I’ve wondered what my attraction is to caving.  It seems an odd pasttime for one who is not entirely comfortable underground, but I’ve now visited five or six caves, sometimes in multiple visits, and have more on my list.

Perhaps it’s the thrill of exploration, the awareness of potential danger, or the acute peak of the senses while underground.  Our last tour of mammoth caves we conducted entirely by lantern light, and when the group was strung out and I could feel the echoes of darkness overhead, my ears and eyes operated at an entirely different efficiency level then they normally reach.

Then again, maybe I’ve just always thought Hades was the coolest of the greek gods and wanted to explore his domain–without sharing Persephone’s fate.

At any rate, I’ve added a new kind of caving to my list–underwater caving, and I’d like to visit Sac Actun in particular.  It’ll be a million years before I get to do it, as there are plenty of obstacles.  The first is that I’ve never scuba dived, the second that I’m a mediocre swimmer.  Add to that money, distance, time, and I may have to wait for my next reincarnation.  But it’ll be worth the wait.