One of the coolest things we did on the trip was the ATM cave tour. In order to do it justice, instead of describing it myself here is an excerpt from Lonely Planet:
"The search for Chaac, the Mayan rain God, is not for the faint of heart. One of the most important Mayan Gods deserves an equally impressive abode. Around San Ignacio, Belize, ancient tribes believed they'd found that place. The journey takes you deep into the underbelly of the Earth. A place truly sacred, full of mysticism and cult traditions. Translated as "Cave of the Stone Sepulcher", the immense underground cave system is now know as Actun Tunichil Muknal (or A.T.M. for the tourists). ATM is a vastly long cave that ends up deep under the mountain rock, and in it have been found the most incredible remains of Mayan sacrifices. But here’s the thing: you don’t just walk into this cave. You have to swim.
After a jungle hike that involves sloshing through rivers and streams, and being shown all the incredible plant life around and being told what everything is used for, you swim into the cave, in trainers and helmet with a headlamp, and start the long wade/swim/hike into the darkness.
Only officially reported as late as 1989, and opened to the public less than adecade ago, the 3 mile cave system was an incredible find. While the 200+ ceramic vessels might not be much cause for elation, it's the cave 14 other inhabitants that are the big draw. The opening of the cave involves a bit of a sink-or-swim commitment to the exploration as a 14 foot pool waits to weed out the weak. And things don't get much easier. Most of the trek is spent in knee-waist deep water. No natural light permeates into the abyss, so the head lamp attached to your hard hat is the only source of light. Many of the passages are extremely narrow, so claustrophobes or "plus-sized" tourists should not endeavor to undertake the trip.
This is definitely not a walk in the park. You climb up wet and slippery rocks, wade up to your shoulders, squeeze yourself through tiny gaps – at one point we turned up the lamps and walked single file through the pitch blackness. And finally, after some brief climbing up vertical rock faces that have been helpfully eroded into hand and footholds, you end up in the first of the series of caverns that contain the Mayan offerings. Broken pots, all the better to release the spirits, are arranged artfully around. Nothing is properly roped off; the floor around it has been taped, but more to alert you to the treasures you’re about to stumble over than to properly stop you going near them. Further up, you wander through a gigantic cavern that one member of our group accurately observed would be “amazing for a rave”. And then, as far as the tour takes you but certainly not as far as the cave stretches, come the human sacrifices.
A massive chamber awaits. This is where the locals of yesteryearcame to pay homage to their deity. Shards of pottery litter the ground. It is here you first come in contact with the caves ghostly inhabitants. 14 individuals, some young, some old, some men, some women, have this cavern as their final resting place. Victims (some say volunteers) of ritualistic sacrifice in order to appease the God of Rain, Chaac. While a few are merely scattered bones or fragments there of, there is at least one fully intact skeleton. A complete and intact skeleton of a twenty-two year old woman lies positioned on the ground in a high chamber, the only sign of her death given away by the couple of crushed vertebrae of her spine. After ohhing and ahhhing for a bit, it's time to head back the same way you came in.
Needless to say it was an awesome experience! There were times that I wondered if we were going to contribute to the collection of skeletons in the cave :) Sorry Dad, I couldn't resist!
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| Tired but glad to be alive! |
