Actun Tunichil Muknal Cave

Today we did something a bit different, we went caving in the Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM) Cave. (None of the photos are mine, as cameras are banned following accidents with the archeological site, but they are representative).

It was a 45 min hike (we saw a small Coral Snake) with three river crossings (up to shoulder depth) then we swam into the cave for about 500m before caving a further 1.5km in. At times it was wide open cathedral size caverns at others it was a very tight squeeze to get through.

As well as the stunning cave formations we saw fascinating archeological remains. Between 750 and 900 AD the Maya would visit the cave to leave offerings (pots of food initially) to the gods of the underworld. As the climate grew harsher and more crops failed this led to multiple human sacrifices being left (at least 18 in the cave) These have now been covered in calcium deposits as the water levels have changed over time.

Altogether we were in the cave for about 3 hours.Read more