Che Chem Ha

Accompanied by our guide Mr. Lascalle Tillett from S&L Tours we ventured from Belize City to the Mayan Underworld. Che  Chem Ha is located in the Maya Mountains of the Cayo  District in the Vaca Plateau. It is a cave where the ancient Mayas practiced their rituals.  The cave was a very sacred ceremonial center.

Upon entering Che Chem Ha site we were greeted by our area guide William Plates Morales, who discovered the cave when he was just 17 years old. As we make our way down the path of the trail we were give an educational briefing pertainint to the  trees, birds and insectsof the rainforest by Mr. Tillett and Williiam.

Che Chem Ha means” Cave of poisonwood water”. On the trail we came across the Che Chem tree, there are 2 kinds the white and the black. The difference between the trees is that the white che chem is safe to touch in case you accidently fall on it. The bark of the black che chem is usually open so the sap is always running and the sap is poisonous in both trees. The milky sap is like an acid once you touch it and scratch yourself it gets into your pores and makes you itch all over, however, the antidote , the Gumbo limbo tree is usually close by . Both trees usually grow side by side.

The wild begonia is also a native of the rainforest seen on the trail to che chem ha. It usually bears either a white or pink flower. The one in the photo has been eaten a bit by insects. 

Another plant, the "mamosa spudica" is commonly called 12 o’clock. At midday when the sun is overhead this plant folds and "sleeps", in the past, workers in the bush used this plant to tell when it was lunch time.

 The piper plant is a member of the black pepper family and is a favorite food for bats; they eat it like corn on the cob.

 Also found in the rainforest are Tarantulas, which are large hairy spiders and they are attracted by saliva, so if you are sleeping in the jungle with your mouth open they would actually crawl in!

  Another insect of the forest is the wee wee ant or leaf cutter ant. These ants go into the forest and they chew leaves into small bits and carry the pieces back to the nest for the queen ant.  If a leaf falls to the grown they leave it there and cut fresh ones.  These ants build their nest at the base of trees and in response, the tree that houses the nest  lets off an enzyme  that protects it from the  nest, therefore the nest doesn’t negatively affect the tree.   Domesticated fruit trees such as  citrus, however,  do not produce this enzyme so the nest of the wee wee ant would kill such trees. These nests can be as large as 15 to 20 ft.

 In the Maya mountains the temperature is usually cool; at least 10 to 15 degrees cooler than in the city.

Our tour then brought us to the entrance of the Che Chem Ha cave. This cave  is located in area over 1300 ft above sea level,  called the "Vaca Plateau".  The Vaca Plateau overlooks the Macal River valley. Che Chema Ha is a limestone cave and it measures 239 meters and drops 20 meters from the entrance. In ancient mayan belief, the 9 levels of the cave each lead to the underworld.  

Inside the cave there is ancient handmade coil pottery crafted by the Mayas that remain are in the same position as they were  found. Some of the pots arescattered in different positions on the cave floor while others can be found on the various ledges in the cave. Remarkably, some of the pots contain remains of the offerings of corn and annatto seeds that they once held. There are several ladders strategically placed so visitors can climb up to the ledges and take a closer look.

At the cave's fifth level there are many mushroom - shaped pots with lids that give the pots a mushroom-like resemblance . The mayas broke these pots in order to "release the spirit of the dead".  

The stella chambers lead to the ninth level of the cave where there is a structure resembling an altar where it is believed that human and animal sacrifices were performed.