At the end of the trail we left our packs, ate a banana, donned our helmets (with headlamps) and climbed down to the river that comes from the large cave entrance.
Swam about 30' across a deep pool. We walked single file upriver in ankle deep water until Martin told us to put our right hand on the shoulder of the person ahead of us, and turn off our headlamps; we were going down into the Mayan Underworld.
We shuffled along like this until it got so dark you wondered why you bothered to keep your eyes open.
The water got deeper and colder, we turned a corner, then finally stopped (still in the dark) and Martin then told us the Mayan creation story - all we could hear was water dripping and the sound of his voice. It was an incredible start to our cave exploration - we swam upriver, climbed over rocks, saw the usual cave formations, squeezed through small passages, then climbed out of the water up to the entrance to the Sacred Chamber, where we had to leave our shoes/sandals and drybags, and walk in our socks (no bare feet allowed).
This is where we saw pottery and skeletons - there are 14 in the cave; we saw several. It was amazing to think that these bones were still where they were placed so long ago.
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