Tag Archives: Caves

The Garden Route Part I: Wine and Ostrich Country

31 Sunday May 2015

Posted by in Africa, South Africa

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Heading out on our bike tour of Stellenbosch

Heading out on our bike tour of Stellenbosch

My lovely tent mate, Maud, and I headed out from Cape Town and met up in Stellenbosch for some girl time with wine. I had purchased a Baz Bus ticket that allowed me 14 days of unlimited hop on and off transport between Cape Town and Johannesburg. I had a rough itinerary already planned out ( I know, you’re shocked by that!) but was open and willing to make changes along the way should the mood strike or I received a significant personal recommendation.

I knew I wanted to have at least one day in Stellenbosch as a good starting point for my embarking on independent travel. And I was thrilled that Maud was up to meet me there, and go on a biking wine tour.

We were super lucky in that we were the only two people booked on the tour and it was a beautiful sunny day. We met with our guide and started the tour with a cycle around the main town of Stellenbosch and campus of the large university the town is also famous for. The town is framed by the most stunning countryside and mountains and I was thoroughly enjoying being out of the big city, breathing in the fresh air, and enjoying the exercise.

We visited two wineries, both of which were in stunning settings. The first had such an incredible backdrop of lake and mountains that the photos we shot during our tasting looked artificially superimposed. See for yourself!

Lake and mountain view at the vineyard

Lake and mountain view at the vineyard

Right?

Feeling quite tipsy and thoroughly happy after our ride, Maud and I enjoyed a lovely coffee and Belgian waffle on a trendy café-lined street before both going to get haircuts. Unfortunately, my hairdresser decided to cut an extra inch off the right side of my head vs. the left side, and I only noticed upon our return to our hostel…which ended up being an adventure in and of it!

Thoroughly looking forward to a home-made tuna salad, we asked around as to where we might find a cab to drive us to our hostel. No-one seemed to know where we might be able to locate one and we started to grow slightly nervous. We walked to several in-city hostels and we were told that cabs stopped operating at 5pm! What?!!

Don't I look super-imposed onto a green screen in this picture??!

Don’t I look super-imposed onto a green screen in this picture??!

Eventually, a kind hotel shuttle driver offered to drop us off, and we were saved from our complacent “I’m used to being in Cape Town” attitudes.

We enjoyed a lovely evening’s company with our dorm mates who were Peace Corps volunteers from the States working in Zambia. They told us some fascinating stories about the challenging projects they’d been occupied with in the rural center of that country. One of the more memorable, was the locals’ preference for “dry sex”. What on earth is “dry sex”, I hear you ask.

Maud and I chatting with the Peace Corps Volunteers

Maud and I chatting with the Peace Corps Volunteers

Well, I was fascinated to learn as well. Dry sex is sex where there is no internal lubrication in the woman. In fact, along with ensuring (of course) that the woman is not aroused before intercourse, young women in some Zambian villages are literally taught how to dry out their vaginas using certain leaves/herbs in order to please their husbands – who’s preference is for the sex to be nice and rough…ergo “Dry”. The reason the volunteers even got involved in this discussion is because in their health care education efforts, it is important for locals not to engage in this practice as the resulting abrasions vastly increase the chances of spreading the HIV virus which is rampant in Zambia.

Asking them how their efforts at condom education fared – their response was equally disheartening. They told us that locals would say “Well, when I bake a nice juicy chicken, I don’t put it in a plastic bag before I enjoy eating it…!”

Yeah…it’s like that.

From Stellenbosch I said my farewell to Maud and boarded my Baz Bus to my first stop on the famed Garden Route – Outsdhoorn – world capital of the ostrich!

Ostriches in the Ostrich capital of the world

Ostriches in the Ostrich capital of the world

I stayed at Backpacker’s Paradise and it really was one of the nicest hostels I’ve ever stayed at. And it was a paradise for me when I found out on arrival that one of the manager’s was also a masseuse and was willing to give me a massage that evening. It was not only the best massage I’ve had on this trip so far, it was the best massage of my life!

Dinner that night was ostrich meat, roast potatoes and salad.   I ate with a highly immature group of five English girls who giggled hysterically in between their ceaseless chatter about boys they’d hooked up with at last year’s Glastonbury festival. Ahhhh….hostels! Yet again, I discover that I’ve been traveling and staying in hostels since I was 17 alongside the other 18-25 year olds. The only problem is – I’m now 39, but the other backpackers have stayed the same age! What is nice, however, is that with age comes the ability to fend off peer pressure and truly do what one feels is in one’s best interest. For me, it was having my dinner and heading straight to sleep.

