Rio Frio Cave and Pools on Rio – Mountain Pine Ridge Cayo District Belize
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Rio Frio Cave and Pools on Rio full day trip by Zac.  We arose early for a buffet breakfast and an 8:30 start for the Trip into the Pine Ridge Forest with stops at the Frio Rio cave and Pools on Rio. We had already stopped at Caracol Maya site as mentioned in my previous guest post, Caracol full day trip and were now driving on a 82 small red clay road to the Rio Frio Cave.
Rio Frio Cave
We saw more wildlife than we could photograph, this 83 colorful bird sat still for us at the entrance to the 84 Rio Frio Cave site. 84a & c Cave entrance & 84b Cave top.
85 Pan of the entrance could not take in the height of the cave and the camera could not capture the variation of the 86 Floor of the cave. Rio Frio cave entrance and 87 exit are close together so you get natural light to explore inside the cave.
The 87a enormity of this cave and intricacy of the art of the stone was breathtaking. 88 88a-d.
The floor of the cave was a mix of rock, sand and water.
Recently humans built a stair 89 travasse & 89a on one side of the cave to make it easier to see the rear aspects from up high. Notice the 90 gaping maw of the skull guarding the exit.
We took our time in the semi darkness, stepping carefully from rock to rock. Many pictures did not turn out due to the 90a,b lack of light, but it was an awe inspiring experience.
Pools On Rio
We moved on to 90c-96b Pools on Rio to wash the sweat of the day off. The 97 sun was starting to set behind the mountains as we set off on the long journey back to San Ignacio.
A 98 new bridge was erected beside the old one leaving it to collapse over time. The sky added to the gorgeous 99 99a & b vistas which made the bumpy road easier to endure.
We arrived back at 100 Cahal Pech resort and checked out the view from our balcony and the 101 lights of the town below as the darkness and mist returned to blanket San Ignacio.
The next day we 101a waited in the rain for the chicken bus back to Belize City, another hard journey with all the stopping but we got our unique Belizean experience. Next time I’ll consider flying Tropic Air to the mainland and taking a shuttle service to San Ignacio.
One last picture of the 102 clouds painting the sky on the ride home to San Pedro.
It is too bad the go pro cam is more video, that would be perfect if you could get decent stills from it. Compact, has a waterproof and housing, all kinds of mount options. http://gopro.com/
I need to “suck it up” and bring my camera gear into the caves. Last time I did was in a Canadian ice cave in the Rockies and that did not end well. Anyone know of a disposable quality camera?
I thought so to AJ, makes me want to go there and explore the caves.
Excellent trip report!