Tuesday, April 28

Psychological Wedgies and Hiking in Flip-Flops

After my adventure with the infamous mountain cow named April, we went even deeper into Belize (where Sirius doesn’t play) and arrived at a random parking lot.  It was zip-lining time!!!!!  We got out of the car and started walking, which is what we always do here in Belize. 

We were met with a VERY not ugly Hispanic lookin’ dude and another worker from the Zip-Lining/Adventure place.  He walked us to the beginning of the ropes course and strapped us up.  Being strapped is like purposefully giving yourself a fortnight-psychological wedgie.   Then they warned us that we were about to climb 128 stairs.  At about 40, I was out of breath, but I did survive.

At the top, I was the first one to slide on the steel cable that could hold over 6,000 pounds (I’m glad I didn’t eat that last doughnut!)   They asked if I was scared.  I was a bit apprehensive, but that’s the way I live my life.  A slight bit of fear and a great story afterwards is one of my mottos.

We had 8 cables to slide on.  Two were exceptionally long, a couple were really fast, and all of them were a complete blast.  It definitely gave me a rush.  They took pictures of us sliding, but the ones they got of me in action were ones where you couldn’t see my face.  I got nervous when I was nearing the landing edge and switched my hands (what they told us not to do).  Therefore, no good pics.

When my feet were on solid ground, I wobbled back to take my harness off.  Then we were off to our next adventure—CAVETUBING!

We were the typical starving Americans and ate bar-b-q before hiking.  Ooey-gooey-goodness-all-in-your –fingernails-bar-b-q with a thick flour tortilla to complement.

After lunch, we started up the mini mountain with rubber tubes in hand.  Belize has no mountains.  The hills and rainforests make up for it.  We climbed and walked and climbed and walked some more—about 2.5 miles.  We saw the tree where the Mayans discovered chewing gum and the tree where Elmer’s glue is extracted.  There was tree that makes you itch really bad, but “it just so happens” that it’s antidote is always 10 feet away.  So he pointed to the itch-tree and then walked over to its’ cure.

When we got to the top, they told us the water is very “refreshing”, not cold.  It was about 75 degrees.  We jump in with hot bodies and were greeted with “refreshing” water.  I think it’s entertaining how we as 20+ year olds can still play in water.  Water brings out the child in everyone.

Then they said to start paddling.  We looked like little ducklings with headlamps.  It was quite a sight.  We passed through caverns that were 20 feet high and some were higher.  We got to this one “secret” passageway where you had to go in one at a time.  They said it was a main water source for the cave.  There was about 2 feet of air space and we swam through it about 15 feet.  Inside there was this mud on the wall that we got to put on our faces (as if I needed to be more brown).  I tried some of the smooth mud and climbed back out.  As a side note, my face the day after was baby soft and completely pore-free.

We continued down the cave for a total of 4 miles and 5 cave systems.  This cave is the only place in the world where you can cave-tube.  I’m sure if you were to you-tube it, you could find where I was.  Just awe-inspiring.

When we finally exited the cave (after about 2 hours), we saw what we were swimming in.  It was the clearest, bluest water I’ve ever seen.  There were tiny little fish that were blind because of the lack of light.  I tried to be Tarzan’s wife by swinging on a rope and splashing into the water, which was truly a distasteful sight.  Not the most graceful thing I’ve ever done.

After that, I ate some Almond M&Ms and a package of cookies because I was starving!  I made it about 15 minutes before I was fast asleep in the van.  I had no change of clothes because I fell like 8 times in the mud while hiking.  One should not hike in flip flops with no treading.  I had to do the old-fashioned air-dry thing and my cute khaki shorts are now destroyed. 

So, until next time…

 

 

 

 

 

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