Outsdhoorn proved to offer quite an adventurous, strenuous day trip which consisted of being driven to the top of Swartberg Pass (1568 M) and then dropped off with a mountain bike for a 56km (about half downhill) adventure. The weather at the top of the pass was drastically different due to the elevation, and I was glad that I had brought lots of warm layers and my wooly hat! The ride literally started off in the clouds, but it wasn’t too long before I descended below the cloud line and found myself whizzing past green pastures full of ostriches, and rolling hills. It was just lovely.

 

Biking down from Swartberg Pass

Biking down from Swartberg Pass

 

The other main attraction in the area is the Cango Caves. Having visited lots of caves during my trip in South America last summer, I wasn’t too enthused about going – but I decided to at least go check out the visitor center and decide if I wanted to do the full tour or not.

The pictures at the ticket booth were pretty impressive so I signed up for the 90 minutes “adventure” tour – touted as being as close to splunking minus equipment that a person can get.

The cave tour actually far surpassed my expectations – the main caverns were enormous and were beautifully lit to highlight the wonderful stalagmite and stalactite formations. As the guided group continued deeper into the cave, the passages got narrower and trickier to get through. Our guide, Theo (a Xhosa) was hilarious telling us stories of fat tourists who’d gotten themselves stuck in some of the passageways and had to get extricated using copious amounts of grease lubricant. Some of the passageways were rather panic-inducing, but I was proud of myself for getting through it.   Unlike many cave systems I’ve been in, this one has no oxygen supply save for the initial opening, so you could really feel the air getting thinner the further you progressed into the cave.

The wonderful stalagmite and stalactite formations

The wonderful stalagmite and stalactite formations

At the turnaround point, there was a section that you had to slide down, head first on your tummy in order to squeeze your way through. A few of the larger men in the group had to turn around and come back a different way. It was challenging, but I managed to squeeze through feeling like I was re-enacting my entry to this world through the birth canal. We were all reminded of this when someone commented that the tunnel “opening” looked like a woman giving birth, and as the last tourist slid on out, Theo announced “And it’s a boy!” – and we all had a good laugh.

The rest of the ride back to town was actually quite arduous and I was glad for all the water I’d brought. I was eager to get to the farmhouse that had been recommended to us as having wonderful cakes and tea as I was getting hungry – only to discover that they were closed! The last six kilometers back to the hostel were the longest I’d ever ridden and I walked back into the lobby absolutely famished.

I ordered a piece of carrot cake and a coffee and sat relishing both as I rested my weary muscles.

My "French" evening in Outsdhoorn

My “French” evening in Outsdhoorn

That evening turned out to be rather “French”. I had met a French-Canadian on the bus named Lea (who I continually re-met at various stops along the Baz Bus route as the trip continued) and an American named Jake who was rather fluent in French having just lived in La Reunion these past six months.   Then, two guys from Lyon showed up complete in their V-neck sweaters and matching scarves – and we all went out for a meal which turned out to be dominated with French conversation. Despite struggling a little to keep up and understand – I was decidedly happier with the conversation.

 

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Actun Tunichil Muknal: THE Cave To Visit In Belize

14 Thursday Apr 2011

Posted by in Belize

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Crawling through a tight squeeze in the cave

Belize is a great place exploring caves.   And I had not received enough punishment the day before when I swam instead of tubing through a set of caves the day before. I was ready for the next challenge: Actun Tunichil Muknal, dubbed The “ATM cave” about 45 minutes from San Ignacio.

My lovely tour guide actually ended up driving me to San Ignacio, so I thanked him by buying him dinner at a street side BBQ stand.  He then dropped me off at the cutest little colonial guesthouse called Hi-Et (which I thought sounded hilariously similar to Hyatt) where I rented a room for $20 BZD from a ninety year old man who instructed me to call him “Junior”.  It was the cutest little place with two corgis named Princess and Duke (mother and son) who sat next to me on the porch swing while I watched the sunset.  I felt right at home.

ATM cave was only discovered in 1989, but the archaeologist in question decided to keep it to himself until he’d had time to map the cave and assess the many Mayan artifacts contained within.

Speaking for myself, I thoroughly enjoy a caving adventure on its own merit.  I love venturing into the dark underbelly of the world, especially if its journey is through water, marveling at the formations and experiencing the genuine creepiness of it all. This particular cave had even more going for it than its flowing river, stalagmites and stalactites.

It was the location of many ancient Mayan ritual human sacrifices.  It contained many very well-preserved artifacts which included skeletons, parts of skeletons, and rather less exciting: ceramics.

I was excited.

After what was described as an hour-long hike into the deep jungle, and turned out to be a flat meander along a well-beaten path to the cave’s entrance, we arrived.

Stalactites

Annoyingly, there were several tour groups ahead of us.  Silly me: when I’d read that only two companies could take up to eight people per group, I had booked online thinking that I had better reserve my spot on the tour since I had only one day allotted to going. I didn’t realize that between the two companies , there were 18 guides allowed to take 8 people in EACH.

