Belize

Lost in the Maya Jungle

www.mayamountain.com

Well it was a long plane ride like usual, 4 hours in the air and 2 hours not. We landed in the rain, but it was a warm rain so it felt nice. After getting my bags and going through Customs, I had no idea what to do. I had never received final plans for how I was getting picked up. So I tried my phone, and it worked. I ended up going for a long drive with another group and stopping over at the Belize Zoo. Once we got to the zoo I realized this was more of a plea to keep a good zoo going. Everyone looked poor around Belize. Most of the houses looked like they only had one bedroom and half had stopped building in the middle. There are a lot of community centers though and lots of space.

Well second day and plenty to do, though there is lots of driving. Took a canoe tour of Barton Creek Cave; an old Mayan entrance to the Underworld. Wonderful cave but we were not allowed to get out of the canoe. I did notice that you could hear voices singing just past were the last artifacts were found. The water dripping farther in sounds like voices from that spot and I believe that the voices are the reason why the Mayans did not go farther in. After lunch, we hiked a hill down to a large waterfall. The energy coming off was great, it even had its own wind; I could have flown a kite.

Went to the Tikal Ruins in Guatemala today. Stood on top of Temple IV and climbed a bunch of smaller temples. In the main city we walked around and climbed a bunch of small temples and platforms, mostly residential. In one section there was a beautiful courtyard and every time you approached a dwelling, a flock of birds would rush out and hide in another dwelling within the courtyard.

Swam through the cave known as ATM, Actun Tunichil Muknal. It was a lot of fun getting hands on through the cave and getting close enough to step on old artifacts. The clay pots and skeletal remains were so close they had us wear socks so that we would be more careful. They only took us .5km in, but informed us it was 5.3km long. The water was cool but the air was nice and still. Looking down at the water it had a cross ripple effect that made it look holographic. When we climbed up into the second chamber away from the noise of the water, I could feel the vibration of the cave itself; lots of energy.

Started the day at a cave called Rio Frio Cave. It had a cathedral ceiling and was wide open at the entrance. It hooked right into another wide entrance. I didn’t think much of it till I walked down to where the two entrances shined into each other and could feel the strong body shaking vibrations, pure energy. We had to have a solder escort us to Caracol Ruins, because of Guatemalan thieves; we were only 6 miles from the border. Caracol had a lot of courtyards and ball courts. The courtyards had good acoustics and the ball courts had no hoops. We finished off the day at Rio On Pools, a small series of smooth rocks and waterfalls. Sat under a big fall getting a natural massage than washed myself down stream. When the fall cleared out I sat under it again and my camera was sucked out of my pocket. Good thing I took psychometry training last week. I divined that somehow it was still under the waterfall. After a little searching with goggles I found it sitting in what must have been the only current free spot under the falls.

Decided to take it easy today and went kayaking down the Mopan River. There were some rapids but pretty easy for my first time. The guide told stories and pointed out trees and wild life on the slow calm parts. We ended at Clarissa Falls, where there was a restaurant. The food here hasn’t really been agreeing with me so I ordered some spaghetti with tomato sauce. The restaurant had a couple of tucans hanging around while we were eating. When I got back I was still craving tomato sauce so I went for a few mile walk to San Ignacio to get a pizza. It was hot and I sunburned. Three young kids came in and saw me eating a pizza alone so they started talking with me. They asked about the pizza and I said they could each have a slice if they stayed and kept me company.

Friday is a slow day here for tourism. I ended up paying for 3 so I could see the Cha Chem Ha Cave. After exploring the cave, I can understand why few tourists would come. The cave is very slippery, lots of crawling and climbing, I enjoyed it a lot. This is the first cave I have seen or heard of, lids on the pots. After Cha Chem Ha I had lunch and we got a flat tire near the fairy. There were a line of local souvenir stands. I decided to blow some cash for the sake of art. We crossed the river and roamed around Xunantunich, the Stone Maiden, for a while looking at the wonderful carvings and panoramic view.

View from the plane	The Sleeping Giant	Tucan	Harpy Eagle	My Humble Room

Entering Barton Creek Cave	From the inside out	Large	Awsome Current and Energy	Local Artist

Take off your Head for the Gods	View from atop Temple IV	Entering the city	More Cranial offerings in the city	Standing around in the Courtyard

Hour Glass shaped entrance	Clear flowing water	The canapy just outside	A head in the middle of the floor	Deep in a woman resting in the earth

Entrance to Rio Frio Cave	Inside	Otherside	Looking out the entrance	Caracol courtyard

Carving at Caracol	13 below, 9 atop	Scorpian at Caracol	Rio On Pools	Waterfall tried to eat my camra

Iguana at lodge	Iguana on Mopan	Clarissa Falls	San Ignacio	Macal River

Entrance to Cha Chem Ha	Many pots and slipery walls	East Carving	View from the top	West Carving