River-Cave
Expedition
The
Day Trip:
Miles
of Underground River/Cave Tubing Trip. The Maya have
used these caves for thousands of years, Expert Guide,
Lunch, 9a - 4p. You will be provided with a Headlamp,
the type coal miners use on their head. Explore the underground
rivers combined with tubing the crystal clear, cool river witnessing
part of the incredible Belize Cave System where ancient
Maya ceremonial centers, pottery, artifacts, altars,
obsidian 'blood-letting' blades, jade and the actual
footprints of the Shaman and priests dated to 400 A.D. are
still seen. There are Mayan symbols etched or painted on
the walls 1500 years ago.
Don't
miss this. It can be done using a rental car or a scheduled
Day Trip with up to 5 people. About an hour drive from most
lodges in Cayo district. You will pass Belmopan< the
Inland Blue Hole and St. Herman's Cave. Possible
to fit in visit if you have only a few nights in Cayo and you
plan. Children 12 and over are ok if they are well behaved.
Spectacular
crystal formations over 5,000,000 years old cast eerie
shadows into the black abyss as you explore and experience
the most sacred area of the ancient Maya. A living
museum where the past can still be experienced in its historical
and natural location.
Massive
cathedral size chambers with walls of river sculptured rock
dwarf explorers as we pass on foot and inner tube. Imagine the
experience as we float through a cathedral and you turn off
our lights, leaving you with the sensation of floating in "timelessness".
Daily
departures year round but subject to high water levels during
the rainy season.
Belize has
world class caves, including some of the world's largest
rooms and passages, perhaps the greatest concentration of
archaeologically significant caves, and a diverse avernicolous
fauna that is still largely unstudied. The country's rich speleological
potential is being explored with increasing frequency.
Tourism
has increased the notoriety of its caves and archaeological sites.
Several caves are routinely visited by our adventure tours, and
new caves are being sought. As caves are discovered, many are
quickly looted of ancient Mayan archaeological remains,
which are sold on the black market.
We
encourage special caution and responsible behavior in the potentially
sensitive caves.
We obtain permission to cave and conduct cave research from the
Department of Archaeology (DOA), and, in some cases, the Forestry
Department.
Our
Caves Branch expeditions have been designed not only to
create the utmost in adventure but also to give each traveler
a once in a lifetime experience of the natural, historical
and cultural wonders within the world of the ancient Maya;
the tropical jungle, the caves and caverns, the
rivers, the lost Maya ruins, burial sites and ceremonial
centers, the indigenous wildlife and the mysticism
that surrounds it all. Ian Anderson, Belize's premier explorer
into Xibalba (the Maya Underworld), has hand picked and trained
local guides that lead you into the world of a civilization lost.
Your guide has received intensive training in cave and wilderness
evacuation / wilderness first aid and is a founding member of
the "Belize Cave and Wilderness
Rescue Team". Your guide is re-certified each year in
Wilderness and Cave Rescue and Wilderness first aid.
Ian
Anderson was the first to create open expeditions into the underworld
realm of the ancient Maya. The Caves and the Caverns of Xibalba
.and is today, Belize's foremost explorer of those ancient
sacred sites. Through continuous explorations, new discoveries
are constantly being made. Areas that no human has seen since
the ancient Maya priests and Shaman performed their most sacred
ceremonies to the Gods, almost 2,000 years ago. You will
see some of these new discoveries.
We know
of no similar experience anywhere in the world.
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About
Barton Creek Cave
Barton
Creek is a large river cave possibly over 4.5 miles long.
(See map for location.)
The cave consists of giant passages covered with numerous
large speleothems over a navigable river. These features
of the cave have made it a popular tourist destination.
Our research at Barton Creek Cave hopes to record prehistoric
Maya activity at the site and to incorporate this information
in the production of a report that can be shared with
other archaeologists and interested visitors.
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