Day #8 January 10 2019 - San Pedro to San Ignacio

Greetings from Cahal Pech Resort, San Ignacio, on the western border of Belize! I am writing this blog post before/after dinner after a long day traveling all the way across the country.

Our day started with a 5:45AM breakfast followed by a 6:15AM departure from TREC. We arrived at the ferry around sunrise:

We checked into the ferry, handed over our baggage, and took one last walk on the beach to say goodbye to beautiful San Pedro and Ambergris Caye:

We boarded the ferry for a 90 minutes ride to Belize City on the mainland:

At the Belize City ferry terminal, we were met by our driver LaSelle from the tour company. We boarded the bus that will be our home for the remainder of our time in Belize:

We drove west about an hour to Jaguar Paw, a site famous for a lazy river that runs through a cave system. We were issues our gear of tube, life jacket, helmet, and headlamp. We hiked through the rainforest and across a river:

After about 30 minutes, we reached the site where we entered the river on our tubes:

Led by guides, we slowly drifted through the caves, marveling at the crystal rock formations:

Such an unusual location! It's not every day that you can ride an innertube through a crystal-lined cave. We were able to stop within the cave and walk around a bit:

After the cave system, we drifted down a lazy river, taking in the views of the rainforest:

After a short hike back and returning our equipment, we enjoyed a traditional Belizean lunch (chicken in chile sauce, rice/beans, cole slaw made with mayo, and fried plantain) at a local restaurant:

We boarded our bus and drove another hour west to St. Herman's Cave, a national park famous for a large river-carved cave that was used by the Mayans for ceremonies. We followed a guide on a 10 minute hike through the jungle, during which we learned about leaf-cutter ants and various trees and their uses, until we arrived at the entrance to the cave:

We hiked down into the cave using our headlamps. It was fairly slow going, as the walkway was wet and slick with rock and sand. We slowly made our way into the cave, learning about the origins of the rock formations, and the ways that the Mayans used the site.

At this point in the cave, our guide Pedro had us turn out all the lights and sit silently for several minutes (5? 7? 10?). It was pretty remarkable, you literally could not see your hand in front of your face, or tell if your eyes were open or closed. The only sounds were drip drip dripping off in the distance, echoing around the cave. It gave a fairly profound sense of ancient time.

After hiking back out, we rejoined LaSelle in our bus and drove another hour west. This completed our journey across the country of Belize from east to west - notice that the country is small enough that we easily traversed it in about 4 hours of driving today.

We arrived in San Ignacio after night fall and checked into our hotel for the night, Cahal Pech Resort. Everyone was pretty happy with the accommodations, which are spacious and clean. We all relaxed for an hour and then gathered at 7PM for a nice buffet dinner (pork, chicken, rice, potatoes, cole slaw, fried plantain). We are on a hill overlooking the town of San Ignacio. The view is impressive, and it is highlighted by a cool tropical breeze that is blowing across the veranda where we are sitting for dinner. Everyone feels clean and relaxed and happy. The students are chattering away, sharing experiences from Belize and elsewhere. It's a wonderful night after a full, fun, and exciting day. I'm quite happy and content to be leading this group of wonderfully engaged students.

Thanks for reading!

- Eric J. Simon, Ph.D, Professor, Department of Biology & Health Science, New England College