Ugh.

There were several groups crowded at the cave’s entrance making cheesy smiles and chanting “you won’t Belize it” for their photo, and it felt more like Sleeping Beauty’s castle at Disneyland than the jungle.  I could tell patience would be in order for the rest of the tour.

It got even more annoying when our guide explained that he would be pointing out potential hazards to us inside the cave and that as we passed them ourselves, we should repeat the warning to the person behind us so that we could all stay safe as a group.  This works in theory, however in practice, all it accomplishes is hearing “there’s a big rock to your left” shrieked 8 times when the last person in line is far behind the obstacle being warned about.

This is not to say that the entire experience was irritating.  Far from it.  I really enjoyed the cold short swims followed by the bodily contortions and squeezes that you had to make to get through the cave.  I wondered what the tour guides did to the fat tourists who couldn’t make it through the tight spots.  Did they refuse to sell them the tour?  Were they sent back to the entrance on their own?  Or made to wait in the cold water for two hours for the guide to return?

I was relieved that neither I nor anyone else on my tour was tubby enough to find out.

After an hour or so of horizontal exploration – we were told we had to climb up into the main cavern referred to as The Cathedral – where all of the artifacts lay.  It was not too difficult of a climb as long as you had shoes with grip and a fearless attitude.  Up, up, and up we climbed, sometimes using the guide as a human step-ladder, sometimes over a strategically placed metal alternative.

Inside "The Cathedral"

When we reached the main chamber, the guide launched into his long, serious, and how-many-times-must-I-hear-the-same-speech lecture about Mayan history.  Don’t guides ever stop to think that perhaps some of us had racked up a few Mayan sites and already learned the basics?  That maybe some of us would be more interested in the geological significance of the cave instead of the year Mayans first began construction on their elaborate pyramids?

However, I must say that the information presented concerning the human sacrifices was interesting.  For instance, I knew that sometimes babies of the upper classes had their skulls bound with a wooden board in the front to make it more angular, but I didn’t know that their teeth were also filed into sharp points.  It has been suggested that this was done to resemble the jaguar – an animal revered by the Maya.

The majority of remains in the cave, 14 persons in all, belonged to children as their sacrifice was considered more valuable to the gods.  It is believed that if a person belonging to the upper echelons of society were chosen for a sacrifice, it would be considered an honor for the victim and death would occur voluntarily.  Not so for the lesser in society who were brought to the cave to be sacrificed against their will.

Ceramic Artifacts

I couldn’t actually believe that tourists were allowed to walk so close to the artifacts and bones.  Even only being permitted to wear socks is not going to preserve these relics from further damage in the future.  There were even a number of skulls that we were told had been punctured by tourist’s dropping rock or their camera lenses on them.  As such, I highly doubt that tours will be allowed to continue here for much longer.

The Crystal Maiden

The final relic is a fully intact skeleton known as “The Crystal Maiden” whose bones have been calcified leaving them with a sparkling crystallized appearance.

By this point, I was ready to get out of the cave.  I was shivering, and starting to feel a little claustrophobic. At least I could count my blessings: I wasn’t brought here as a sacrifice to the gods.

Cave Tubing The Anita Way

07 Thursday Apr 2011

Posted by in Belize

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Entering the Cave System

Belize is known for its abundant limestone caves; formations that are a continuation of the systems also found in Guatemala.  One of the methods for exploring these caves that Belize is marketing primarily to cruise ship passengers is floating through them in the safety of an inner tube.

Cave Tubing: it’s what all the cool people are doing!

Did I want to be one of the cool people?  Hells yeah, I did!  However, as cool as they are- I did NOT want to share this unique experience with 100 buffet-fed, visor-clad, fake nailed cruise ship passengers.  That would make it very un-unique.  So I took the advice of the locals and booked the trip for a Saturday, when no ship is docked in a Belizean port.

In fact, I think that what I ended up doing, transport-wise, was rather ingenious, and I highly recommend it to any traveler who is visiting Belize and taking a Western-bound route.  As I’d mentioned in my previous post, I had taken a shuttle directly from Flores to Belize City, stupidly believing that Belize didn’t have much to offer the visitor along the way.  How wrong I was!    In order to visit the caves of Western Belize, I was going to have to back-track from the Cayes, and this was at least a two hour bus ride.

So here’s what I did: I booked a cave tubing trip through cave-tubing.com, and asked to be picked up at the water taxi terminal in Caye Caulker.  Then, since I knew that Nohoch Che’en Caves Branch Archaeological Reserve was already at least an hour west of Belize City, I asked if they could possibly drop me off in Belmopan in the afternoon so that I could transfer to a bus heading west onward to San Ignacio: and whether I could safely store my backpack in their van while tubing.  This way, I killed two birds with one stone: the tour was cheaper out of Belize City, (it was offered in San Ignacio but was outrageously expensive, like $95 USD), and I got to complete this excursion and get to San Ignacio in the same day.

