Exploring God's World

Chelsea and Cara's post

Today was an adventure in itself. We began our day by going to Jaguar Paw about 40 minutes away from the Black Orchid. Upon our arrival most of the girls, except Cara, harnessed up for the zip line with hard hats in tow. We took a short hike to the first platform and Elizabeth went first. She was a great example for the rest of us to follow with Dr. McCuen bringing up the rear. Everything went smoothly until Dr. Meg and Dee pulled on the line in turn making them stop short of the platform. Our highest platform was 85 feet in the air and it was a great experience seeing the Belizean jungle up close. Then we met up with Cara and Edward, our tour guide, and got ready for cave tubing. During the 40 minute hike we experienced bats, orchids, a tarantula, and many native birds and trees. Shannon, Elizabeth, Chelsea, Cara, Dee, Dr. Meg and Casey ate termites off a tree. To their surprise, it tasted like spearmint and some of the girls went back and had seconds…YUMMY! Once we made it to the river we got in our individual tubes and went for a chilly ride. Some of the currents took us by surprise, but we had a blast along the way. Most of the tube ride was in the caverns that were massive and pitch black without our headlight headbands. However, the river water was low at some points and we had to “bottoms up” several times to stay away from the rocks at the bottom or we would get stuck. Once we were out of the cavern a species of fish like to nibble. Our friend Gaby got the worst of it and was attacked by several fish at once. We all made it back to shore safely with many stories to tell. Then Edward took everyone out to lunch at a local restaurant. Most of the girls had rice and beans with barbeque chicken, potato salad, and tangerine juice. A lot of us took many risks and tried new things, which is a big accomplishment. Today was a fantastic day that we will always remember. Maybe next time you can join us!