Hiking to the Cave

After about an hour and forty five minutes in the vans, we still had a 45min hike to the entrance of the ATM cave.  Chaa Creek was *kind* enough to pack picnic lunches for us to eat at the cave entrance.  You will note the blue tote the man on the left in this photo is carrying.  Chaa Creek packed as if we were going to Royal Ascot.  Real plates and metal flatware, generous fixings for making sandwiches, bowls of fruit and salad, sodas in glass bottles.  The only thing missing was champagne.  That blue picnic tote must have weighed at least 20 lbs and there were two others just like it plus several green backpacks also containing lunch and related supplies.  After all that work, we were pleased to find that lunch was delicious.

The hike to the cave was mercifully flat, but it did entail three river crossings (we actually walked across the river four times, but the first was to cross a ford and change vans).  We only had one casualty, Will fell in the river on the return hike and really murdered his shins.  They look just like Lyra's now!  He has been most unlucky on this trip and is coming home with many, fortunately minor, wounds.