river 3 times, which
wasn't too bad since it is the dry season.
We got to the cave mouth, and had to leave our bags. They don't allow cameras into the cave.
The first hour in
the cave was filled with swimming up the underground river, crawling up the
boulders, and squeezing in. It was a
phenomenal experience just hiking in the jungle and hiking up the cave. Once we got to the main cavern, they had us
take off our shoes and walk barefoot.
The ancient Maya used the cave as a temple, and believed that it was the
connection with the underworld. The
ancient artifacts were out for us to see.
The cave was discovered in 1986, then rediscovered in 1989, and
archeologists decided to leave the cave as it is. There are many pots and pans half buried in
the cave. We were able to see 3 adult
skeletons and a baby; however, there are many more. They have banned packs and cameras because
someone dropped a camera into the scull and broke the scull of one of the human
remains. Someone else dropped a bag and
broke one of the baby skeletons. Too
bad… how frustrating!?! This is why cameras are strictly banned from the
caves.
I could feel a deep
sense of pride and respect for the traditions of the Maya from our guide. Although I appreciate the culture, I still
find some of it repulsive. The princess
would get really high, and then split her tongue in two. This doesn't bother me half as much as the
human sacrifices. Many of the sacrifices
came because the people were trying to sacrifice blood--the life-giving
agent. Babies were especially popular to
sacrifice because of their purity. They
would sacrifice when the culture was at it's downfall in order to win favor
from the Gods to save them. I, of course
found all of this fascinating, disturbing, intriguing, and humbling. 
They believed that
God has created man 3 times, each time out of something else. The second type were made of clay (I think),
but they were disobedient, so they were turned into monkeys. The current type are made of corn. They did the head deformations to make the
head resemble a piece of corn more.
After we got out of the cave, Sara and I ran back to the car, and had quite a fun time. We may have also found a vine in the jungle to swing on.
I felt a lot of
honor that I could go into the caves and share a piece of history. I pulled a few pictures off the internet
because I couldn't take any pictures.
Ok, here you go! Enjoy!
Life Tiles:
-Hiking in the Jungle
-Swinging on a vine in the jungle
-Splunking
-Seeing a Maya temple
-Being in a Maya temple where all the artifacts are still in their original position in nature
-Feeling a bit like Indiana Jones (priceless?)
Again--I love your life.
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