Although we are in Belize for a little over two weeks, we are teaching for 8 of those days, which brings our actual tourist time down to only about 8 days. It is obviously going to be very difficult to fit in all of the things we want to do in the short time that we have. Belize is a veritable cornucopia of fascinating and unique adventures. And you could spend two weeks alone visiting the Maya ruins here and still not see it all. So our precious three-day weekends are of the utmost importance.
We chose well on Saturday when we decided to go to Actun Tinichil Muknal, otherwise known as ATM. It was an extraordinary day which ended up eclipsing the Volcano Pacaya/flowing lava experience as the coolest thing I have ever done in my life! Yes folks. I did something COOLER than climb a volcano and see flowing lava. It is not going to sound cooler, but I will do my very best to communicate the sheer awesomeness of the adventure.
Our day started with an early-morning 7 am pickup, which on Belize time, actually means 7:30. We were a little worried because the four of us had already paid the full $300 US to go for the day, and were concerned that our new-found friend Jaime (prounounced ‘hi-me’) was out on the town with our three hundred bucks never to be seen again. But all was well; he showed up and after the usual standing around and organized confusion, a pit-stop to pick up our lunches, socks and Johnny cakes, we finally got on the road sometime after eight for our hour and-a-half drive to the Taipur Mountain Reserve.
In 1989, a Belizean archeologist made a massive and Earth-shaking discovery deep in the jungle when a series of caves was discovered holding hundreds and hundreds of Mayan artifacts which have since been carbon-dated back to approximately 1000 AD. What makes the ATM experience so Earth-shattering and jaw-dropping is that you can get a guide to take you right into the cave to see the artifacts, which include 14 dead bodies, some of them children (the result of Mayan ritual sacrifices) the crowning glory of which is a lady whom the cave is named after. The discovery has brought about many questions since it was believed until this discovery that women never went into the caves.
The Mayan Civilization existed between approx. 1000 BC- 800 AD. As we are learning, they were an extremely fierce and suspicious bunch. They never ever ventured into caves. They believed evil spirits dwelled there. Only the Shamans went into them, and the work they did in there was sacred and therefore secret work. All very shrouded in mystery. It really was all very Indiana Jones. I half expected a large stone booby trap to come chasing us down the cave.
One of the things that made our tour so special and so spectacular was Carlos, our guide, who is likely one of the best, most capable, and most knowledgeable guides I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. (And you know, I have been on a lotta tours!) Barefoot, and armed with his machete and his impressive knowledge of the jungle , he took us the 3 kms to the cave entrance where we left all of our belongings. He had a dry-pack which contained our cameras, candles, glow-sticks, powerful flashlights, a first aid kit, batteries and a panoply of materials necessary for worming around in the dark. The venture into the cave starts with a refreshing, brisk swim in the limestone lagoon. The cave is five kilometers deep.
So we begin our journey of well over a half hour squirming around many sharp & slippery edges, slithering through nooks and crannies and through varying water depths ranging from toes to nipples. We see calcite formations, a few which have undergone minor sculpting, purpose unknown, by the Maya. Stalactites and stalagmites abound and there is so much to see that you don’t even know where to look. The cave walls seem to be covered with diamonds. It stays a balmy 75 degrees in the cave. The water is refreshing. The further from the mouth of the cave you get, the darker it gets, evidently. But you are never scared. There is something so exhilarating and curious and hallowed about this place which just makes you want to press on. You can hear water trickling, voices echoing, profound silence, deep darkness. No night vision in here. You know there is a jackpot at the end of this rainbow.
Finally, you arrive. You ascend 2 or 3 metres to a shelf above the river. From this point forward you walk barefoot. No shoes are allowed; this is hallowed ground. It is pitch black, headlamps have been turned off. It is a silence which fills you with so much peace that you want to stay there forever. Carlos turns on his high-powered flashlight and you realize that you are in a MASSIVE dry chamber. Shivers up and down your spine.
Here Carlos tells us of Maya rituals and ceremonies. As you go forward you encounter increasing amounts of pottery of all sizes, their condition from near intact to completely shattered. Over 1400 artifacts - pottery, tools, and ceremonial items dating from 1 to 1000 AD - including over 200 vessels, have been catalogued within the cave. While over half of all the items appear in plain sight in small pools, they are also tucked away between stalagmites, on small, high shelves or other unusual places. And basically, what is so incredible about it is that you are just WALKING RIGHT BY ALL OF THESE ARTIFCATS! RIGHT THERE!!!!! And Carlos is saying “Watch that artifact by your left foot, please.” And one wrong move and you could destroy a piece of history that is 2,000 years old. Right there!!!! You could just bend over and pick up a pot and carry it around under you arm. It truly is a Living History Museum, remarkable, breath-taking, stunning. Really, there are no words that could possibly do it justice.
At the end of the cave, we have the unfortunate task of climbing a rather large and somewhat precarious ladder. Carlos sits us down and makes us turn out our headlamps. He asks each of us to describe and share our experience with the rest of the group. Then he turns on his high-powered beam to reveal a breathtaking scene: the skeletal remains of our friend, Actun Tinichil Muknal.
The experience has left me feeling eerie, dazed, privileged and awed in the true sense of the word. And incredibly guilty. There is no way in Hell these caves should be open to the public. Groups of tourists traipsing through caves in the dark, some of them of course being inconsiderate, artifacts dating back 1500 years being stepped on my careless tourists completely ignorant and ungrateful about what they are experiencing. It’s a travesty! Just our being there is affecting the historic integrity of the place, and it is practically an outrage that tourist dollars are winning out over historical integrity. And cameras are allowed in there!!! I’m sure that archeologists are rolling around in their graves.
Oh, it’s such a shame, and yet, I got to see it!
Oh, and also, I ate some termites. When in the jungle...
*If you want to learn more about the Maya culture, this month’s National Geographic has an excellent cover story about the Ruins. And watch Apocalypto. Carlos said, apart from being a touch too violent, it is spot on. Mel Gibson has done his homework, apparently.
What would you say? Cooler than lava, verdad?
UnBeleizable!!
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