Typical first day of travel; up at 5:00 am to drive from Jupiter to Miami, Florida, to catch the flight. I was apparently the first member of the team at the airport. Dropped off the rental car and took the waiting shuttle to the terminal. Check in and security went surprisingly easily, especially considering it was the day after the Super Bowl which was also in Miami this year.

Security is always something of a hit or miss ordeal because of the gear. Some TSA officers understand about open circuit gear but a lot see things like canister lights and get nervous. Whenever possible, I try to stay at the security checkpoint to explain what each piece of gear is. There is also a note written on the inside of my gear boxes with my cell phone number so they can call if they have any questions.

This time around, no problems at all.

At the gate for about 45 minutes, then Curt, Rusty and Rob showed up. We met at the little “Mexican” restaurant near the gate. A few dive stories later it was time to board the plane. The flight into Cancun was uneventful. There was the usual slow traverse through customs and immigration in Mexico but, again, not much of a problem considering four guys with several large boxes of scuba, camera and video gear.

An expedition of this nature is very much like a military operation. We are heavily dependent on gear and each of us has an array of equipment for our various jobs.

At the airport we hooked up with other members of the team, including Kim, Tamara and Ethan. We had a bit of a wait for Matt whose plane had been delayed. We had someone in the states make calls to Matt’s dive shop in Canada to see if they knew where he was. During one of those calls, Matt strode up and the team members arriving in Cancun had assembled.

Several porters, rolling carts and van rental hassles later and we were pulling out of the airport and heading to Homun.

Later that evening

We are settling into the church in Homun that will be our home, base camp and refuge for the next week and a half. There have even been some improvements to the church, including a renovated “kitchen” area and several new doors. This is due in part to the money we have donated to the church in years past.

Settling in, stringing hammocks and unpacking gear. It will be a long day and after we greet the rest of the team who came from other parts of Mexico or flew into Merida Airport, it’s time to turn in.

The adventure has begun!

February 6, 2007

The first day of actual exploration; the entire team embarked together today. Later we will most likely break into two units to cover more ground and to operate separately as archaeological and biological teams. Unfortunately, we sort of lost Ethan and Tamara at some point during the day. They were exploring a cenote and everyone else moved on to another area. Apparently the walkie talkies did not have the necessary range to stay in contact.

Overall it was a somewhat disappointing start to the expedition. We looked at a couple of promising holes but only one panned out. That was a walk in cavern with a crack that developed into a spiral cave that went down to about 80 feet. Rob did the initial look and then Rusty did the exploration. He left line in the cave and reported it as very clear and apparently virgin. His dive time was about 25 minutes. One other bright spot, while exploring the dry cavern, we found an eyeless cave eel swimming in one of the pools of water along the rock edge of the cavern. I managed to get several shots of it.

The teams will break up tomorrow, allowing us to cover more ground.

February 7, 2007

“It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.”

Thus far, the exploration has been a bit of a bust. Tom Iliffe, our senior marine biologist suggested we were actually on the wrong trip, the one for Advanced Driver Magazine. Most of the days have involved bouncing along on barely passable, rutted, rocky paths, crawling slower than the average grandmother can walk. Of course, this is exploration and discovery, so this is the price we pay. We also know that just “over the next hill” may be the discovery of a lifetime. That is a phrase our Mexican guides use, “over the next hill,” which can mean anything from ‘a few feet away’ to ‘miles from here.’

Most of the holes we visit today are simply not worth much. Someone dons mask and fins and has a brief look and we are underway again

Then the monotony was broken, at least for me.

A sinkhole with a respectable climb down about 40 or 50 feet to the water; I suited up and began climbing down into the hole. The most difficult portion of the climb down was getting over a rotting railing someone had installed. The wood was clearly failing and the trees used as upright posts had exposed roots hanging over a ledge. The entire thing looked like a plunge down a rocky cliff into the dark and possibly dangerous water below.

