We absolutely saved the best for the last during our week inland Belize. That’s Actun Tunichil Muknal Cave, or ATM Cave if you’re simply not up to pronouncing that complicated name. We were ever so grateful to all wake up feeling much better and ready to spend the next 7 hours exploring and eating.
Our van rolled up to Yellow Belly Backpacker Hostel a little before 8:00 where we met our two guides and the 4 other people that were joining us. Johanna from Cologne, Germany, Zach from LA now NYC, James, an English dude working in China, and a big girl also from the USA who’s name eludes me. All solo travelers, all very interesting. We were dressed to get wet, as that’s what the tour is halfway about. I wasn’t 100% sure about these Yellow Belly guys. They were significantly cheaper than all the other tour groups, but we concluded it was because they drove old vehicles and gave us ugly life vests and un matching helmets to wear. The service and food were exceptional! So major shout out to Yellow Belly Backpackers and their decent rates. We may have looked like a motley crew compared to some of the other tour groups, but man we were having fun!
After bumping about 1/2hr down sub par roads we got to the ATM parking lot and took very little time gearing up and heading in. One of the tour guides had been doing tours there since the cave opened 20 or so years ago, so there was nothing he didn’t know. You start with a 20 minute hike through the jungle, almost immediately crossing a river that is waist or so deep. There was a rope strung across to hang onto as the rocks were slippery, but personally I found the rope a lot more slippery than the rocks. It was disgusting. We chatted the whole way, getting to know each other and generally having a grand time. By the time we had crossed two more rivers and reached the cave entrance we were firm friends.
The cave entrance. Only one way in for us and that was through waters to swim in. No walking, even for the tallest of us. James was starting to tremble as he has quite a bug phobia and the guide had been talking about the cave spiders and crickets. He begged to not go last in line, so I offered to be his mom and bug protection. Only once did he madly clutch at me, then hide his face in sheer terror when we spotted a massive spider guarding her eggs. But he overcame and made it past. Otherwise my only job was to distract him with other things when people pointed out crawlies.
I don’t even know how to describe ATM. Google it. Read the reviews. It’s epic. A Mayan Archeological Site, it was once viewed as a portal to the underworld. During times of severe drought or unrest, priests would enter the cave to perform rituals or offer sacrifices, sometimes human, to their gods. According to the guides, the priests were usually high when they did this.
There is nothing easy about traversing the cave to reach the ritual sites. Rather it’s a technical scramble over rocks, through the water and into small cracks that look like they lead nowhere. There are rocks carved into shapes that when you shine your light on them scary demon shadows dance across the walls. It truly does feel like you’re slowly easing towards the underworld. Eventually we reached a place where we had to scale a small wall using a rope and we were up above the river in the Cathedral. A gorgeous large room with astonishing stalactites and stalagmites against the walls, making it look like an ancient Gothic Cathedral. It was also considered holy ground, so we all took off our shoes and proceeded on socks only. Heath’s toe socks caused a little stir. It was also where we started to see artifacts. Dozens of clay pots half buried and all shattered. Best guess is they shattered them as part of the ritual. There were dozens of “fire rings” each depicting one sacrifice. There was also a little pile of finger bones. A little further up was a scull and more bones. We had come to the place where humans were killed and left. A place that had once known terrible desperation. Weirdly, I couldn’t feel the ghosts, but you could see the six of us in our group were all trying to put ourselves in these people’s shoes. What kind of terrible fear caused them to sacrifice humans. And children. There were children’s bones there too. One skeleton was slumped against the wall. He had died with his hands tied behind his back, kneeling there. His skull had a hole in it. Not from torture, but from a tourist dropping his camera on him. Cameras are now banned. Silently, our sock feet making no noise, we walked among the wreckage. We gazed at clay jars, but mostly at bones. At the very end of the open path, we all sat down to look at the famous crystal maiden. The girl just lying there, right where she had died hundreds of years earlier. It’s shocking. Shocking to think that they were humans and we are humans so what does that say for us? That we aren’t much better.
The route out was through even skinnier places, with one so tight that you had to have your neck at just the right level to get through. I heard someone lamenting their fat neck, but nobody seemed to get stuck there so it must have worked.
We were in there at least 3 hours and came out with roaring appetites. Yes! Even us with our wobbly stomachs! Our guides had brought stew chicken, rice and beans, fried plantains and delicious potato salad. We guzzled red or purple soda and proceeded to feast. Such fun. I absolutely love that aspect of travel. Sharing good times with people you had never even heard of the day before. In fact, it’s one of the only reasons I love it. It’s certainly not the packing, living out of a suitcase, or stomach problems.
By the time we had thumped our way back out of the jungle and back to San Ignacio it was mid afternoon. The van needed to be returned to whoever Rob had rented it from in Spanish Lookout and we were all desperately hopeful that somehow our water problem would have disappeared while we were out partying. I mean it usually works that way?
