The Journal of Theadore Strampler

Journal of Theadore Strampler 

April 25, 2020, 

We’ve been in lockdown for about a month now. My team had come down to Mexico to explore the Mayan temples. Because they’re national parks they were shut down along with everything else. Hopefully this trip won’t be in vain. We spent too much time and money setting up this expedition. Hopefully we can get some information soon and we won’t waste any more time. Who knows how long we’ll be down here with this lockdown. 

April 27, 2020 

I got news from my friend and college Jeremy that there is a rumored unexplored cave system nearby. It’s a local legend that these caves hold the secret of eternal life. The fountain of youth. The legend goes that the lake was accessible to everyone on the peninsula but then there was a cave-in hundreds of years ago sealing it off from the population. The legend of it has been passed down for generations. Jeremy found it a fascinating tale and wanted to share. It is quite interesting. Maybe we can do some more research and pivot our plans since we won’t be able to continue our work anytime soon. 

May 4, 2020 

After a week of intensive research, as a team we found where the caves of legend were. While we were doing our research, we began to gather supplies for if we decided to go on this expedition. If we wound up not actually going, we’d have a stock of non-perishable food so we wouldn’t have to go out into the Covid infected world for a little bit and could just keep to ourselves. But it looks promising, everyone seems to be on board. 

May 5, 2020 

We spent the rest of last night putting our finishing touches on a plan and all voted to go see if the legends are true. I mean what else is there to do for a team of four adventurers. Our plan is to leave on Friday. The journey should take about two weeks, if we can find a way in through the cave-in then we can hopefully find a path leading to the fabled fountain. I will continue to log the trip so that hopefully our discovery can be shared with the world. I will most likely not make another entry until Friday night so that we can make sure that all is ready. 

May 7, 2020 

One update before we head out. It was discussed what we would do if we found the fountain. I don’t know if I will take a drink or not. I guess it will be a decision in the moment. 

May 8, 2020 

We spent the day traveling. We took a car to get there from Merida where we had been staying. Our packs had all our food and spelunking gear as well as sleeping mats and bags. We didn’t really need the sleeping bags because the edge of the cave where we decided to spend the night was warm. From our view point we can see the lake at the bottom of the cave as well as where the cave-in happened. Hopefully mother nature has eroded some of the rocks over the years so that we can get past it and explore further. 

May 9, 2020 

It took longer than we had expected to get to the base of the cave by the lake. The only vantage point to get down was on the other side of the lake from where our access point was. The lake itself was a beautiful teal that reflected the sun overhead beautifully. Maybe when we come back through, we can take a dip. We’ll need it after going through the caves and getting covered in all the dirt. We unfortunately must wait until tomorrow to begin our excavation of the cave-in to access the tunnels that are believed to be behind them. 

May 10, 2020 

We spent the day carefully pulling rocks out and making a way in for ourselves. We made a small hole to start and confirmed that there was in fact a tunnel system behind all the rocks. We made the hole at the top so as not to cause a cave in on ourselves as we made our way through. It took us hours to make a hole big enough for us all to squeeze through and fit our packs through. We did have to unload the bags and pass everything though individually because the full packs weren't flexible enough to fit through full. The tunnels were a little low hanging but slightly crouching we were able to start adventuring through. Our watches are now the only way we will know when days have passed. When we get too tired, we will stop for the “evening”. Even though there is no sunlight in the tunnels. We were able to make it a bit into the tunnels before we had to begin using our crank powered lights. I guess it’s time to rest until we can start exploring again. 

May 11, 2020 

Today was a very long travel day. The number of turns we had to take was a bit of a surprise. We also had to stop a handful of times to squeeze through and pass packs through. The wet earth smell was something nice though. Something that was comforting. There was another smell that I couldn’t quite place. No one mentioned anything so I just ignored the smell. Still pitch dark both ways. Hopefully we will see the lake before we feel it. I miss hot food. It’s crazy how quick that desire comes on. 

May 16, 2020 

I didn't think there was really a reason to really make updates every night when all the updates would have been, we walked, we squeezed. The only thing out of the ordinary was the smell that I kept smelling that I couldn’t quite place. I finally learned what it was. We reached a literal light at the end of the tunnel and what it opened to was something we never would have expected. There was an entire village of people. All Young and fit. There was not a singular elderly person or child in sight. The first of the inhabitants to see us were shocked but then we were led to the central building that overlooked a smell lake in the center of the civilization. There was a strong language barrier. It seemed as if they spoke a type of old Spanish. Some words were able to be spoken between us. Pictures had to be used to supplement what could not be spoken. We were welcomed and given a place to stay. There was dinner for us that evening. A cornucopia of fruits that seemed to have come from this land, as well a bird meat from birds that flew overhead of the village. Did we find the real fountain of youth? 

May 17, 2020 

Woke up this morning and were given a tour around the village. We saw the irrigation systems that flow from the lake. A bountiful harvest of various fruits and vegetables. Some varieties that you wouldn't expect in this part of the world. But who are we to question the farmlands of an underground civilization. It is fascinating seeing a society of people who seem to be eternally young. As we went around the village, I seemingly gained confirmation that we did find the fountain of youth. 

May 24, 2020 

It’s been a week in this place. The food was nothing but amazing. But there seems to be something off. Where did the seeds for all this food not native to Mexico come from? The language barrier is shrinking as we have been able to match our modern Spanish more closely to the inhabitants ancient Spanish. I think now that we have developed a bit of a report, I’m going to ask them straight out if this is the fountain of youth. 

May 26, 2020 

After another day of gathering the trust of the locals I have decided to finally ask. Thats when I learned the truth. This was in fact the fountain of youth. Many of the people who live here were part of the original settlement that made their home here centuries ago. Over the centuries some have discovered this place and written about it. All their journals were destroyed in fire. I’ve been keeping this log on my laptop. So, they don't know that it's here. Tomorrow my team must drink from the lake and join or die and join all the others who have made their way here. I still don't know what I am going to choose when the time comes tomorrow but whatever it is, this will be my last entry. Hopefully it uploads. If someone does read this, explore the caves all you want. But if you come across this civilization, for your own good turn around and don’t look back.