To call our day a day of travel, which it was, would be inappropriate because of all the spectacular sights we saw. Between Las Cuevas and the Tropical Education Center we stopped at a cave and a zoo.

At the Actun Tunichil Muknal Cave, meaning Cave of the Crystal Sepulchre, we swam in Blue-Gatorade-color water into the ritual sites where Mayans of the Classical Period connected to the gods. We were told that the priests ventured in harder and harder places to get to out of a sense of desperation. Previous attempts to make offerings and build a rapport with the gods seemed to have failed when drought, famine, and starvation stirred unrest among the people. To reach these caves was to get closer to the gods so they might better hear the demands and receive the sacrifices that the Mayans wanted to share with gods like Chaac, the god of rain.

Desperate they must have been, in a sense. Captives, heavy, clunky pottery were dragged in to spaces that people can barely fit through. One spot in particular was dangerously small, which we joked was capable of decapitating cave travelers who were not careful. Once in a carefully selected site, chocolate, pottery, captives, and infants were offered to the gods. If you have any interest in the type of human remains of Mayan human sacrifice, look up the name of the cave and you will be able to find photos of it. Due to past accidents involving cameras, we were not allowed to bring cameras to take our own photos.

At the Belize zoo, we saw native animals that we have already seen in our camera traps (tapir, jaguar, puma, peccary) and many animals that we haven’t (pygmy owl, ocelet, Morrelet’s crocodile). The animals were so well trained that some would sit, walk around a tree, and do a somersault.

These are definitely places I want to return to in the future and have definitely be a highlight in our trip so far!