Lazy weekend

Bridge that connected the town to the rest of the country

This weekend we had a scheduled trip to the botanical gardens here. It was actually not that bad. Our guide was a really funny guy. He told us a story about how he used to have a problem with peeing his pants and then he took some medicine here and it strengthened his bladder and he stopped wetting the bed. Other than that we saw many different plants that they use for medicine. We ate a few fruits I had never seen before. After our tour of the gardens the best part of the trip came. We got to go swimming and I got to jump off a huge rock into the river. Our advisor was with us and told me not to do it and that it is not covered by my insurance but I had to do it anyways. So I got to the top and waited for my roommate (Tom)  to jump off and then I would go after because he went feet first and I wanted to go head first. (Tom is in the blue trunks and I am in the red trunks) Then my reckless mindset came into play and I dove in head first and it went awesome. Pretty good rush for me. After that we stopped at this wooden bridge that connects a small town to the rest of the country. It is pretty amazing to see that they still have no other way to get across that river and the year is 2011! Anyways we have a long weekend coming up and I hope to go to Honduras. This trip is going by so fast but I am trying to make the most of it.

Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM Cave)

Our guide called it the circle of trust

Yesterday we went on an adventure to Actun Tunichil Muknal. Also known as the ATM Cave. We drove about 45 minutes before we got there. I noticed there was not a sign from it and we randomly pulled off the highway on to a dirt road. We arrived to the place where our hike would begin 30 minutes later. To get to the entrance of the cave we had to walk through the Macal River three times and of course it was raining so the trail was very slippery. At the end of the hike we ate lunch and walked up to the entrance of the cave. To get into the actual cave we had to swim for about 100 feet. Once in the actual cave it was amazing to see. The path our guide led us on took us through very narrow paths in waist deep water. We saw so many different artifacts and pottery the Mayans used for ritualistic purposes. Our guide told us that they would be on hallucinogenics when they would do these rituals. At many different points we all turned off our head lights just to get a feel for how dark it was. I could not see my hand in front of my face. We walked in the dark at one point for about five minutes. Needless to say it may have been the longest five minutes of my life. As our trip continued we were headed for the grand finale. So we climbed up some rocks and our guide gave us some more information. We had to take off our shoes and walk in our socks so we would not ruin the floor. We saw many skeletal remains of people that had been sacrificed. Nothing in the cave had been moved since it was rediscovered in 1986. We climbed the ladder to the main attraction and it was amazing. It was a female skeleton that had been sacrificed. So we took our pictures and headed back.

I also went to the Iguana Resort in town on Friday. They raise iguanas until they are old enough to survive in the wild and then release them. I got to hold a male and a female. The orange one is the male and the brown one is the female. I also got to hold 15 iguanas at once! They were so green. This upcoming weekend we are headed to some botanic gardens so we will see what happens. Having problems with the pictures but I will get some up as soon as possible! 

Guatemala

This weekend we went to Tikal located in Guatemala. We had to go through border patrol and was actually a lot more difficult then I thought it would be. It was about an hour and forty five minutes to Tikal from the border. On the way though we decided to stop and try zip lining. It was pretty exciting and they taught us how to do some tricks as well. After we went on to Tikal for a three hour tour. The parts of Tikal that have been excavated are about 4 square kilometers. Our tour guide mentioned to me that is only twenty percent of Tikal! It was so big so it is hard to understand how there could be so much more under all of that jungle. We climbed to the top of one of the ruins on a ladder. It was over 100 feet high and it was very intimidating being up that high on such an unstable structure but I am glad I got to do it. We saw so many different types of wildlife. The guide also mentioned to me that he had seen a jaguar carrying a 300 lb cow on its back and jumping easily over a five foot chain link fence. After that we drove to Flores and stayed on that small island for the night. I finally got fast food though! I ate some Burger King and another place that is similar to KFC. It was nice to get some grease to eat. Next weekend we plan on going to Caye Caulker! Overall amazing weekend