Once past that obstruction and a careful walk down to the water and final equipment donning. I stepped into the water and Matt handed me a tank to attach to my side mount harness. The water was opaque, with a quality of milky coffee. The visibility was zero and even my powerful canister light could not pierce it.

At about 45 feet down, the murky quality disappeared and there was an inky black all around me. Typical of this type of hole, the upper layer of murky water filtered out all light. Before I could see what was happening, I became entangled in submerged vines and branches from trees that had fallen into the water.

Exploration took a back seat to getting out of this submerged thicket. It went through my mind that taking only one tank might not have been the best choice but it also made for a smaller profile. This was a good spot to get out of.

The bad news: there appeared to be vines and branches everywhere and at varying depths, making exploration pretty much impossible in the utter blackness. The submerged wood was also covered in a very fine layer of silt, so the slightest movement created murky black water. The good news: the vines and branches were essentially rotted so they could be easily broken, as in breaking out of.

My other concern was the actual tree trunks in the water. They were big, probably a bit unstable and they could most definitely not be broken. I didn’t want to wind up under one of those, that would be bad. This is one of those times to remember training and to make smart decisions.

I decided it was time to ascend.

The maximum depth was 56 feet. I’d been down about 10 minutes and made practically no headway. To rise above the wooden obstructions put me in the murk; below the murk were the dangerous grabbing wooden fingers of the fallen trees.

We dubbed this cenote, “Jeff’s black hold of death.”

Later that night we decided to concentrate on wells, only investigating promising looking sinkholes. Our objectives were, of course, to document cenotes; but we also have an archaeological objective and the chances are far greater that we will find artifacts in wells.

February 8, 2007

A better day for all.

Some thoughts: It is hot and hydration is becoming an issue. Everyone needs to drink more water. Some of these dives have the potential to go very deep and dehydration is a leading cause of the bends, something to remember.

We got an early start today, dove four holes in quick order. Nothing much panned out but it is clear that wells offer more potential and they will be our focus for the time being.

There is a great deal of differences in the various types of holes. There are sinkholes, which were probably once caves that simply collapsed at some point. They are usually not very fruitful, often murky and can have a great deal of sediment. Next are walk in caverns with caves. These often offer excellent clear water and the possibility of deep caves. Then there are actual wells, usually dug near sinkholes or other cenotes. These seem to offer the best hope for archaeological discovery. While the actual caves are better for the biologists, the archaeologists seem to strike lucky with the wells.

My dive today was a well on an old farm. There was a huge General Motors truck engine that had, at one time, been used to power a pump. The well had the requisite sediment pile in the middle. There was a ledge on one side. That side pinched off rather abruptly at about 35 feet. Around the other side of the debris pile the slope was more gradual and pinched off at about 55 feet.

Nothing of actual archaeological significance in the hole but I did see a nice blue plastic bucket someone has dropped in. From the looks to it, this was probably the first time a diver had been in this well.

Oddly, it is not unusual for these holes to be virgin. The farmers and land owners simply do not dive into them for the most part; at least that is my impression.

February 9, 2007

”If you get it wrong, it will be wrong.” –Curt Bowen

Today we got it right.

We discover a new cave with skulls and other archaeological artifacts. It is a worthwhile dive. Matt performed the initial exploration and Kim snorkeled the cavern as she is not able to dive this trip. Matt is a top-notch cave diver and a real asset to this expedition. It was also gratifying to see him overcome his initial trepidation with the ropes. Ironically, early in the trip, he was the first explorer to drop into a deep sinkhole on rope.

After Matt’s recon on this hole, I went in with underwater camera gear to document the artifacts for our archaeologists. We were a bit rushed because Matt had been down for a while, came up to lead me to the finds and then went right back down leaving him a bit low on air. I had a single side mount tank but plenty of air.

It was about a 30 minute dive to about 84 feet maximum depth. A very interesting cave.

This is the type of dive we all live for on these expeditions, seeing and photographing something no one has seen before. From a cave diving perspective, from a photography perspective, from an exploration perspective this is what we live for.

