Blogs :: Simply San Ignacio

Simply San Ignacio

While we waited out the rains (Jason has already provided coverage on how), we managed to convince a tour guide to dirty up his Toyota 4-Runner imported from L.A. Why they drive 4x4 vehicles there I have no idea, but maybe why he got a good deal including the cost of gas driving it down through Mexico, at night to avoid paying exorbitant "highway taxes" from corrupt law enforcement, bandits, etc.

Despite the downpour, we first found ourselves inside Rio Frio Cave. Large in size, but open on both ends for the Frio (cold) Rio (river) to splash through. Maybe more than splash. I'd not touch it with a 10 foot kayak much less an inner tube. The most interesting part of our first stop was the M4 wielding military escort, required for all visitors since Guatemalan bandits cross the Belizean jungle border and robbed touristas back in 2002. As we were perhaps the only people to visit the cave today (or anytime that week), I wondered if these two soldiers were the "lucky" ones to get out of the barracks today or the 20 other soldiers who stay backed to smoke and drink their shit post assignment away. I took a picture, reading later in the guidebook to never take pictures of military facilities, personnel, etc.

Another 30 minute conversation with a New York tourist, our companion on this exploration, asking questions like "Why are the oranges green?" and "Are there any ants here?". For those readers also slow the answers are 1) They are not ripe yet and 2) Its a fucking jungle.

We stopped for lunch at Rio on Pools eating our banana chips and cold tortilla sandwich/burrito while looking for the "pools". Typically this part of the tour includes swimming, but being it was just a Rio minus the Pools now, we sprayed ourselves down with Off! for fun instead and headed to the highlight of the tour, Bols Cave.

Found in 1985 by the father of our 15 year old tour guide, Bol's Cave is one of 47 caves on the families mere 500 acres, and the only attraction open for the public. Imagine one of those ladders in an Indian Jones movie that you foreshadow will not hold the weight of 10 men scurrying down into the pit of snakes. Well, this one was sketchy with just one person, but at least there were no snakes. After dropping my bag with $1K of camera gear into the dark, landing in a splash of mud (No Ms. New York, caves are not immune to rain.) at the bottom, I climbed down wishing my hiking boots were wet socks instead as I slipped underground. The cave was nearly 140 feet long and between 2 feet and 20 feet high depending upon where you stood. The guide said we could crawl through the 2 foot area for 7 feet and stand up, but I didn't trust him or my not so Mayan sized body to fit. The rest of the cave however was quite a sight to see, if we'd had decent flashlights (remember those you played with as a kid that barely worked in your room during a slumber party?). Now I knew why I'd bought that extra light for my video camera. The Mayan artifacts (pots, pans, skulls, jewelry, weapons and more) had been excavated and collected into several places for easy viewing. These were the real thing, not the fakes being sold on the streets. Quite amazing.

We climbed out of the cave 45 minutes later to find sunlight instead of rain and spent the next 30 minutes re-traversing rivers and former roads while attempting to not listen (definitely not participate) in the conversation about "how if Chucky is a hamburger, Pan's Labyrinth is a New York Strip". I felt sorry for the tour guide and re-contemplated whether I'd ever want the job.

caves, tax, waterfalls, San Ignacio, tourists, Belize, ruins, Mayan