This plan worked out even more perfectly than I could have imagined.  I was emailed a confirmation of pick-up by a guide named Erskin, and I was to pay $60 USD to him when he dropped me in Belmopan. What I didn’t know, was that I was going to be the only one on the trip!  When I arrived at the terminal in Belize City, Erskin was there- in a beat up old Mazda.  I hesitated: As a single woman, do I really want to get in this man’s car in one of the most dangerous cities in Central America, and let him drive me into the jungle?

I checked my intuition: He had a guide’s license, he knew my name, and he had the same name as was promised me by the owner of cave-tubing.com.  I decided it would be ok.

How it is on the Cruise Ship Days: Avoid Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays

Erskin turned out to be a wonderful tour guide, and certainly gave me the VIP treatment.  He talked to me FOR HOURS about life in Belize, including lots of almost-too-personal information about his life.  This would require an entire post to cover, so that will be coming!

We arrived at the Archaeological site: the caves here contain lots of Mayan artifacts.  As I would also discover the following day, the Maya liked to use cave interiors for their religious ceremonies, leaving behind pottery remnants, bones, and even skeletons of those sacrificed to the gods! We got our gear which included a life vest, headlamps, and inner tube and started to make out way through the jungle.

It was a 20 minute walk to the opening of Cave Number Four.  The water was a crystal clear emerald color and you could see it darken to black in the distance of the tunnel.  I jumped in and began to float leisurely along.

I really wanted to enjoy the peace of the cave, but Erskin kept talking non-stop about Maya history.  Which, incidentally I’d heard countless times before.  When you visit a lot of Mayan ruins on a trip, you tend to hear the same stories over and over and I sometimes wish tour guides would realize this.  Ah, well.

The caves were enormous and full of beautiful formations that were mostly very dimly lit from either the entrance or exit to the caves themselves.  The caves had a wonderful echo and I had fun singing a few songs to Erskin when we had the place to ourselves.  A couple of times we passed other tour groups of four or five people all in a long tubing foot-to-shoulder embrace.  I was happy for the luck of my private tour.

At the Crystal Cave, Erskin was nice enough to let me jump out, swim over to the waterfall and get out exploring further. He showed me some artifacts and other little viewpoints that he said few got to see.  After twenty minutes of scrambling we made it back to the water, and I suggested that we swim back to our tubes instead of walking.

“Really?” he asked

“You want to swim?  Damn, girl!”

“Yes, of course I want to swim, it’ll only take a few minutes!”

Throughout the rest of the day, Erskin kept saying “Damn, girl!”- Every time I exhibited any non-Belizean female trait.  Though to be fair, he told me that even a lot of the GUIDES on this tour didn’t know how to swim!  Hard to believe, but apparently true.

The entire float took about an hour and a half to complete.  As we emerged into the sunlight, I couldn’t help but reflect on the trip and mention to Erskin that I wished they’d let persons who wanted more of a challenge, to be allowed to swim through the cave.

“Ha ha! Damn, girl!” he responded.

“Do you want to go back and do it again?  I challenge you!”

“Are you kidding?!” I replied, incredulous.

“You’d let me go back and swim through?”

“For sure, if you want, but I don’t think you have the nerve for it!”

“Damn straight I do! Let’s go!”

I couldn’t believe it!  I was going to get to do the entire cave system again, but this time without any life vest, tube, or headlamp.  How many people got a chance like this?!

Erskin and I enjoying dinner at a streetside grill

I must admit, I had a few nerves- especially about my decision to complete the task without a headlamp.  There were going to be some “blind” pitch black sections where I was going to have to control my fear and simply follow Erskin’s voice.

It was fantastic!  The whole thing took us just under thirty minutes and I got a good work out at the same time.  The dark passages were a little unnerving but I was so thrilled at the chance to do this totally on my own merits that I pushed through and suppressed the fear.

Erskin laughed at me the whole way.  He claimed that I was the first person he’d heard of swimming through this system solo- other than the guides, who were once “challenged” to do this by their boss.  Only a few complied.

So, the moral of the story is this.  If you ever get the chance to go cave tubing in Belize, see if you can try out the experience without the tube.  After all, this is the way the Mayans would have had to explore, right?

Then again, they probably had canoes.

Where: Nohoch Che’en Caves Branch Archaeological Reserve, between Belize City and Belmopan

When: April 2nd

How: with Cave-Tubing.com, on an innertube, and then by swimming! Private transfer from Belize City Water Terminal