We took a bus journey to San Ignacio, crossing the border into Belize. It was very strange after being in Spanish-speaking countries in South and Central America for seven weeks to suddenly being somewhere that the official language is English.
We went cave tubing, and Michelle plucked up courage.
The next day, Ronnie headed to visit the “ATM” cave (Actun Tunichil Muknal – not a cash machine). Although Michelle did really well in the cave tubing, it seemed that the ATM cave would be too much, involving going 500m into dark caves, squeezing through small spaces… and skeletons. Michelle instead took a cooking class. Judging from her giggling state when she got back, it seems the cooking class involved more Rum than food.
There was a lot of water in the cave, and you had to wade deep, and at some points to swim. You had to climb up and over rocks. In some narrow gaps you had to go sideways, lifting and turning your head to get it through the gaps in the rock.
Cameras are no longer allowed inside the cave after a tourist dropped a camera and broke one of the skulls. So the photos below were copied from the internet (credit Dan Park).
The ultimate sacrifice, furthest up into the cave is known as the Crystal maiden due to the fact that her bones appear to sparkle due to calcification.
The reason for the offerings and sacrifices inside the cave is because of a long, dry period due to climate change over 1,000 years ago. Although the Mayans were afraid to go underground, they were desperate to beg the gods for rain. The rain god Chaac was believed to live in Xibalba, the underworld, so the Mayans went searching for him in the cave to provide offerings and human sacrifices.
The ATM cave was as much as Ronnie was happy with given narrow gaps, climbing up and over rocks without equipment, and water. A unique, privileged, and amazing experience.
