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Adam's Belize Journal- Fall 2005
Monday, December 5, 2005 - Black Hole Drop
An aerial photo of Black Hole |
Our trip to Black Hole Drop proved to be the
most physically demanding and mentally challenging day of our trip. The
whole concept of the day was to hike through the rain forest to the top
of a sink hole and rappel down on a rope to the forest floor
below. A sink hole is a natural occurrence that happens when a
large cave structure collapses- causing the ground on the surface to
sink straight down. The sink whole at Black Hole looks like a gigantic
crater in the rain forest. |
| We started our day off with signing our waivers that said "death
may occur"... very comforting. Then went for a 30 minute ride on
the back of a tractor to get to the nearest dirt road drop-off point for
Black Hole. From there it would be a two hour hike in the rain forest to
reach the top edge of Black Hole.
Our guide pointed out a patch of
mud when we first entered the forest. He said "do you see
that?" pointing at the mud. I honestly didn't see anything at
first. Then he pointed more precisely and said, "It's a jaguar
track". Wow, I thought, we really are in the jungle.
I didn't realize how true that statement was until 20 minutes later
when my heart was pounding so hard from the hike I thought I would pass
out. I'm used to hiking so I went in thinking "no big deal"-
but this trail was riddled with slipper tree roots and the majority of
the hike was around a 45 degree incline.
I'm not complaining though- the hike really was spectacular. We were
all silent the entire trek through the forest. I was happy about this.
For one reason, I didn't have the breath to talk, but the other reason
was that silence was really needed for this place. The energy here was
so raw and the land spirit was intense here.
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The original photo of the jaguar track and an enhanced one-
highlighting the track in yellow.
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Al, making his way of the steep slope of the forest trail.
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When I first sent out a call to the spirit of the land to introduce
myself and ask permission to be within it's forest- I had a powerful
response. I can only describe the sensation as witnessing a 50 feet
humanoid erupting from the ground in front of me- it was that intense of
a presence. I saw the land spirit several times through the course of a
day- sometimes with my "minds eye" and sometimes in the shapes
of the trees and rocks. It was a strong masculine presence, he stood
very tall with thick brown skin, like bark, his torso was humanoid, but
the lower half of his body was serpent like. He wore an ornate head
dress and thick vines cascaded down from his head like hair. There was
no mistaking his power and presence- I certainly wouldn't want to be on
anything but friendly terms with this one.
This day really made me appreciate the rainforest for everything that
it is. I enjoyed and communed with the rainforest on our other days
here, but today really helped me see it clearly. It's incredibly
beautiful, incredibly primal, and demands the respect of anyone entering
it. |
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Sunlight breaks through the thick rainforest canopy
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| As we reached the top edge of Black Hole we
were able to see across to the other side of it. The white cliffs stood
in stark contrast to the verdant green of the vegetation and trees. We
really started to get a sense of how high up we really were as we looked
across to see the trees standing 100 feet tall and the cliff reaching
another 200 feet above the tree canopy. Our guided pointed out something
on the cliff that looked like long vines and then informed us that those
were the ropes that we would be going down on... gulp.
He continues along, hiking through the rain forest to get to the
other side of Black Hole and start our descent to the floor of the sink
hole. Now the anticipation was really starting to get to me. I've never
been rappelling before- let alone off a cliff, in the middle of a
jungle, far from any medical help... yes, I was a bit nervous.
But then I remembered the power of the land spirit, I remembered my
connection with the land, with nature, and with Spirit- I knew that I
needed to move through this and that I would be protected through the
experience. My nerves didn't calm much, but I also had the courage to
face the fear.
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| So we harnessed ourselves up.
Our guides checked the ropes and gave us a quick lesson in how to walk
down the wall and then lower ourselves once we were dangling.
It was an odd sensation, walking backwards toward the edge of a
cliff, and then finally swinging over the cliff and walking down its
wall. The guide said "look over your shoulder if you want". I
did and was startled to realize looking over my shoulder revealed the
ground.
I walked down the cliff face for a bit and then reached the part
where the cliff fell away- my legs dangled and I was able to sit in an
upright position in the harness which made me much more comfortable. I
lowered myself down, stopping here and there for some pictures and then lowered
myself into the tree canopy. What a feeling- gliding down through trees
into the jungle below.
When we were all at the bottom we set up a table on a huge, flat
boulder and had lunch. We realized that there was a stone altar out in
the open here- at the base of the sink hole. Smashed pottery and
stalagmites from the surrounding cave were on it's surface. |
A picture taken on the way down. You can see my leg and the rope
stretching down into the jungle below.
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Al, making his final descent through the tree canopy.
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It was shortly after that
I realized how powerful a place the floor of this sink hole was. Sacred
caves ringed the entire circumference of this place. I looked up at one
point at the cliff and saw the face of the land spirit in the stone.
Incredibly vivid and clear- almost as if it were carved in the stone. Al
saw the same exact face in the same location. No matter what angle I
walked to, the face was still there. I took a photo of it and looked
forward to seeing it when it was developed- to see this rock formation
that embodied the appearance of the land spirit. Well,
the face wasn't on the film at all- it just didn't exist. I was
disappointed by this until Al's brother was looking at the pictures and
saw a totally different face, or part of a face. So I guess it just
shows me that it wasn't just a trick of light that made Al and I see the
face that day- it was something else that wouldn't photograph. But the
photo did reveal the energy/face of the spirit in a very different way. We
wrapped up the day by going through some very beautiful caves. They were
not deep, so they were well lit and had a good deal of plant life in
them. After that it was the long hike back. I have to say
going down a 45 degree slop is just as hard, if not harder, then
climbing up it. |
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