Belize – Day 7: A Rural Jaunt, Nature Hike, and Caving Adventure

8:30a

Breakfast

Breakfast was not quite as fancy as the previous day’s but hearty enough to get us through the morning.

 

8:30a

Breakfast

Breakfast was not quite as fancy as the previous day’s but hearty enough to get us through the morning.

10:00a

The Rural Side of Life

Crystal Cave is located out in the Cayo countryside in the general area of our previous day’s cave kayaking trip, so we were once again able to catch glimpses of local rural life, including farms and a nearby Mennonite community.

10:00a

The Rural Side of Life

Crystal Cave is located out in the Cayo countryside in the general area of our previous day’s cave kayaking trip, so we were once again able to catch glimpses of local rural life, including farms and a nearby Mennonite community.

A local farmer and friend of our guide, Jose, shows off his machete he used to donate a soursop to our lunch.

As with the previous day, it was cool to see both modern and traditional ways of life.

From 100+ horsepower...
...To 2 horsepower.

And of course, countryside means plenty of animals around.

Mama and chickadees on their own nature hike.
Look at these guys hamming it up for the camera.
Why did the lamb cross the road? To get to the baaaarber shop. (Actually, I think he's coming from it.)

Judging from the tiny glimpse of the local Mennonite community and their farm, they are clean and organized and know how to put up a proper building. The few we came across were always pleasant and nodded or waved a hello.

I was amused by this scarecrow.

I wonder how effective the paper-plate-on-a-string method is. And my OCD-self is bothered by there not being one on the other arm.

11:00a

Nature Hike and Crystal Cave Exploration

After an hour’s 4×4-ing in the countryside, the real tour for Crystal Cave starts with a 45-min or so hike followed by several hours of cave exploring, including a lunch break. This is a cool tour offering the chance to see a Mayan cave, complete with ancient pottery and human remains – minus the crowds. I’ve included more details of the hike and exploration in my Crystal Cave write-up here.

11:00a

Nature Hike and Crystal Cave Exploration

After an hour’s 4×4-ing in the countryside, the real tour for Crystal Cave starts with a 45-min or so hike followed by several hours of cave exploring, including a lunch break. This is a cool tour offering the chance to see a Mayan cave, complete with ancient pottery and human remains – minus the crowds. I’ve included more details of the hike and exploration in my Crystal Cave write-up here.

Crystal Cave's original name was Haunted Forest Cave.

7:00p

Dinner

With one of the members of our tour being a little less than sure-footed, our tour took a couple hours longer than expected, which meant another cold shower as well as dinner in the dark. Ah well. If all things go well during your experience, you should be back at your lodgings before sundown.

Dinner was a simple but filling affair back at the Jungle Lodge with chicken, rice & beans, and some veggies.

7:00p

Dinner

With one of the members of our tour being a little less than sure-footed, our tour took a couple hours longer than expected, which meant another cold shower as well as dinner in the dark. Ah well. If all things go well during your experience, you should be back at your lodgings before sundown.

Dinner was a simple but filling affair back at the Jungle Lodge with chicken, rice & beans, and some veggies.

Pic is the best I could do in the dark with a helmet lamp!

And here ends a long but satisfying Day 7 with our most exciting adventure of the trip to come on Day 8 with the ATM Cave Tour.

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