The path to the cave was barely a path (Alex had “cleared” it in the morning), but it wasn’t too difficult a hike.
We tried palm nuts (which taste like coconuts) and Alex captured a botfly to show us the larvae inside it. For those of you who don’t know what a botfly is, be prepared for the following. A botfly places its larvae on mosquitoes. A mosquito bites you and the larvae drops off the mosquito onto your skin. It burrows into your skin and then eats your flesh as it grows into a botfly. When its metamorphosis is complete, it breaks through the skin to emerge as a botfly to start the process all over again. Think the movie Alien, but fortunately the alien isn’t quite so big. Gross, nevertheless.
Another highlight on the way to the cave was the “ant experience”. Alex struck an ant mound several times with his machete to stir the leaf cutter ants that lived inside. When one of the large soldier ants emerged, he grabbed it, let its mandibles grab onto Quentin’s shirt and broke off the body leaving the head. This, apparently, is how the Maya made stitches for deep cuts. Can you imagine having a long gash on your leg lined up with dead ant heads? On the way back from the cave, Quentin got brave and caught a couple himself, attaching them on to Papa’s t-shirt.
The cave was definitely worth visiting. Lots of cool formations and Mayan pottery everywhere. We didn’t see a crystallized skeleton (like we would have in one of the caves that we missed) but overall it was a good experience.
