Jean of the Jungle

Friday morning, Natalie and I packed up our stuff and walked into town to buy some snacks before the bus ride to Caves Branch. When everyone was at the bus station, we decided to pay a little extra money to rent a van, rather than taking the bus. 16 people squeezed in the 14 person van, which didn’t have any air conditioning. It was a rough ride for the people sitting in the back, but it was only an hour drive. Caves Branch is a beautiful hotel located in the jungle and surrounded by all different types of flowers, plants and trees. Natalie and I were in love with this place. We walked around and took hundreds of pictures.
Everyone had to sign a paper from the hotel, which basically said that we were in the middle of the jungle and the hotel wouldn’t be responsible if we died. We were given a little tour of the area and were told that we should be careful of certain jungle things, like snakes.
I walked around a little more and then was told I had to go up to the restaurant where my professor was having people pick their room assignment. This was the first time that we weren’t allowed to pick our roommates. I was one of the last people to pick out a number, but I picked lucky number one. At the time I didn’t know how lucky I was to pick the number one. Stephanie, Brianna, Jessie, Tess, Keri, and I walked to our cabana. I was really excited about the setup of the cabana and one of my favorite things was the outdoor shower. I wasn’t expecting Caves Branch to be so luxurious. Some of the people in our group weren’t as excited as me, but maybe I just love the jungle more than them. Anyway, after spending some time in our cabana, Tess and I walked up to the restaurant with big smiles on our face. I saw Natalie and a few of the girls at the restaurant, but they didn’t look very happy. Later on, I found out that they were put in the bunkhouse.The bunkhouse consisted of 4 sets of bunk beds, a water jug, bugs, and nothing else.

After everyone got settled into their new rooms, the whole group took a short hike to the blue hole. Everyone swam in the blue hole (filled with glorious bright blue water) for about an hour and then walked back to hang out at Caves Branch. All of the meals that I ate in the jungle were like a dream. They had so many fresh vegetables, fruits, rice, beans, and ratatouille.

Before heading back to the cabana, I invited Natalie and the other girls to sleep with us so they wouldn’t have to sleep with the bugs in the bunkhouse. They turned down the offer. About twenty minutes later, six girls came running towards our cabana. After killing several cockroaches and seeing a creature that resembled a scorpion, they decided they wanted to squeeze into the cabana and sleep there for the night. We fit 15 girls in a six-bedroom cabana. Everyone talked, laughed, and bonded for a couple of hours and then finally fell asleep.

The next morning, I was pumped and ready to go into the jungle. Tess, Keri, and I decided to do the black hole excursion. Chico, Majeillo, and Pablo were our tour guides. They were really interesting people, and one of the best parts of this day was learning about each of their lives. Pablo spoke English very well, Chico spoke some English, and Majeillo didn’t speak any English. Majeillo was 52 years old and all he did the whole trip was carry a Machete and chop down random tree branches. Pablo led the group through the 2-mile uphill jungle trail and to the black hole. When we arrived at the black hole, Chico helped me put on my repelling gear. The three guides set up the repelling line, as Tess, Keri, and I took pictures and prepared ourselves for the drop. Pablo connected me to the line and told me to start walking down. Those were his only directions. I felt like I was about to fall off the edge of the world. The drop into the black hole was unbelievable. After a while, I was no longer walking down, but simply hanging in the middle of the jungle. I took my time falling into the jungle and soaking up every minute of the experience. Everything around me was so beautiful and it is one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen. I never want to forget the feeling that I had when I was hanging in the middle of the Belize Jungle.

After Keri, Tess, and the tour guides repelled down, we hiked to a huge cave. Chico, Pablo and Majeillo set up a picnic for us three girls. It was nice seeing three guys making lunch for us. After a lovely lunch, Pablo and Chico took us exploring around the caves.

That night, Natalie, Anna, Keri and I shared a bungalow. The bungalow was a step

below the cabana, but a step above the bunkhouse. I thought it was a great place, but I was definitely scared of the bugs. At 2 in the morning I woke up to go to the bathroom and found that three cockroaches surrounded the toilet. I grabbed a flip-flop and went after them. After waking everyone up and killing some bugs, I was able to go to the bathroom and then back to sleep. I dreamt of cockroaches the rest of the night and didn’t sleep that well.

Sunday morning it was time to start the journey back to our home in San Pedro. After two taxi rides, a bus ride, and a ferry, we were back on the isla

nd, surrounded by the blue water. Sunday afternoon I prepared for Monday’s school day.