We all agreed the Waterfall Cave Expedition was the best tour of the whole trip. As with the cave tubing, it started with being hauled by a tractor through the orange grove next to cavesbranch. It got stuck crossing a river where, as we would learn later, it always gets stuck (at least, everytime we crossed it)... They made us all wear long pants, to protect our legs, and made sure we had on long pants before we left cavesbranch. But Dana noticed that several people were wearing shorts, so he changed into his shorts while they got the tractor unstuck. Almost immediately after getting going again, we stopped to drop off a group doing a different tour, where everybody wearing shorts (except for Dana), got off. It seemed pretty obvious that one of us was not like the other ones, so we were wondering if the guides would also notice. As soon as the tractor stopped for our tour, the guides did indeed make Dana put his long pants on again. After that, there was a short hike to the large cave entrance with water running out of it. Just inside the cave entrance, on the ceiling, we could see two different kinds of bats, fruit bats and insect bats. Fruit bats are fairly large, and dwell in vertical holes that are apparently created by their corrosive guano eating away at the limestone over time. The insect bats are much smaller, and congregated in small groups. The cave was full of stalactites and stalagmites. We were asked not to touch them, as the limestone will react to bugspray, sun lotion and sweat about like it reacts to bat shit (it corrodes, and will cease to grow). The floor was even more interesting, in some parts looking like the core of a beehive, with tiny water pools connected together. These were usually of a reddish color, indicating the presence of iron. There is a short stretch of the journey with a very low ceiling. Trying to crouch through it without crawling on our knees pretty much caused everybody to be a little sore the next morning (walking in a crouch worked different muscles). After that, the cave opened back up. It was mostly an easy hike up the stream, intermixed with occasional stretches of treacherous footing, which required some delicate footwork. The cave was hot, and humid. You could see your breath in the light from the flashlights. The guides pointed out a couple of large scorpion spiders on the walls. Once deep inside the cave, we got to the waterfall. The first step of the fall was steep enough, high enough, and with enough rushing water, that they put harnesses on us, and belayed us up it. It didn't seem totally necessary, but I could see how some people would have been safer by that. This first fall is the point of truth, where if you're not going to make it up the fall, you will fail here. One of the children that came along with our group got about halfway up, and turned back. I can't remember not being able to climb when I was that age, and the poor kid probably would have had a great time, if he just scrambled up that first fall. His mother continued on without him, and left him at the base of the falls with the secondary guide. One of the next falls really funneled the water down on top of us. It was great fun to fight the gushing flow of water to climb up it. Especially pushing your head through the force of water as it shot out the top. This was apparently challenging enough that the guide hung out on the top, helping people through. One of the last falls on the top had a pool with a strong current right at it's base. It was enjoyable to just swim in place there, while waiting for the couple of people in front of me to finish climbing that step. Most other people on our tour seemed to try to stay out of the water as much as they could. I didn't get that. Wherever I found stretches of water deep enough to swim around in, I swam them instead of hiking around them. Once we got the hang of it, the four of us decided we would just continue onwards up the cave, while the guide was still helping the rest of the party. That was, until our guide asked us where we were going. He then told us we were already at the top. I guess the next cave entrance was not that far off. After hanging out on the top for a while, watching the people from California shiver in what felt warm to me, it was time to climb back down. This was where the real excitement started. On three of the falls, instead of climbing, the way down was by jumping. The waterfalls had carved out deep pockets of water at their bases, and you could jump off of the falls, into the water. One of them was shallow enough that your feet did hit (and you would not have wanted to dive head first). But, it was deep enough that your fall was broken, and it didn't hurt at all. It was incredibly exhilarating to be jumping off of a cliff in the dark into the water below. On my first attempt, my headlamp broke, and went dead. I was hopeful I would get to go the rest of the way down in the dark, but Casper ratted me out, and the guide replaced my headlamp, which went dead before I was out of the cave. The second one was so much fun, the four of us all climbed up it a few more times, and leapt off of it in the dark. Casper even climbed the wall a little higher, to get more of a jump. The final jump, off of the fall that we were belayed up, seemed to be the most dangerous. The guide told us that it was very narrow, and to jump right in the middle. I think everybody gasped when I stumbled as I approached it, and it looked like I was almost fell off! I figured the guide was just being cautious with his narrow warning, until I jumped. I was too close to the right side, and scraped my arm a little as I submerged in the water. But I could feel the walls on both sides of me once I hit the water, so I wasn't that far off from the center. One woman looked like she was way off to the left, and we were all pretty shocked. She said she was okay, but it looked like she was limping a little when we saw her the next day. This adventure would not be legal in the United States for long, as it is almost certain that somebody would get hurt, and after the lawsuits, that would be the end of that. Also, this is a private cave that only cavesbranch has access to. So, if you want to do this adventure, it might be difficult to find something equivalent anywhere else. This tour is the tour that is the reason that cavesbranch had us all sign that liability waiver... Since this tour was in the water, and my disposable waterproof camera didn't have a flash, I have no footage of this unique experience. Casper put a camera in a plastic bag, and might have some pictures. The video from the link above was taken at cavesbranch. They had a wonderful spot for jumping off of a tree, into the water. This was approximately the height of the waterfalls that we were jumping off of, give or take a little, depending on the fall.
