5.24.2017

Today was the first full day away from Glover’s and it has been a bit of an adjustment. Adrienne said it best when she compared the transition to the terrestrial portion of this course to the first amphibians transitioning to life on land. I wasn’t ready for hot, muggy air untempered by the ocean breeze. Bugs were flying into me while walking and falling into my dessert at dinner. But besides the small impracticalities, today has been incredible.

After a brief hike during which I struggled to doggy paddle through a cold river and slipped on algae covered rocks, I finally got to the mouth of the first cave I would ever traverse: the Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM) cave. The experience was etherial. The cold, clear, bluish-grey water of the cave shocked my senses and the crystals sparkling in the formations of the cave entranced me. I wish I could have taken a picture, but the images in my mind will have to do.

Besides just the structure of the cave itself, the contents it held were remarkable. The Mayan ceramics and especially the skeletal remains sent chills down my spine. It was a bit concerning, however, that the last and most complete skeleton was my height exactly.

I didn’t see too many ants today because of all the rain, but I did manage to see a male army ant (E. burchellii). I hope tomorrow I’ll have better luck with ant sightings and will have some interesting anecdotal information to include in my taxon briefing.

Note: The lack of photos in my blog post has been brought to you by the tourist who dropped his camera on an ancient Mayan skull.