This is a post without pictures. But do not be dissuaded, this may be the most epic travel experience I've ever had. (Also the tour link below contains lots of pictures.)
Our journey took us from Caye Caulker to San Ignacio, a modest town close to the border of Guatemala. The town is a jumping point for three main things: a border run to Tikal National Park; adventure travel; more Mayan ruins.
Despite my love of travel, I'm a bit of an adventure chicken. But I let myself be peer pressured by both my tour group and the lovely staff of Maya Walk Tours into taking a caving adventure into the Actun Tunichil Muknal caves, lovingly abbreviated as the ATM caves. As their website will tell you, the caves have been deemed: the number 1 Sacred Cave destination in the world by National Geographic. Indeed.
Discovered by archaeologists in 1989, the caves were once home to the ancient Mayans. Evidence of burials, rituals and human sacrifices are everywhere and to this day, around 20 human skeletons still reside in the cave. Because of the ecosystem inside, these remains have been preserved to perfection. The cave's main chamber is home to the Crystal Maiden, the likely remains of a 17-year-old boy who was drugged (voluntarily or otherwise) before being sacrificed to the gods. We didn't know any of this until we were in the cave. Probably for the best.
The Journey
We were promised the adventure would be: easy (lies); not claustrophobic (also lies); epic (truth). The journey involved helmets with head torches, close-toed water shoes, mandatory life jackets and no cameras. In 2012 a tourist accidentally dropped his camera on a 1,000-year-old skull, fracturing this precious piece of history. And so, we left all personal effects at home.
And so, we set off by van, a roughly 1.5 hour drive to Tapir Mountain Nature Reserve, where our hike to the cave would begin. From there, we traipsed 45-minutes through the forest, fording three streams at knee, waist and chest height to make it to a small spring. We swam across and into the mouth of the cave and the ensuing darkness. Cue a 3-mile stream network that we traversed in the intimate glow of our head torches all the while scrambling over rocks, ducking underneath them and admiring the stalactites and stalagmites that formed from the condensation and darkness. The crawl spaces were narrow and at one point, we had to duck until a narrow rock formation underwater in our lifejackets. Beware if small, tight spaces are not your thing.
At the end of the three-miles a scramble and ladder takes you up 12-feet to 'the Cathedral', a chamber of sacrifices, home to the Crystal Maiden and numerous pieces of pottery, both intact and broken. This is where you get rid of your water shoes and pad around in socks, carefully exploring what archaeologists have carefully marked and measured. It was truly haunting and otherwordly.
Our tour guide was incredibly knowledgeable and wove his knowledge of Mayan culture with that of the archaeological finds as we sat in front of the site of sacrifice. In fact, all the guides have extensive training with the Belize tourism board who closely monitor the number of visitors per day.
And so, spooky stories told, we did the journey in reverse, somehow a bit more daunting given the scramble down the rocks. Our return was dotted with 'wildlife', both a bat and a giant spider of the dark graced us with their presence at crucial moments.
Our eventual return to the starting point saw lunch waiting for us, including pitchers of the iconic 'panti rippa', a boozy concoction of coconut rum and pineapple juice that was poured liberally. And so, we drank into lunch grateful to be out the other side of the cave and not left behind somewhere in one dark alcove or another.
And so, even without photographic evidence, my humble travel suggestion is that the ATM caves are not to be missed. If you're near Tikal and looking for an adventure, divert your trip for a couple of days. You won't be disappointed.
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