Today was another day of activities that involved us wearing dive booties out of the ocean. After departing TEC and our lovely cabanas in the morning (and saying goodbye to Adrienne with heavy hearts), we drove for an hour and change to the Actun Tunichil Muknai cave, also known as the ATM cave. The cave was partially filled with water, so we swam to get in and then waded for much of the walk in the cave. The water was refreshing after standing in the hot sun to get there, and the inside of the cave was lined with lots of beautiful stalactite formations. The cave also had ceramic artifacts and even human remains inside from the Mayan age.

After we finished in the cave, it was raining outside. Since we were already soaking wet from the cave, we came back to the parking lot just as wet. The rivers we crossed to get to the cave that previously felt cold now felt like hot tubs. We had a nice lunch upon returning, and then set our course to San Ignacio. While at the ATM Cave area, I spotted some kind of skink or mabuya that I wasn’t able to identify, as well as some other lizard that I couldn’t recognize.

In San Ignacio, we walked around a bit and stocked up on supplies before going to the rainforest. I bought some plantain chips, a soursop, and Damien and I opportunistically bought bandanas to hopefully keep the bugs off our faces. We are now staying at Crystal Paradise Eco-Lodge, getting our last taste of wifi for the next week and enjoying some cool post-rain weather. Tomorrow, we go into the jungle.