Skeletons, Underground River, Make Belize Caving Trip a Wild Time

"ATM" Cave an Adventure You Can't Forget

It's hard for me to pass a hole in the ground without strapping a light to my noggin and diving in.

But the Actun Tunichil Muknal Cave, known as the ATM Cave, would surpass all my other underground adventures. I've been in bigger, more scenic caves before. But I've never been in one that contained an underground river and the most incredibly graphic, gruesome vestiges of the Mayan culture. Nor one that made just getting there such an adventure.

The day started at the Maya Walk Tours headquarters in San Ignacio. The place was jammed with people milling around, getting their gear, meeting their guides, etc. It was a scene of total chaos. Finally, they tossed us all in an Isuzu Trooper and some weird Toyota I'd never seen in the states before (though the model is ubiquitous in Belize). We bounced along for close to an hour, first on decent paved roads and then into jungle roads that got more rutted, slimy and muddy as we drove. Meanwhile, there was a steady drizzle falling.

Our driver/guide, another guy named Emile, was telling scatological stories about people freaking out/needing to pee/getting the runs in the cave. One guy, who he claimed was a famous American football player, even filled his shorts up!

Anyway, we finally arrived at a clearing alongside a river. There were a few primitive stalls there made from thatched palms and stick (more on that later). Basically, we left all our gear but lunches, helmets and headlamps in the truck: Cameras would get soaked (Unfortunately, I have to rely on photos taken by others to tell my story) unless carried in the guide's plastic bag, and my Fuji S5200 was just too big. So it stayed behind.

We followed a slippery path down to the river, where we made the first of three traverses. It was flowing really fast, and was more than waist-deep but not very cold (equipment note: I highly recommend Vasque Gore-Tex boots. Seriously, I hopped in the stream and took 10 steps before I felt my feet get wet AT ALL!). We hiked for about 30 minutes before reaching another hut, where we left our lunches.

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