Today we had a special opportunity to take a tour of the Maya ATM cave with Dr. Rodriguez and his team. After about a one mile hike to the cave entrance, we swam for about 50 yards into the cave. Here we trekked through the river, narrow passageways, and back into the chambers of the cave. We learned a lot about how the Mayans used the cave for rituals and their religious beliefs. We learned how the chambers of the cave corresponded with layers of the underworld and how the Mayans would sacrifice especially during hard periods of drought. Something I found very interesting was the levels of sacrifice. How the Mayans would move back further into the cave as they got more desperate and also sacrifice younger and younger as they grew more desperate.

We also took a trip to the Belize zoo where we got to see a lot of local animals such as jaguars, pumas, porcupines, ocelots, a kinkajou, a tapir, an owl, and a paca!

My beetle sighting for today was in the forest lodge bathroom sink and shower. Where several beetles were scurrying around.