We were able to visit Mountain Pine Ridge for the day.. the thermo reached 102 that day.. without air conditioning! Whew! Our first stop was the Rio Frio Cave which was breathtaking AND (as the name insinuates) was COOL. The dome of the cave is the largest of all the caves in Belize, estimated at about 60'. Since we are in the dry season, the river which runs through it was pretty low which left a nice sandy beach inside the cave where the children could play and build sand castles.. it was so refreshing after being in the hot car for 2 hours..
Stalactites and stalagmites are what are known as speleothems, deposits of minerals that form into cave structures and line the insides of a cave. The Rio Frio Cave contained many of both.
In this pic you can see the sandy beach
The mouth of the Rio Frio Cave is most impressive. We liked seeing the vines hanging down
The adorable R. family
This was the other mouth, on the opposite side of the cave, thus making it almost a tunnel cave, with two openings.. apparently further into the dry season one can hike all the way through to this exit mouth and continue along the river which leads to other caves. Maybe we will go back for a visit next month and give it a try!
It was fun to hang out on a beach that was shaded. No need for sunscreen here!
These sandstone formations were like giant steps.. I wish the photo showed the magnitude of the formation.. this area was probably 75 feet long and 40 feet high. Ashley, Ryan and Grant forged the river, scaled the sheer rocks in order to go up and see these dry tide pool type formations.. here we are on the other side of the cave, looking down on the sandstone.
Of course our naturalist Grant finds life in the cave. We also saw a little swallow dive-bombing us and then disappear into a small hole in the rock where apparently her nest was hidden.
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