Some times, the experiences you expect the least out of, turn out to be one of the best parts of any trip. In this case, it was a guided excursion to go horseback riding followed by cave tubing through the jungle. At first, I’ll be honest, wasn’t too excited to have to get up for the 6AM ferry back to the mainland, leaving the tropical island for a day to wander around the jungle. But I couldn’t have been more wrong. Maybe it was sometime around the galloping on our horses or when we got to follow our guide into a empty cavern and go cliff jumping, or whenever it was, it was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. And thinking about it now, still brings a smile to my face.
We booked our tour through UpClose Belize, which included tickets to catch the morning water taxi from Caye Caulker back to the mainland in Belize City. There is where we met our fantastic guide for the first time, who’s name was Elvin. The four of us piled into Elvin’s tour van and made the hour drive away from Belize City, and into the rural hills towards the jungle. On that drive, Elvin gave us all a history lesson on Belize, and filled us in on some great stories as he actually lives, and grew up, just a few miles away from the caves we were to visit later on in the day. With a personality, seemingly larger than life, he told us all about his family, friends, and what it’s like to live here, making the drive pass by rather quickly. First stop, Green Acres ranch for a Jungle Horseback tour.
Being that this was only the second time I’ve ever been on a horse, I would have been absolutely fine walking around a corral atop one of these massive animals. But that is not what we had in store for this day. We arrived at a beautiful ranch, tucked among trees in the valley surrounded by large, jungle covered mountains. An area that is somehow both very dry, and full of vegetation. With Elvin in tow, now the 5 of us mounted up onto our horses that they tried to match to each of us as best they could. Now in the saddles and our feet in the stirrups, we fell in line and followed our guide, a ranch-hand, out of the property, and up into the mountain. Our new horseback guide proceeded to tell us the history of the ranch, the fruit and livestock they grow here, how the rainy and dry seasons affect the land, and of course all his favorite places to cool off by water in the oppressive Belizean heat.
The horses took us through the fields, crossing rivers, and up into the dense jungle. Along the way, we had to navigate up and down steep, rocky sections where we had to lean far back and throwing our feet forward to keep our balance in the saddle. At one point, our guide wanted us to feel the difference between walking, trotting, and the third gear, canter. Well, he took off, and the five of our horses took off right behind, racing for the fence 100 yards away. That immediate speed and power was so much fun to fly across the field, as my butt bounced in the saddling finding it hard to get in sync with my horses movements. Grinning ear to ear, all of us couldn’t get over the sudden burst of speed these creatures showed.
On the way back, you could tell the horses were getting barn sour, wanted to be grazing in the field without us on their backs. This turned into an exciting chain reaction when Courtney’s horse started to pick up the pace, followed by mine wanting to be in the front, and that lead to both of our horses galloping at a staggering pace. We both got out of the saddle best we could, and held tight onto the reigns as the two horses made it back to their grazing areas with Courtney’s parents’ coming in hot on our heels as well. With a smile you couldn’t wipe off my face, we dismounted and said our farewells to our trusty steeds, before heading off onto the next adventure of the day, cave tubing!
After the short drive, and a quick stop for lunch, we were at the parking area for the cave tubing. Other than the obvious, I had no idea what Elvin had in store for us this afternoon. We changed into our bathing suits, picked up our life jackets and helmets, yup, helmets. And then we were off, to hike along the very wide path to the entrance of the cave where we’d start our subterranean journey. But along the way, Elvin taught us so much about the native flora and fauna that we passed on our hike. We even tried the taste of termites! Which, if you were wondering, tastes piney. Just as the Belizean heat was getting too much to handle, we reached our destination, where we picked up our tubes and hopped in the river.
The four of us walked into the warm, clear river water, and hopped in our tubes. Due to the low water levels and slow flows, Elvin had to pull us down the river in one big daisy chain, swimming us when it got too deep. Quickly, the sunlight faded as we entered the tunnel, flipping on our the headlamps mounted to our helmets. Entering the limestone caves were absolutely beautiful. At least 30 feet wide and a ceiling that stood at least 15 feet above the waterline. We snaked our way downstream, through the twists and turns underground, as Elvin pointed out the unique features on the cave’s roof with his flashlight beam. And just when I thought we’d seen it all, the cave opened up off in the distance, just passed a small waterfall. Which Elvin asked us if we wanted to go explore it for ourselves.
It didn’t take more than two seconds for the four of us to respond a resounding yes! We parked our tubes and hiked up the surprisingly grippy limestone. Even with all the water pouring down the rocks towards the river, our sandals and water shoes easily held traction as we climbed up into the cavern that opened up into a cathedral-like ceiling. The ceiling even opened to the sky, with tree roots growing down into the cave, which could be witnessed by looking up, or down against the mirror smooth reflection on the water below. But it wouldn’t be glassy smooth for long, because we waded in to swim over to the cliff across the pool so that we could jump off them! The four of us jumped off the massive rocks into the water 12 feet below. Admittedly, this was a bit sketchy, because the crystal clear water made it quite difficult to estimate where the landing would be, but it was super smooth and so much fun!
The rest of our excursion was just as fun as what we’d already seen. After hopping back into our tubes, heading further down river, towards the opening in the cave. Overhead, we could see small bats hanging upside down, sleeping the day away. The daylight and the hot Belizean air hit us like an open oven door as we crossed the threshold of the cave. The river meandered through the jungle, with towering mangroves lining the riverbed. We cruised alongside other tourists experiencing the best parts of what Belize has to offer. As sad as it was for this day to end, we couldn’t have been more excited to experience the horseback riding and cave tubing. We all were smiling ear to ear as Elvin drove us back to the water taxi depot to return back to Caye Caulker. Besides the scuba diving, this was the best part of our trip to Belize and cannot recommend it enough!
Hi there, my name is Zachary Kenney and I’m an adventure filmmaker & photographer. My passion is to tell stories that will hopefully motivate you to go live a more adventurous life. Whether that is to experience the view from the summit of a mountain, or wandering through a new town on a road trip. Currently based out of Park City, UT.
