Rio Frio Cave & Rio On Pools

The not-so-pine-filled Pine Mtn. Ridge

Last Friday we set off on a very bumpy road toward the ruins at Carocal, but Carocal wasn't our destination. We wanted to see the Rio Frio Cave and Rio on Pools (where we were told there was great swimming). The previous 2 days had been super hot and so we thought swimming would be perfect. Wouldn't you know though that just as we were pulling out of the driveway, it started raining! Oh well we decided to continue this adventure anyways. It rained off and on during our 2 hr drive to the cave. We entered a region known as Mountain Pine Ridge, and watch the landscape change dramatically. We went from palm trees, thick vines, etc to pine trees- only pine trees! It looked awfully sparse and we found out from a guide we ran into at Rio On Pools that the pine forest is only 10% of what it should be due to an infestation of the Pine Beetle.

Opening to the cave

 1st stop was Rio Frio Cave. Though part of the Pine Mountain Ridge, the cave is set deep in the jungle. It has a 65ft entrance allowing us to easily see inside. The cave is only about 600 ft. long and is open at both ends so we could see all the way through. A narrow creek from the Rio Frio flows through the cave. Rio Frio means "Cold River" and as Kris felt the icy water, he agreed that they'd gotten the name right for sure. We saw some huge stalactites, stalagmities, and flow stone too. We even saw what Kris called a grotto- which was a hole made by water dripping through a rock that led down to the river. The cave even had a sandy beach! The boys enjoyed digging and playing in the sand. There was a small waterfall but it was so dark that we couldn't get any decent pictures of it. We could only climb around on one side of the cave and could only go about halfway through the cave. We saw a stalactite that was dropping water onto a stalagmite so we could actually show Jonathan how they are formed- one drop at a time! He also found a big bug- thankfully dead, although incredibly preserved!

Grotto to river below

Stalactite that was dripping onto...

... this stalagmite

By a big rock that must have fallen from the ceiling all in one piece

Looking out of the cave

The Fam at Rio Frio

Jonathan's big bug!

 We back tracked a bit to Rio On Pools, parked and walked a short way on a path to the Rio On River. The water was amazingly warm here (especially compared to that of Rio Frio Cave) and it didn't take long for us to get in the river and go exploring. The water moves pretty slow through this region and it is also not to deep. The water was clear also allowing us to easily see the bottom and move around easily. Kris found a spot where the water moved a bit quicker and we could ride the current for a ways, kind of like a water slide. He also found a waterfall (about 6ft tall) and took Jonathan behind it. JJ was baffled at the sounds of the rushing water crashing right in front of him! At one point Jonathan asked us "Did we bring any toys to play with while we are swimming?" We told him that he'd just have to get creative and use the toys God made for us. He soon found a pinecone and had fun tossing that around. Aaron spent a lot of time playing the role of excavator, piling up handfuls of sand on a nearby rock. Finally Kris got in on the action and they worked together to make a Mayan Ruin! Such a creative bunch I have!

Lady's face carved in a rock

Upper pools & waterfall that J & K went behind

Lower Pools

Happy Swimmer!

Splashing Mommy! (looks like he's standing on top of the water, lol)

Doesn't he look relaxed?

Look, I found a toy!!

Our waterslide

Building together

Mayan Ruins- Jack style!

All tuckered out!

The sky started to cloud over so we decided we'd better head back. It rained on us a little on our walk back to the car,  but didn't really start dumping until we'd been on the road for a while. Aaron fell asleep during the last 20 minutes of the ride. Oh and one of the best parts about our trip that day was that aside from gas, the trip was free!!! We'd left our house at 11am that morning and got back at 5:15pm. I hadn't prepared anything for dinner so we changed clothes and headed out to eat at a Mexican Restaurant in San Ignacio called Rolsan's. Yum!