Zipping Through Belize’s Rainforest with Dark Night Adventures

Belize is famous for its stunning and diverse jungles. Every year, thousands of tourists explore these lush landscapes to experience their beauty. But jungle adventures aren’t just for visitors. In tonight’s edition of Belize on Reel, we head west to Dark Night Cave Tubing Adventures to discover how ziplining offers Belizeans a unique way to see their country’s hidden gems. Here’s News Five’s Britney Gordon with the story.

 

Britney Gordon, Reporting

Over half of Belize is blanketed by dense rainforest, making it one of the most forested countries in Central America. These jungles teem with wildlife like jaguars, toucans, and monkeys. But how can you see these wonders up close? Bradley Paumen, owner of Dark Night Cave Tubing Adventures, says ziplining is one of the easiest ways to experience Belize’s natural beauty.

 

Bradley Paumen, Owner, Dark Night Cave Tubing Adventures

“Some of our favorite guests are local guests. We do a lot of tours for, we got some, private groups that come in and we work with some other tour operators that bring their guests here. And resorts, and then we, we do a lot with teachers. We’ve got teachers groups that come in. And a lot of the companies up in Spanish Lookout, they, they really enjoy bringing a family day. So we have big groups with the locals and stuff. So we do probably ten, twelve percent is locals and resorts. And then the balances with the cruise lines.”

 

Ziplining is an exciting adventure activity where you’re strapped into a harness and slide down a thick steel cable between two points. Dark Night offers various packages for exploring the area’s caves and jungles. These include walking on suspension bridges over the rainforest canopy, tubing through ancient caves, and of course, ziplining through the lush trees. Site Manager Benjamin Mas explains how the team gets visitors ready for a day of zipping through the trees.

 

Benjamin Mas, Site Manager, Dark Night Cave Tubing Adventures

“Everybody has fun and  you don’t have to have experience to be able to do our tours. So we do everything for you, and we explain in detail. We give safety talks, safety speeches, orientations to our guests. And we also remind them that  prior to getting into, onto the lines. We also remind them that if they don’t remember, we continue reminding them throughout the tour. So it becomes, at the end, a fun tour. And you don’t need any experience, so we do the work for you.”

 

The tour starts with a short walk over a suspension bridge, hundreds of feet above the forest canopy. This brings us to the first zipline platform, the Chicken Run line. Here, guests get suited up and get a taste of what it’s like to zip through the air. Assistant Supervisor, Liticia Cartagena, enjoys the thrill that comes with the job.

 

Liticia Cartagena, Assistant Supervisor, Dark Night Cave Tubing Adventures

“For me, it’s exciting and funny, very funny and I feel like the breeze on me and that’s everything.”

 

Britney Gordon

“And how does your heart feel when you’re doing it?”

 

Liticia Cartagena

“It’s beating very fast.”

 

Over the canopy, fortunate zipliners may encounter animals such as howler monkeys. Mas tells us that typically, the animals are shy but on quiet days, they may make an appearance.

 

Benjamin Mas

“Today we might be more lucky than during a normal operation because it’s very quiet. But we have monkeys, spider monkeys. We have toucans. We have coatimundis, such animals. We have many more, but I wouldn’t be able to give you a big promise because you have to have a sharp eye.”

 

Zipliners also dive into darkness as they enter the ancient caves. With headlights on, they’ll see natural mineral formations, with stalagmites rising from the floor and stalactites hanging from the ceiling. Some caves even feature intricate Mayan carvings on the walls.

 

Bradley Paumen

“It starts out in a Rock Shelter Cave, and then it goes into and through Tiger Cave. It’s a beautiful cave.  And then you finish with have an exit out of Tiger Cave on a suspension bridge, and then you got a couple more lines over the river. So seven lines in all, and when you get off the cave tube, or zip line, you actually just enter right into Cape Tubing, your tubes are waiting for you and you float through Dark Night Cave and you finish with a, a nice float that cools you off.”

 

Ziplining tours are available all over the country and usually include other adventure activities like hiking, swimming, and rappelling. Cartagena is thankful she found her love for ziplining and now shares that passion with everyone she meets.

 

Liticia Cartagena

“I used to work here  like five years ago. So I used to begin with a dresser. And I get my training and I went to zipline. The most exciting thing for me is to meet new people. And share the knowledge of the zipline.”

 

Britney Gordon for News Five.