The Latest - 8

Most of the river plunges here into a dark hole in the earth with deafening force, not to see light again until it bursts out of a cave on the other end of the tranquil pools.

Witnessing the splendor at Semuc Champey has been a highlight of my journey.

High in the cloud forests in the heart of Guatemala, a river rages through a deep green gorge, suddenly plunging itself underground for one kilometer (upper left). A trickle of water stays above to cascade over the limestone, thereby creating a series of shallow emerald green pools.

"Still with my German and Canadian friends, I ended up picking up an Englishman, and later two Norwegian girls, putting the total up to 6 people in my Jeep, plus all of our stuff. For the past four days we've been bumping through romote mountainous Mayan villages hunting for hot waterfalls, ancient ruins, and limstone cascading pools hidden deep within cloud forests."

We never did find the hot waterfall, giving up eight hours later. Turns out, it was only thirty minutes from where we had started that day, just along the lake on a flat paved road that for some reason was omitted on our maps. Yet trying to drive straight up into those amazing jungle mountains ended up being better than anyone had hoped for.

Se?or pescador, pull your canoe along side my boat. Sell me your shimmering river fish. Somewhere between Rio Dulce and Livingston, Guatemala

"... el pisote, ..."

"Yesterday I explored the incredible jungle-ridden ruins of Tikal, probably the most spectacular of all the Mayan cities ever built. In addition to the amazing structures, I encountered spider monkeys, grey fox..."

A quasi-random frenchman poses for his compatriates atop Structure IV of the Tikal ruins. Part of the original Star Wars was filmed up here.

"...and the sacred, ancient Ceiba tree laden with moss."

"In the past four days, we have seen three mayan ruin sites, three huge river caves, canoed, inner tubed, hiked, biked, driven through rivers, swam in deep blue holes, seen tarantulas, tigrillos high in the trees, followed howler monkey howls through the rainforest all the while seeing anteaters, tapirs, warees, owleye butterflies, leafcutter ants, the list could go on and on."

My mind is blown by the subterranean river systems in Belize. We sat on rented inner-tubes in a river which soon went into a cave system for HOURS! A guide took us down the river, with no lights other than headlamps, with which we could make out incredible formations on the ceilings sometimes high above, sometimes tightly crowding down against us. At several points there were even little rapids, in complete darkness!!!

After searching out giant river cave entrances all day, I boulder hopped over hundreds of little cascades and pools at "Rio On"

With the Jeep I was able to reach some Mayan ruins sites that lied deep within the jungle along more challenging roads.

I took my first snorkeling tour and LOVED it. It turns out Belize has the largest uninterrupted barrier coral reef in the world, so I could not pass up the tropical ocean wildlife opportunties... I was hooked immediately, got a snorkel mask and fins, and snorkelled for days around the Cayes offshore from Placencia.

A man living in western Belize asked where we had come from. My friend answered that we had just come from the ocean (just a few hours across the tiny country.) The man replied, "Ocean? Belize has no ocean! We learn in school that Belize has only the Carribean Sea."

In southern Belize, a sunset bathes a sleepy Garifuna beach village in a nostalgic light.

"In Belize ... We live with ease. We get our honey straight from the bees. We eat meat, bread, and cheese. Tired of mountains? Then head for the cayes."

Pushing aside vines, "Structure 4", the tallest of this vast ancient Mayan City of Calakmul was revealed. It was the portal to the heavens rising hundreds of feet above the rainforest canopy. Up on top, I was a flea on the scalp of the king of the jungle. In the distance behind me, I could see a rainstorm sneaking up. Not just clouds, but the whole storm and all of its raining boundaries. Playing a god in the heavens, I watched the opaque monster glide through my crystal clear view, so close in front of my perch that I could see, hear, even smell the heavy rain, yet was not included in the shower myself.