February 10, 2007

”One dog, one point” –Enrique Soberanes

As a side note, there are dogs everywhere in this part of Mexico. While they are not exactly wild, they are also not pets. They roam the streets with impunity and howl and bark all night, keeping those of us used to relative quiet awake. North Americans tend to humanize animals, especially dogs. I think it may be because of the constant media diet we all consume as children featuring taking cartoon doggies that are essentially people. We start to see dogs as more like people than animals. That is not the case in Yucatan, dogs are dogs, period. The dogs do occasionally get into a tussle with each other and slow traffic, hence Enrique’s “one dog, one point” line.

The creeping crud has set in.

Norma (our Mexican archaeologist) and Matt both began the day sick and stayed at base camp in Homun. By the end of the day, Rusty was sick as well. It is pretty common for at least a few people to fall ill for a day or two in this part of the Mexican scrub jungle. We take all precautions possible, but at the end of the day, we are also swimming in cenotes and wells with who knows what swimming with us. These are mineral rich waters, but there are also hidden pollutants and I believe it is most likely the small amounts of cenote water we ingest that ultimately lays us down.

The Dives: Rusty and Curt both dove today, separately. Rusty hit about 130 feet in a clear cave; Curt’s dive was in very low visibility.

One of the most dangerous aspects of diving in this part of Mexico is the Africanized bees. These bugs are extremely aggressive. They have been known to chase people up to a mile and they swarm rapidly and with practically no provocation.

Today we found some bees.

They were nested in the ground near a huge sink hole. There was an adjacent well that looked excellent. After some discussion we decided not to dive the well. Rob was willing, but Kim and I both objected on various grounds. Eventually Rusty agreed and we passed this well by. Too bad, but it was clearly the correct decision.

Later that day, Rob did the recon of a well and then I joined him. Other had clearly been in this water, although it was not clear if it was on scuba or just free diving. There were flashlights and sandals and buckets in the water. I did two dives to explore, hitting about 76 feet.

We helped out the caretakers of this well by clearing out some debris that had blocked the pump pipe.

The Rains have also started.

February 11, 2007

The crud sidelined me today but I did go out with the team. No diving, but many photos including remarkable shots of a small one room factory where people were making tortillas. People bring in baskets of corn and the family at the tortilleria turns them into tortillas. Terrific shot of a little girl carrying a basket of corn on her head, looking back at me. The people who owned the tortilleria allowed me to come in and photograph them, fascinating.

I am really too sick to write more.

February 12, 2007

While we are here in discover and explore the underwater cave world, the vast majority of what we see and photograph is on land. I have shot more than twenty five hundred images, mostly of the native people, architecture and culture in this part of Yucatan. I believe there is a growing awareness of the Mayan culture and its seminal import on the culture of Mexico and all of the Americas.

We have been going slowly on very primitive roads and today we have been visiting extremely rural farms. At one, Matt went into a well and recovered a piece of the pump that had fallen in years ago. The people had never considered going into the well to retrieve it, as the farmer woman put it, “it is dark and scary in there.” Matt brought the pipe out and the woman gave Norma some fried meat pies she has made.

At another farm I photographed a beautiful white Pheasant, a really remarkable sight. The women who lived there made hammocks; they earned about ten dollars a week, which is how long it takes to make one of these beautiful hammocks.

At one of the farms we found a large tarantula and spent about 20 minutes photographing it. Rusty managed to get her to rear up and strike with great power and force. Normally these animals are relatively shy but this girl was being attacked by ants and she was clearly agitated to begin with.

One odd thing did happen on this trip. One landowner would not allow us to dive the well on his land. That is not the odd part, however. He is a blind man who claimed that about a half hour before we arrived, someone had come to him and told him about the gringos diving wells and to not allow us. Of course, this led to wild speculation about his reasons, or this mysterious “rider” and his reasons. For me, I believe this man was just trying to protect his drinking water and was uncomfortable with strangers he could not even see on his land.

