Ticks, Mites and Halegtites
Within half an hour of leaving fieldbase, our adventure had begun as Boo strayed off road and drove through a river.
Trek began on an open farm trail with the baking Belizean sunshine beating down against our bulging backpacks. Within minutes the ground became waterlogged and Justine maintained her title as most unsteady person in the group by falling in the mud twice! Greg watched her flail around from a distance as he didn’t want to get his feet wet.
Trek began on an open farm trail with the baking Belizean sunshine beating down against our bulging backpacks. Within minutes the ground became waterlogged and Justine maintained her title as most unsteady person in the group by falling in the mud twice! Greg watched her flail around from a distance as he didn’t want to get his feet wet.
The first sit down came as a relief to all as we realized the trek was going to be harder than we first thought – flapjack rations raised spirits enough to progress to our first cave, Dark Night Cave, where we formed a chain through the water to pass on our bags. Wading through nipple deep water (Fran fully submerged) we got our first taste of cave exploration.
No sooner had we arrived at our first camp outside Daylight Cave, than we began a nighttime investigation of the chambers inside. 2 hours of clambering and climbing saw Liam’s high-tech Canadian Zip-lock socks make a debut and we got our first glimpse of Mayan pottery.
No sooner had we arrived at our first camp outside Daylight Cave, than we began a nighttime investigation of the chambers inside. 2 hours of clambering and climbing saw Liam’s high-tech Canadian Zip-lock socks make a debut and we got our first glimpse of Mayan pottery.
Day 2 proved to be an eventful day full of exciting new sights. Liam’s high-tech Canadian jungle trainers held up well along the mammoth 8 hours of walking and once again proved that the kit list is indeed a necessary part of jungle living! After numerous jaguar tracks, some surreal jungle leprechauns, a Menonite staring contest and a couple of cows, we finally arrived at camp in a state of exhaustion. We bathed in a beautiful lagoon in the style of a Herbal Essences advert and awoke well rested after a peaceful night without Sand flies.Day 3 begun by a 4 hour trek through Manatee Cave – lots of time underground, some more water crossings and Mayan pottery and we finally arrived on the other side to see the spectacular Haunted Forrest (an upside down forest of green stalegtites).
A seemingly uneventful trek to camp actually revealed a series of blunders from all trekkers.
A seemingly uneventful trek to camp actually revealed a series of blunders from all trekkers.
Liam received jungle karma for planting coconuts in Justine’s bag and fell face first in the mud. Meanwhile Rich presented himself to the group on all fours, demonstrating the ‘downward dog’ yoga position over a log. A humoungus tarantula hitched a ride on our guide Marcos’ bag and Steve and Liam cooked up a storm, despite it taking several hours to prepare.
Day 4 – A short walk from camp took us to ‘The Bat Cave’. With no Bat mobile to transport us, we made our way along the underground river and were confronted by hundreds of friendly bats. We then followed Marcos into unknown territory to unearth previously undiscovered Mayan artifacts. An underground mud war ensued as Liam pelted Steve in the face with clay, Lauren became the target of mud bombs, and all remaining trekkers bombarded Dr. ABC, this in direct juxtaposition to Justine, who faced her fear of small spaces by crying in the corner.
We rinsed off the mud bombs and a thick layer of clay and set off to our final camp. Justine and Lauren put the boys to shame by feeding the group in record time while Marcos returned from a cave with a hand sized Scorpion Spider. A competition of bravery involved Lauren, Steve, Mike and Boo placing the spider on their face and quickly turned nasty when Greg decided to get a little closer and licked its giant mandibles. An honorable mention goes to Liam who managed to place the spider on his face despite being on the verge of tears. This unsurprisingly made for some great entertainment and some comical photos!
After a night of constant rain, we began another tough day of trek. We negotiated dozens of river crossings to arrive in an overgrown expanse of jungle marshland that slowed us down as we all lost our footing. Thanks to Marcos’ machete and amazing navigation skills, we found our way back into the jungle behind schedule, but very relieved.
After a quick stop for flapjacks, we passed through a ridiculously small opening in the rocks. We arrived on the other side reborn with a new sense of purpose as Marcus told us we were only half an hour away from our destination.
We arrived at ‘Five Blues Lake’ exhausted, but excited about the platform which we duly flung ourselves from into the beautiful blue waters of the lake. A short walk along a track saw the Trekforce Landrover arrive in perfect time, and after a short sunbathe on the hot rocks of ‘Dry Creek’ we were packed back into the truck and making our way back to project.
After a quick stop for flapjacks, we passed through a ridiculously small opening in the rocks. We arrived on the other side reborn with a new sense of purpose as Marcus told us we were only half an hour away from our destination.
We arrived at ‘Five Blues Lake’ exhausted, but excited about the platform which we duly flung ourselves from into the beautiful blue waters of the lake. A short walk along a track saw the Trekforce Landrover arrive in perfect time, and after a short sunbathe on the hot rocks of ‘Dry Creek’ we were packed back into the truck and making our way back to project.