But alas, it did not this time. We got home and still nothing. The plumber had come and gone and said he needed parts from Belize City and would fix it the next day. Okaaay. I mean, it felt like a germ zoo in the house, we all felt like germ incubators, we had a kitchen full of filthy dishes and all the bedding and towels and hopefully our clothes needed to be washed for the next week. We were leaving in the morning for Placencia where we would board a catamaran and spend the next week exploring Belizean waters.
Tempers among the women were touchy. The men who weren’t returning the van were either bird watching or slumped over still recovering, bless their hearts. Brooke started in on washing the floor with our beloved rain water while I figured out how to run the washer on manual fill mode. It actually worked just fine, tho it was a little tedious. By running a garden hose from the tank through the bedroom window and into the main room I could fill my buckets much more efficiently. Since it was gravity flow all I had to do was hoist the hose into the air and voila! It shut off. Of course I couldn’t hold it there indefinitely while the washer did its thing, but it made the 5 or so buckets we had to pour in each cycle much easier. Andy, sensing the general tension in the air said he was going for a ride on his motorcycle and we beseeched him to bring us some supper. Rob and Heath, the van returned, went out to shop plumbing supplies as they seemed to know of an easy fix that could be done that evening yet.
Feeling calmer with things cleaner and a working washer, we were thrilled when Andy came back loaded with delicious food from D’s Family Restaurant. Huge boxes filled with what he called Chicken Fajitas but seemed more like Chicken Quesadillas. Regardless, we sat on the back porch with its expansive view and playful geckos and forgave every misdemeanor Andy had ever committed. Hero of the day! Rob and Heath got back and after eating they got to work on the plumbing.
It feels absolutely wicked to saw into someone else’s beautiful plumbing. I do hope Marlin can find it in himself to forgive us. We moved into the garage and the sawing, fitting and gluing began. Some sat on chairs and offered encouragements, Rob manifested his favorite plumber and glued and pieced stuff together and I generally fetched and was helpful by using the leaf blower to give Rob fresh air in his tight little corner. Strong smelling stuff, that PVC glue. Follow me for more information on how to help plumbers. By now it was dark as pitch outside and the large spiders had come out of their hidey holes. Shiver me timbers. They are massive! But within the hour we had water, glorious water! All the guys did was add a piece of pipe with a couple valves so the pressure pump that assisted with water pressure in the house could be used to suck water up from the road if needed. The plumber was gonna put another pump in for that express purpose but this seemed easier since it’s not needed very often. Just when lots of people are using water and the float sticks up in the holding tank.
Showers commenced.
The next morning we trembled as the plumber examined our work and lo, it was good. He claimed he was impressed. Whew.
Andy left early for his home in Hopkins for the next week, and the rest of us laundered, cleaned and packed up. Forrest found a way into town to buy some fresh provisions to take with us on the boat and Heath went to try to get a SIM for his phone. That’s another story I won’t bore you with. But speaking of groceries, these grocery stores amaze me! They feel entirely foreign because they are entirely saunas. Like hot hot hot inside. No AC. Just a few fans. Lots of fridges to store anything that might possibly hate the heat like chocolate chips. It seemed like we ran into quite abit more off food than at home, like cookies, but there’s no way stuff could last very long in those temperatures.
By 10:00 we were all down at the road with our worldly goods and ready to board Williams shuttle that would take us to Placencia. William, a Dutch guy who had lived in Belize for 30 years and has never stopped talking since he arrived, helped us pack our things in and off we roared.
I don’t know how long the drive is, but I know that we took a beautiful route called the Hummingbird Highway and stopped for a quick dip at an inland blue hole of sort. It wasn’t super blue, but it was super refreshing. We also stopped for lunch at Bertha’s Tamales and were entertained by a six year old girl there who drew a picture of Caspian and it was actually recognizable.
Darling, isn’t he?! You will note that one ear is swollen thanks to a nasty bug bite received in the night, poor chap.
And finally we were near Placencia and could smell the sea. In this case it was not a good thing. The beach has been overrun by sargassum seaweed and as it hangs out it reeks. Like reeks of sulfur and bad gas. It must be a nightmare to live there. So much for beachfront property if you can’t even open your windows or step outside without gagging. The seaweed has come to visit before, but apparently this year it has stayed way longer than normal and people fear it will never leave. These fears were obvious as we observed all the For Sale signs along the road. Brooke and Avril counted 70 signs in the 14km stretch before we reached The Moorings where our Lagoon 434 sat waiting for us. By this point in the trip William had exhausted his political views and started in on the truly funny stories. He could mimic any voice and had us thoroughly entertained.
And so began boat life, with its provisioning, low key fights, briefing and route planning. Getting to know a new boat is always a learning curve and this one was no different. But that is for the next chapter.
PS again… all pictures of ATM are from google as obviously the average Joe can’t bring a camera in there. I don’t know the people in them, but huge credits to whoever they are.
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