Out of the blue, there appears to be a non-zero chance that I might find myself in western Belize for a week or so this summer. There is an archeological dig funded by the National Geographic Society which involves researching the use of speleothems in Mayan rituals. The research will involve going into a number of caves and retrieving rock samples to analyze and compare to speleothems found at above-ground sites. The archeological team is already assembled, but they aren't cavers and wanted some real cavers with vertical rope experience to act as sherpas and guides.

I'm not sure how our grotto got involved, but we're sending down a handful of folks to train the archeologists. The team provides us with room & board if we buy our own plane tickets. If I can fit it in around a probable Russia trip and a possible Vienna trip, I'm so there.