Monday, July 17, 2006

Slippery When Wet

We were going to spend three days at Caves Branch and we planned to participate in at least one of the caving adventure that they offer. We decided to go Cave Tubing. I figured inner tubing in a cave would be pretty cool...you know wet...water...in the humid rainforest. Any way, this adventure also included some climbing. I wanted to make sure that I did not put myself in a situation that I could not get out of so I made sure to ask our guide about the climbing part. He assured me that the climbing portion of the adventure was relatively easy. You have to understand he is a very fit 20 something and most people that stay at Caves Branch are very fit 20 somethings that also happen to be adrenaline junkies. I, on the other hand, am pushing past the best years of my life and am in less than perfect physical condition. But I thought, what the hell, you only live once. Famous last words. We get up the next morning and eat a good breakfast. Lunch will be a picnic in the cave. Now you have to remember, we are in Belize at the end of the dry season. In fact the river bed flowing in front of our cabana is bone dry. Not a drop of water. Very important to note when you plan to go inner tubing in the river, especially if you actually want to float... We load up and head out. We drive out thru the orange groves to the tubing site. We have to walk a short distance to the river. We climb down the bank and get wet. Yes, there is water in this river...but shallow. Because we are actually going against the current we have to paddle into the cave. The cave was actually pretty cool. You wear a headlamp so that you can see. There were some really interesting formations and the water was wonderful. You float about 2 1/2 miles into the cave and at points along the way you portage your inner tube and do some rock climbing. You can climb up and look at Mayan artifacts and ceremonial fire pits. It was on the final descent that disaster struck. We were on our way down from a high climb. The trail was wet and slippery. Anyway, we had good boots and were moving down cautiously, I felt good. My husband said to me "Let me go first". I said "no, I have it". Before my next step I slipped. It felt like I was falling forever, but I only fell a few feet. I did wrench my knee pretty good, but somehow I managed not to hit my head or face on the rocks. The ancient Mayan spirits were looking out for me that day. I figured everything happens for a reason. I took one for the team. Had my husband gone first, he might have really been hurt as he has osteoporosis. He would have surely broken something. So that's my story and I am sticking to it. And this is where the safety and first aid training of the guides really comes in handy. I am glad that I provided some practice for them. Well, not glad, but you know what I mean. After I made it safely to the bottom, I told our guide that I was not doing any more climbing that day. He said were finished anyway. We ate lunch in the cave and floated back to the world. All in all is was quite a good day. At one point along the float, we all turned of our headlamps. I did not know how black black could be. Tomorrow: Xunantunich

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