Later we spoke with relatives of the blind man on another farm; they were upset that he had refused us entry and they seemed very happy to allow us on their property to dive their well. One of them said this was their land and no one would tell them who to let into their well. But then another strange thing happened, the initial permission to dive was rescinded by an older family member. This is highly unusual behavior for these people and does lead to a niggling suspicion that something unusual is going on.

In the evening we begin packing as tomorrow we will dive in the morning and then head to Playa del Carmen in the afternoon.

Also, as I do many evenings, I photograph small cave life brought out by Tom, Lara and Brent from the biological team. These photos present a good deal of challenge as they are very small and translucent. To help solve that, I brought a light box and macro equipment.

Sort of a sad night, I would have liked to stay for a bit longer. It is also becoming apparent that we are rapidly exhausting this area for exploration; perhaps we have already exhausted it. It may be time to find another are to set up our base of operations in the future. Most of the areas we are trying to explore are now more than an hour away. That means a minimum of two hours driving time per day just to get to and from the sites. Often when we get there, we have to move someplace else. Basing closer to the locations makes more sense, even if our base camp won’t be as “luxurious.”

My one dive today was down a well, with a relatively dry bottom; there were a couple feet of water and then a pool on one side and a crack in the wall on the other. The pool didn’t go anywhere, but the crack led to a small cave. I explored it with reel. It became silty quickly, probably from my bubbles hitting he ceiling. There were stalagmites, stalactites and one column. The entire thing pinched out relatively quickly.

Tomorrow we dive Canun.

February 13, 2007

We went into the well in separate teams, as our team was second we had some time to kill. I interviewed Elmer, one of our guides. Norma translated and it was truly an honor. Elmer is 71 years old, does not speak any English and knows practically everyone in Yucatan it seems. He told me he considers us all friends and he is honored to be included in these expeditions. The fact is, Elmer is a remarkable asset to this team. Not only does he know so many people, he is actually related to many of them. During the past two expeditions, we have had dinner at Elmer’s home, where his wife makes the spectacular Lime Soup that we all love. Two of Elmer’s daughters joined us on one day of the expedition (we had vacancies in the van because a couple people stayed home ill).

During the surface time I also interviewed Enrique, who is an expert diver himself and works for the Mexican government in some archaeological capacity as I understand it. He says he believes these expeditions are critically important because they allow us to look at history that is otherwise forgotten. Enrique’s calm, pleasant exterior masks a strong, passionate commitment to archaeological research. He is a friend.

Even though we have made this dive before, it is an excellent way to end the expedition. We have had some success on this trip but this area is probably pretty much explored now. The Canun dive is mostly fun, but also allows for a bit more exploration of a fascinating archaeological site.

There are remains from at least 5 people in this well, possibly from Mayan rituals of some sort. The well itself is a relatively easy drop on rope and the cavern is beautiful. The debris pile is large and contains remnants from pots, buckets and other water gathering tools that have fallen in over the years. I dove with Norma and we recovered her weight belt she had lost on a previous dive.

Many photos of skulls, both human and animal, including the skeletal remains of someone I had not seen before.

After the dive we pack up and head to Playa.

That evening, dinner out, then some Tequila and beer. It is a chance for everyone to talk, de-brief and unwind. We stay at a small hotel called “Mom’s,’ next to the ProTec dive shop.

February 14^, 2007

Valentine’s Day and we are up and out to the airport early. The check in and security procedures were incredibly smooth this time, not like last year when we pretty much stopped traffic at the Cancun Airport for the better part of an hour.

Not everyone is on the same flight, so we say some goodbyes at the airport before boarding the plane. Of course, half of the team did not come this way in the end, they returned to other parts of Mexico or flew out of Merida Airport.

The flight back was uneventful, landing in Miami, getting the boxes and then we head our own ways; that is until the next time we come together to explore and discover.

Remember, if it was easy, everyone would do it.

Note: for much more on this and other expeditions, visit Advanced Diver Magazine