Actun Tunichil Muknal and Caye Caulker

After I had seen the amazing ruins at Tikal I left Guatemala on a minibus bound for Melchor de Mencos at the Belize border (2h, Q25). Once I was through immigration I took a taxi (B$20) to San Ignacio where I booked a tour to the famous Actun Tunichil Muknal cave (better known as ATM cave) for the next day (US$75 at Mayawalk Tours).

Actun Tunichil Muknal

Actun Tunichil Muknal slept with its dark secrets for more than 1,100 years, until a small group of cavers rediscovered the portal deep in the Belize rain forest.
Maya Underworld by David Roberts, National Geographic, Nov 2004

Actun Tunichil Muknal (Cave of the Stone Sepulcher) was discovered as recent as 1992. The cave represents one of the most well-preserved examples of Mayan culture, featuring skeletal remains of human sacrifices and scores of Mayan pottery and other ceremonial objects. The cave was opened to the public in 2000, and the artefacts within are in the same position as they were when the cave was first explored by researchers.

Although the cave is relatively near to San Ignacio, it takes nearly two hours to get there. The hour-long bus drive on a bumpy road is followed by a 45 minute hike through the jungle.

The entrance to the cave is flooded with water so I had to swim across the entrance pool to get inside. For the next hour I walked and swam through cold water before I finally climbed to a shelf above the river and reached the dry part of the cave. Here, I had to take off my shoes and continue in socks to prevent doing any damage to the artefacts. I followed the guide and entered a massive chamber - with beautiful stalagmite and stalactite structures - which contains over half of all artefacts in the cave. In total, more than 1,000 have been catalogued within the cave, their condition from near intact to completely shattered.

The cave also contains human remains. In total, remains from 14 sacrificial victims have been found inside the cave. It is very likely that they were sacrificed in the hopes of appeasing the gods and bringing rain. The most famous skeleton is known as the Crystal Maiden, a young woman of about 20 years. With the passage of time she has been cemented to the floor in a layer of brown calcite.

The total time spent within the cave is between 3 and 4 hours. It is essential to bring good footwear and quick-dry clothing is also recommended. Helmets and lights as well as a dry bag for cameras are provided by the tour organiser.

After another night in San Ignacio I took the public bus to Belize City (2h, B$6) from where I continued to Caye Caulker on the next available water taxi (45min, B$15).

Caye Caulker

Caye Caulker is a small island that is popular with backpackers for its laid-back vibe. There are only three roads, all sandy: Front Street runs along the east coast, Back Street along the west coast, and Middle Street exactly where you'd expect it. Vehicles larger than golf carts almost never roam the streets and lodging is small scale and relatively inexpensive.

My main reason for the visit to Caye Caulker was to dive the famous Great Blue Hole. But first, I went snorkelling with Tsunami Adventures (B$75). The tour included stops at Hol Chan Marine Reserve and Shark and Ray Alley. I was quite impressed with the abundance of sea life which included numerous nurse sharks, a dozen stingrays and a turtle.

Once I was back on the island I confirmed my dives with Tsunami Adventures for the following day (3 dives, gear, food and drinks for B$350 including B$80 park fee). The next morning I was up early and went to the pier at 6:30 am where the dive boat was waiting. I had a coffee but soon regretted it, as the first of two hours of the boat journey was through rather choppy waters. After what seemed like an eternity, the boat entered the Lighthouse Reef , home of the Blue Hole, just before 9am.

The Great Blue Hole was formed several millions of years ago. At this time it was a dry cave and stalagmites and stalactites were formed. Today, these formations can be seen at more than 40m below the surface. This really does make for an eerie, almost surreal setting. The top edge of the Great Blue Hole is 300m across and is ringed by fringing coral. The base of this fringing reef gradually slopes to a depth of 15m where it suddenly drops into the Great Blue Hole. A sheer wall is the only reference during the descent. The maximum depth is a whopping 45m for a bottom time of 8 minutes only.

The next dive was at Half Moon Caye at a maximum depth of 15m. The colourful sponges and beautiful gorgonians were more than welcome after the dark waters of the Blue Hole. After the dive, we went ashore and had a hearty lunch on Half Moon Caye. On the way back to the mainland we did a third dive at The Aquarium, a dive site home to a huge number of schools of fish.

Tired but happy, I arrived back on Caye Caulker after a truly memorable day.

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Accommodation

• San Ignacio: Tropicool hostel (single room B$23): basic but clean, convenient location
  
• Caye Caulker: Tina's Backpacker Hostel (single room US$20): room is acceptable but the shared facilities aren't: there are not enough and they're not particularly clean. Better stay somewhere else
  

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