Spelunking beneath the Jungle

There is one God, the Creator God, and His creation is amazing!

This morning I was playing soccer just after 7 am. Still warm and humid - but only in the low 80's :)

Then we went spelunking.

"Caving" in the jungles of Africa was a new concept to me, but then I was told that we were going under the hill the of the hospital...and it became quite intriguing.

We hiked, crawled, squirmed, and sweated through about 1 1/2 hours of caverns, tunnels, and crawl-spaces. Some had torches, other's head-lamps, and some no light at all.

The bats were fun to watch swooping and diving as we came into each new section. Putting your hand out to steady yourself usually sent a few dozen "cave spiders" scurring out of the way. I shined my torch on a spot just as one gal put her hand down, and there were at least two dozen spiders/insects around her hand. It was better to just not look :)

The bat guano mixed with wet clay made for a slippery floor most of the way - but easier to slither through the narrow openings on your belly. Sloshing through small streams cooled our feet, and crawling through similar parts cooled our elbows.

We made it, all without a problem. A few scrapes, bumped heads, and sore elbows later we were headed back up the hill. By the time we finished it was quite clear why they had encouraged us to use "extra" clothes prior work-teams had left behind instead of our own. It would be impossible to wash the clay and stains out. It wasn't much cooler (if any) below ground - it is always warm here! We came out soaked, covered in mud, warm, and glad to see skylight!

There was a second level, deeper, which I noted the entrance to just as we neared the exit. (I'm still not quite sure how our guide figured out where we were). Marjolaine and I crawled up through the tunnel to that section, and it dropped off about 15 feet to another ledge which led deeper and lower under the mtn. But we were informed we couldn't go any further without ropes. Something about safety measures :) If you have seen Lord of the Rings...you have an idea of what it felt like to come over the edge and see it dropping down inside. There was a deep urge to go deeper and further in. So, if I'm able to return, I have a side-trip I'm looking forward to... rock-climbing in reverse under the jungles of Africa!

It has been a good trip - and I wanted to share a bit of one side-trip just to let you know that it hasn't been ALL work and no play :)

Thanks for praying for us.

Headed back the US - leaving here Monday and should be in Indiana by Wednesday evening. I'll have a few more pictures by then.

Have a great Saturday!

John