THE VALUE OF SMALL EXPEDITIONS TO REGIONAL CAVE RESEARCH: A RECONNAISSANCE TO THE CAYO DISTRICT

During a five week period, 19 caves were explored by a team of four cavers comprising the 1994 Mendip Caving Group (MCG) expedition to Belize. Six sizable caves were identified in the Cretaceous limestone, west of the Maya Mountains, and surveyed a total length of 2.5 km. Time spent in the field is broken down so as to show both the advantages and disadvantages of a small-scale expedition. Suggestions are made as to how future groups could benefit from the experiences of the expedition with regard to conducting significant research with a small team. The MCG expedition is compared to other larger expeditions, with the results showing that lightweight expeditions are more easily financed and organized than larg-er expeditions; however, they may not be suitable if detailed scientific studies are intended. Figure 1. Cool Spot Cave. There has over recent years been a trend toward smaller, lightweight expeditions in the caving world, with groups com-monly taking only the equipment they can carry on the aircraft, rather than shipping large quantities of equipment out in advance. This paper is intended to provide a detailed analysis of both a lightweight and large scale expedition in order t