Whilst in Belize, we stayed in an eco lodge..which was interesting to say the least! Simplicity at it's best. It consisted of tiny huts, compost toilets and was surrounded by many different tropical tree's, plants and creatures. A few of the girls on our tour were instantly horrified at the prospect of living in these 'alternative' conditions; however, we were ready to throw ourselves into the lifestyle for the couple of days we had there! Luckily for us, the only 3 bed hut they had was a step-up from the rest, with an en suite loo and shower room, a fan, and a good lot of space to spread our luggage about..brill! Once settled, we made our way to the social area and decided to play Yahtzee (a dice game), of which i had never played. However, i somehow managed to royally whip everyone elses b**ts with the luck of the dice (and my natural skill of course!..), much to the annoyance of the girlies..tehe! That evening we had a lovely meal and then went to explore the amazing butterfly garden preserved by the eco lodge. As soon as we set foot inside, Emma was gone; there was no stopping her. She was enchanted by these beautiful insects and spent a good hour or so walking round and round the tiny garden taking pictures of them..so cute! As we were stood around yabbering, the guy who helps run the place (John) appeared and said he had something to show us. As we stood there in curiosity, he reached into a small tuppaware (spelling???) box which was sat beside us and pulled out a HUUUUGE, BLACK, HAIRY TURRANTULA!!!!! The spider began creepily and rapidly running all over John's body; up and down his arms, down his back, on his head! Those of you who know me will know about my general reaction to spiders, and it's not a positive one! Although, on this occasion, as much as i was scared, i was curious and inquisitive about this alien creature (named the black velvet spider..i think?). But not as curious as to hold it, which both Kella and Emma had the bravery to do so!

The following day, a group of us had booked to do caving, situated within a Belizian jungle. We got up early, put on our hotpants and hiking boots (again!) and jumped in a van which took is to the jungle. We walked for an hour through the tree's and three rivers to get to the opening of the cave (on our way, seeing the the most poisonous snake in central america swimming downstream!). To enter the cave we had to swim (with our clothes, hiking boots and helmets on) to reach the beginning of the rocks within the darkness of the cave (we had headtorches too). I never expected the extent of what i saw once inside. It was huge! We were surrounded by stalegmites and stalegtites. To make our way through the cave we had to swim, climb over rocks, climb through tiny gaps and holes and all sorts. It was incredible and i've never experianced anything like it. Not only this, but there were big, broken pots everywhere you looked. Our guide explained the intruiging history about the rituals that had once taken place there, and explained that the pots had not been touched since they were discovered (not even by archeologists) in order to preserve them as best as possible.

Half way through our journey in the cave our guide stopped us. He reached into the water where we stood and pulled out a small, terracota coloured stone and began rubbing it with another. The next thing i new, he was drawing on my face with the orange paint that the stone had produced! Obviously we all had to get involved, and ended up painted head-to-toe, looking like a strange cave tribe. We also couldn't resist painting our guide (god knows why he let 8 girls pounce on him with orange paint!)..who ended up with a big butterfly on this face and a sunshine on his arm..b-e-a-utiful! It was even funnier when we every-so-often walked past another group in the cave..forgetting we were still covered!!

There was one last surprise at the deepest part of the cave we were going to...a human skeliton! Our guide explained that people were sacrificed within the cave, and in this instance it was a young woman. One thing that struck me was the horrified expression of her skull (just like in films..with her jaw open and to the side!!), this was supposedly due to her dislocating her jaw when screaming in agony whilst being torchered. Creepy huh!?!

The cave's were such a highlight of the trip for all of us. The feelings you get when first entering that cave are nothing i can describe. All i can do is recommend seeing them for yourself!

All for now..Lottie xxxxx