The Brel Chronicles

Caving

Originally uploaded by pichemelanie

Today, I continued the quest to conquer my fears. Up next: small, dark underground places, and, get ready for it….bats.

Dressed as Sporty Mel once again, I donned my headlamp and descended into a mile long cave at Blue Hole National Park, located in one of Belize’s oldest jungles. I climbed over giant boulders, hoisted myself up steep passages and basically did whatever I needed to do to make my way through a series of dark, wet caves. I may not get points for style (I’m not sure I was supposed to crawl or drag my butt as much as I did), but I’m pleased to report I made it to the end of the cave – only to be welcomed by hundreds of bats. Ok, so maybe most of them were sleeping, but still, I was pretty brave. I celebrated my victories with a dip in a large, sapphire blue sinkhole, fed by underground streams.

Fear of small, dark, underground places: check. Fear of bats: alive and well.

We were welcomed into Belize today – well, at least the part of Belize which is a luxurious jungle fantasy spa. We are staying at Maruba Jungle Lodge (www.maruba-spa.com), a quirky, neo-tribal chic, boutique resort, in the middle of nowhere. Our room, in keeping with the style to which we have become accustomed, includes a giant mosaic-tiled Jacuzzi in the sitting room, set within a jungle atmosphere complete with palapa roofing, carved tribal masks and fresh hibiscus flowers and palm fronds in every nook and cranny. The bottle of Henkel champagne, chilling as we arrived, was a great thirst-quencher after our morning of travel through Costa Rica, El Salvador and finally, Belize – all before 10 a.m. A constant soundtrack of groovy ethnic lounge tunes set the tone throughout the resort – popular with dj blend, of course.

The highlight of the day was certainly the couples mud massages. Although not the first ones of this trip, they do certainly win the award for uniqueness, and in fact have been granted the inaugural Random Factor designation. We should have known something was up when they insisted we bring our cameras.

Our treatment began much like any other – outside in a cabina, mostly naked. Except for the fact, of course, that Brendan was handed a tiny pear of disposable thong ‘manties’ to wear for the treatment. This was our first sign to check our inhibitions (and dignity) at the bamboo door. The results of the treatment pretty much speak for themselves. It concluded with us being bathed by two beautiful Belizean women, in a massive open air Mayan tub. Random Factor: 9, a.k.a. RF9.

Can’t get much more random than that – except, of course, for the elusive RF 10.

Happy Birthday Mel.