Our Latest Adventure

My very sweet husband did some consulting work with the local electric company and earned enough money for us to go on a one night celebration of our 33rd Anniversary.  Yay!!!!  Our anniversary was actually on July 17th but we weren't able to get away because the Bronco was having issues.

So, anyway...We spent the night at Ian Anderson's Cave Branch Adventure Company & Jungle Lodge!  Click here to go to the website, it was so fun! www.cavesbranch.com
We wanted to repel into The Black Hole Drop but it wasn't available on the day we were there.  So, I decided to have an adventure in caving.  We went on the Cave Waterfall Expedition.  Our very kind hostess, Lisa told us how fun it was and said it was a five out of five on the strenuous scale.  But I decided that I wasn't getting any younger so we better go while we still can.  To be honest I don't remember even thinking that it would be too hard.  If other people could do it than I'm sure Dennis and I could.

Our mode of transportation to the trail.  We had to drive about five miles to the back of a citrus orchard.  At this point I should have caught a clue that Dennis and I were the oldest people there.

We hiked about 30 minutes to this cave entrance.  This was the first time I actually felt like I was in the jungles of Belize.

And what do we find in every cave in Belize??  Katie Sprayberry's favorite creatures in the world!

We hiked in for about an hour.  Sometimes the cave was huge and sometimes my claustrophobia had to be held in check as we squeezed through some little spots.  At one point we had to swim through a small space with just our heads above the water.   

These pools were formed throughout the cave.  This one looked like a little jacuzzi.

We spent a lot of time in the water.

Many of these pictures are surprising to me because we just had lights on our helmets.  Dennis had the flash on the camera which brought out some of these neat landscapes...or cavescapes.  These formations are about five feet tall.

I also may have missed some of the surrounding scenes because I wasn't paying attention.  My rock collection is growing!!  Much to my husbands dismay.

Dennis did not add any color to this.  Isn't it cool?!!!

At the halfway point we dropped our backpacks and put on our life vests and climbing harness.  Unfortunately, we had to leave the camera behind at this point.  We kept hiking in for another thirty minutes and arrived at a string of waterfalls.  We swam and climbed up three of them.  It was amazing and very scary.  The guides showed us where to step and where to hang on. We were actually in the waterfall.  There was a few times when I was doubtful of being able to pull myself up like they were instructing.  But I did it and I have the bruises on my knees to prove it!  I didn't even think about how we were going to get back until one of the girls said we had to jump off each waterfall to get back.  I thought she was kidding me and I laughed.  She said, "How else do you think we are getting back."  Like I previously stated I didn't think.  And we did exactly that, helmets, lights, glasses and all.  I loved it!  One of the girls couldn't make herself jump and she repelled back down on a rope, but we cheered for her anyways!  It was a blast!!!!

When we got back to the halfway point the guides set up a delicious lunch for us on a perfectly flat rock in the middle of the stream.  So we sat in a huge cave and enjoyed the food the guides had carried in.  Belize can be very a very adventurous place.

Now on to part two.  Ian Anderson's Cave Branch Lodge is like a horticulturists dream come true.  Besides a beautifully arranged botanical garden, the entire place is teaming with jungle plants and critters.  They pride themselves on being part of the jungle environment.  We saw many flowers and humming birds that we haven't seen until now.

A pair of Belizean Towel Birds were waiting for us on our bed.  Lisa told us that the staff had went on YouTube to learn how to do these.  YouTube saves the day again!!!

Dennis is standing by the door in this shot.  The bathroom, which was all tiled and beautiful is off to the right.  There is a set of chairs and a hammock on the deck outside.  No air conditioning anywhere but ceiling fans are running all the time.  We did not get overly hot here.  The jungle is just outside the door.

A yellow Shrimp Flower

Dennis's favorite flower shot.   I don't have the names of many of the these, sorry.

This was in the Botanical Garden section.   Orchids are crazy looking!

Not an orchid, I think it was a Bromelaid of some kind.

If you go to this link you will find Dennis's new photography page.  It is attached to my Facebook page and has many incredible photos from Belize and other places.  He is adding more to it all the time.  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dennis-Lucas/811985168923008?ref=aymt_homepage_panel

Dennis didn't want to take this one but I'm glad he did.

This is an orchid nursery.  All the tags are labels of varieties of orchids they are growing.

Close up of a huge leaf in the sun.

Cute little Belizean squirrel.  

There are two of these guarding the steps at the welcome center.  This guy is about five feet tall.

They make there own cheeses on the grounds and give tasting tours.  They also offer a Chocolate History Tasting Tour just down the road.  We had some of the cheese at dinner and it was very tasty.  Speaking of food...it was just what I wanted.  Yummy and a lot of it.  The dinner was a full four course meal!  I can't tell you how long it has been that I ate like this.  We had all three desserts!  A homemade cheesecake with berries, a Chocolate Banana Thingy and Homemade Coconut Ice Cream.  And the next morning there was a Breakfast Buffet.  The potatoes were exceptional and Dennis loved the homemade flour tortillas that he dipped in some awesome refried beans.  And of course there was always fresh local fruit available and coffee!!!

The staff was fun and very accommodating.  One of them even got me some seed pods from one of their flowering bushes.  A sweet young lady in the gift shop heard that we were missionaries and gave me a gift because her grandfather was a missionary also.  We drove away feeling refreshed and very blessed!

Love you guys!

P.S. We would recommend this place to everyone.  We hope to go back one more time before we leave Belize.  If anyone wants to stay there, let them know we sent you and we get rewards!