After the afternoon of swimming and lounging at Semuc Champey, our tour continued on to Lanquin Caves. We entered the cave with headlamps on late in the afternoon. Wet, slippery, steep steps up and down the sides of this network of caves going deeper and deeper into the mountain. Minimal railings with nothing below the hand rail to stop Jarrett from plunging to his death.
While Jarrett is a coordinated athlete, when it comes to things that aren't as fun as baseball or soccer, like eating or walking, for example, he is unaware of where parts of his body are at any moment. Spilled drinks, knocked over displays, cuts, bumps and scrapes are the norm. I was terrified of him going into this cave. I refused to take them in. Lori talked me into it, and it turned out to be a great adventure. I was a nervous wreck the whole way, holding onto Jarrett, coaching him on every step, making sure he had a death grip on the railing and/or my hand.
At around dusk, the 1-2 million bats that sleep in this cave began to leave for their night of hunting and eating. They flew over our heads and past our bodies. It was creepy and cool! It takes over 30 minutes for this flow of bats to exit the cave, and during that time, we watched them and exited with them. When we emerged with the bats, it was dark out, and we began the long drive back to Coban. Jarrett complained that "Daddy scolded me the whole time in the cave." OK, guilty, I was freaked out. He's since forgiven me.
