Today we went cave tubing and zip lining and it was amazing!
We woke up at 5:30am to chilly cloudy skies and rain. Which made for an interesting boat ride over to the main land! We got picked up on the edge of our dock by the tour company for the one hour and fifteen minute commute into Belize City. We were dressed in swim suits and tank tops, which made riding in a boat in the rain going 35mph a cold, uncomfortable experience. The rain drops felt like tiny cold daggers. Once we got closer to the mainland, the rain let up and we were able to relax as our boat cruised up the Belize river. To everyone’s surprise, a bottle nose dolphin was hanging out in the river doing jumps and flips! We were lucky to catch him in action:
From the river, we boarded a van to drive an additional 60 minutes into the jungle. We learned some interesting things on our way:
- The state animal is the Tapir.
- We passed Belize’s only prison, housing 3,000 inmates.
- It is illegal to cut the mangrove trees in Belize
The zip lining was SO MUCH FUN! Everyone agrees it was one of the coolest things we have done here. There were a series of 6 zip lines, which took you across the jungle canopy and rivers. It was beautiful!! We caught it all on our GoPro strapped to our helmet.
After a quick lunch of chicken, rice and beans, veggies and potato salad we hit the river for tubing. We were given a tube, head lamp and life vest that we had to haul through the jungle for a 20 minute hike. Our guide took us through dry caves where we saw stalagmites and stalactites. She explained the jungle plants and how the Mayans used them, and how most locals today still use them for medicinal purposes. The cave tubing took us through extensive cave systems which took 20 minutes to float through. Without the head lamps, it was pitch black. It was spooky to turn them off and float in the dark with the bats!
It was a looooong day, but a really fun day! (We didn't take many pictures because of the rain)
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