Belize Day 5 August 15, 2012

During the night, Brett and I were suddenly woken up by a big crash.  It was lightning and thunder followed immediately by a downpour that went for about a good hour.  It was startling, but actually really cool.  I felt like I was in the Tiki Room at Disneyland.  My family had the same reaction and we talked about it when we all woke up early to get ready for our next adventure.    

We went to the airport in San Pedro, went on a little plane again, and flew to Belize City.  From there we took a van to the Mayan ruin Xunantunich (Shoe-non-to-nich).  

Leftover rain clouds

Love my brother

I love this guy too

Felix

The beautiful view from the plane

Rainbow

We landed right next to the ocean

The river you cross to get to Xunantunich

hiking up

Our guide Jose

Xunantunich

The jungle

Heavy rain clouds were coming in and it was getting really humid

Pointing to the Guatemalan border that was real close

 (my Dad served his LDS mission there)

The view from the top

We had to hike down fast because it began raining like crazy.  We did get this shot.

After visiting Xunantunich, we headed to Xibalba (the underground) where they have cave tubing.  If you ever have a chance to go cave tubing, I highly recommend it.  This was such a neat experience.  We hiked 30 minutes to the caves which seemed forever. Along the way, we were shown bats, different trees, and even ate termites.  Termites are a good source of protein and energy if you run out of food in the jungle.  They also taste minty because of the trees they like to be on.  

When we got to the river, we went for a swim before getting in the inner tube.  The water was nice and cool.  Dave and Jaden did a free float while the rest of us stayed connected.  Inside we saw stalagmites, stalactites, and a waterfall known as the "fountain of youth."  (My sister and I definitely wiped the water on our faces.  May take a while to see the outcome. Ha!)  It was pitch black inside with just our miner lights.  It was cool, but eerie at the same time especially when my thoughts kept drifting to every horror movie I have ever seen.

We were inside the caves for about 45 minutes and then the last 15 minutes were outside in the jungle.  Awesome experience because it's not everyday that you get to do something like this.

Here we go!

Just beginning to go inside the cave

Made it!