Caves and Tubing, San Ignacio

This was my favorite activity that we did in Belize. We signed up for afternoon cave-tubing with Eva's, but unfortunately, we showed up late, which meant we didn't have time for tubing. Instead we took canoes, which saved some time and got us out before dark. Even though it wasn't what we expected, the trip was phenomenal!

Six of us and our guide, Clifford, piled into the back of a pick-up truck (with padded benches & an awning) for the 45 minute drive to Barton Creek. Our drive took us through a citrus farm, a quarry and an Amish community. The ride was almost as good as the tour itself!

When we finally got to Barton Creek, we slipped into our canoes and paddled just a few minutes to the cave entrance. Clifford gave the front person in each canoe a powerful flashlight and the back person had the paddle. But for most of the time in the cave, we held our canoes together while Clifford did all the paddling.

Inside the cave, fruit bats fly about overhead, but none of them got too close to us. Stalactites formed on the ceiling high above us and stalagmites reached up from the ledges on the sides of the cave. It was like being in the largest cathedral in the world. The colors & patterns formed by centuries of dripping mineral water are breath-taking.

At some points we had to duck to get past the stalactites and at other points the ceiling rose up hundreds of feet. Clifford pointed out some Mayan artifacts as well as a skull embedded in the minerals on a ledge. Every now and then we’d shine the lights in the water to see the fish below us and once we spotted a turtle.