Resting deep within the Mayan mountains of Belize, are some of the most beautiful and unexplored cave systems of the world. Belize is a spelunker's paradise as I experienced first hand. I began my own quest to find some of these amazing caves I had heard so much about, as I planned my trip to this small but beautiful country.
The first place I stopped on my quest was a little town called San Ignacio which rests close to the Guatemalan border and along the gringo trail, as travelers call the route that crosses through the center of Belize, and into the Petan jungles of Guatemala.
It's a town that will forever remind me of the Wild West as I walked its dusty streets in search of a place to rest my head. Old colonial buildings lined its cracked concrete streets and backpackers from all corners of the globe sat on hotel balconies smoking cigarettes and resting from their adventures. The towns had one of those anything can happen here vibes that you only find in third world countries! As I walked the streets I was greeted by several hustlers all trying to get me to stay at their hotel and most of them I tried to ignore, but one of them caught my attention because he had a strange feeling about him for a Hustler. When I met him, he gave me his pitch about the Hotel Jaguar and how great it was, I felt like I could trust him. He introduced himself to me as David, and he convinced me to stay at the cheapest place in town. He called it the Hotel Jaguar and a cheap place it was I can tell you! It had about ten rooms but only one bathroom for all the guests and was one of the scariest I had seen on my journeys into Central America, Well, with the exception to the bathrooms at the Belize City bus station of course.
Once I was settled into my room which had a hole in the wall, which allowed me to view all the activities of my neighbours both intimate and mundane, I made my way across the street to a place called Eva's restraunt. I was once again greeted by David who asked me what my purpose was in Belize. Was I just anther gringo on his way through San Ignacio to Guatemala? I told him about my interest in caves and he lit right up and explained to me that he knew of a secret cave, one where very view people go and that he would take me there for a small price the following day. I agreed!
After a light dinner I turned in and was awakened at around seven in the morning with David knocking on my door. I got dressed and made my way out onto the street where David had a beat up old truck with two canoes strapped on top and was accompanied by two other gringos, a young man and his girlfriend, who also wanted to see the cave. They where sitting on a couch in the back of the truck and they looked kind of scared. I think they were the Cancun resort type, not the backpacker adventurer sort! It was not first class travel but it was sure adventure travel which is what Belize is really all about. I introduced myself to the two travelers, who were named Darren and Debra, and sat down on the ratty old couch in the back of the truck next to them. I learned they were wealthy Americans from New Orleans, who were used to traveling in a more luxurious way, as they complained the whole time about the discomfort of the couch and the springs poking them. David flew down the streets of San Ignacio and across the suspension bridge and onto the highway.
As we journeyed down the road our guide David lit up a big fat spliff and offered to the his guests.I took a toke, actually I took several, but the other two travelers looked like they where in shock as their guide smoked weed and drove. I noticed a sign on the side of the road that read, "IF YOU DRINK DON'T SPEED. USE YOUR ROADSENSE". It made me start to laugh like a madman or was that something else going to my head.
After about a half hour of driving David took a really fast sharp turn off the highway and we found ourselves bouncing along on a gravel road which passed through an Amish settlement. It was like seeing people from a different age. We found ourselves swerving around several horses and buggies that blocked our path. The Amish people who we passed by on the sides of the road looked at us like we were aliens from another planet invading their peaceful way of life, and we probably were! As David roared past, we left them behind in a cloud of dust. After we passed through the Amish settlement we went down a steep hill and became surrounded by lush thick jungle and the road became really rough! We all struggled to hang on in the back of the truck as we all bounced up and down, I enjoyed it! David didn't even slow down as we traveled down the hill. It was thrilling but our fellow travelers looked like they where going to puke! I guess they just were not the gravel road types. We bounced along down the hill for about fifteen minutes and when we got to the bottom there was a large river crossing the road" "Des where we stop man." David said as he slammed on the squeaky brakes of his truck. With that we all piled out of the truck and onto the road and helped David take the canoes off the top of the truck.
