The ATM's
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Actun Tunichil Muknal Caves
A picture en route
Bear’s wish was to visit the ATM’s more properly known as Actun Tunichil Muknal (Cave of the Crystal Sepulchre), also known locally as “Xibalba” a cave system, near our base in San Ignacio. On our town bimble the captain saw "’the Del Boy of all Tour Operators’ and booked us for today. Off we went at eight with Patrick in a mini-bus all to ourselves. The first part of the drive was along the main road but after an hour and a stop to pick up our packed lunch it was an hour of “off piste”. Any rain overnight and we would have had to turn back but we managed to get through or round the worst of it, just.
Baby Teak and Mahogany, miles of it grow in the fertile soil
Tourism: The Belize Tourism Board in coordination with the Belize National Institute of Culture and History, Institute of Archaeology, has granted licenses to a small group of agents to conduct tours to this cave, in an attempt to balance its protection against tourist revenue. Patrick is one of thirty ‘official guides’ who attended a course and passed an exam. He knew enough to keep us interested but could have done with reading ‘around the subject’ to be able to answer our gazillion questions. We stopped at a check point where the Park Ranger checked us over and told us cameras were forbidden without a permit. In late May 2012, a French numpty dropped his camera and fractured a human skull estimated at over one thousand years old.
The entrance to the caves
In the car park we were issued with hard hats complete with lamps, put socks and Crocs on, left everything else aboard and set off for an hour and a half trek through the jungle. The path was very well maintained and we could set our own pace, quite quick for us. We paddled across three streams and arrived at base camp where Patrick left our lunch, checked our lamps and warned us to take it steady over the slippery rocks. The picture above and the next three are courtesy of Mayawalk Tours, don’t get me started about cameras, idiots and missing so many photo opportunities.............. We walked down a steep path and saw the entrance to the cave. A scramble over the rocks and my first cold swim of the day. Mmmm. I was brave. We emerged from our swim, rang ourselves out and entered the pitch black. The next hour or so saw us paddling, clambering and squeezing through narrow gaps, the funniest was having to turn our heads sideways, organise our necks through a tiny gap and the rest of our bodies in an S shape to get through a seemingly impossible rock ensemble. Plenty of giggling and arranging of breasticles and things but we did it. Finally out into this first massive chamber. Shoes off to preserve the walkway and on we went. Many twists and turns through narrows and many caverns until finally we climbed a ‘Mayan’ aluminium (clever that lot) ladder to the final and most important part of the day to see the Crystal Maiden. Patrick had revved his story all the way and was somewhat crestfallen when Bear argued the point that she was not positioned and died on the spot as she looked more swept down on flood waters and landed in position. End of tour. Scramble back, more giggling.
The cave is located in the Tapir Mountain Nature Reserve. The main cave system is about three miles long and consists of a long river passage for approximately two miles, which ends at an upstream sump. A series of upper prehistoric passages continues another mile past the sump through massive breakdown boulders and giant rooms. The cave can be exited through a tight squeeze ending in a giant sink hole collapse in the jungle. The cave's upper passage is located about a third of the way in from the lower entrance. Fourteen skeletal remains have been found and numerous examples of ancient Maya pottery remain. The cave periodically closes when rainfall causes the river's water level to rise and potentially flood parts of the cave.
There are several areas of skeletal remains in the main chamber. The best-known is "The Crystal Maiden", the skeleton of a teenage girl, possibly a sacrifice victim, whose bones have been calcified to a sparkling, crystallized appearance. The ceramics at the site are significant partly because they are marked with "kill holes", which indicates they were used for ceremonial purposes. Many of the Mayan artifacts and remains are completely calcified to the cave floor. One artifact named the “Monkey Pot” is one of just four found in Central America. The Mayans also modified cave formations here, in some instances to create altars for the offerings, in others to create silhouettes of faces and animals, or to project a shadow image into the cave. The cave is extensively decorated with cave formations in the upper passages. Animal life in the cave includes a large population of bats, large freshwater crabs, crayfish, catfish and other tropical fish. Large invertebrates like Amblypygi (first seen at Spanish School in Antigua) and various predatory spiders also inhabit the cave. Agouti and otters may also use the cave. These and many other species are quite common in river caves of this size in Belize. Other Mayan archaeological sites in the vicinity are Cahal Pech, Chaa Creek, El Pilar and Xunantunich. Actun Tunichil Muknal should not be confused with Actun Tun Kul in the Chiquibul Cave System.
Media: Ghost Hunters International season 3 episode 9 "The Crystal Maiden: Belize and France" evaluated the ghost stories behind the mysterious maiden.
The Crystal Maiden
We made a safe passage back to base and enjoyed a sit down with our picnic. Time to trot back through the jungle and back to the mini-bus. We got most of the way back to the main road before it bucketed down. Back at the lodge Bear declared it was time for a swim.
A very odd looking sky
Later we followed a local along the road to beer o’clock. Bear maintains the bottom inch is solid glass as the contents disappear far too quickly. We were serenaded on our short walk back by this little chap. Time for bed said Zebedee.
ALL IN ALL A VERY DIFFERENT DAY OUT CAVING FOR REAL AND FANTASTIC
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