Human sacrifice at the ATM (January 10 2010)

We had seen day trips to ‘ATM’ advertised everywhere in Belize and people we’d met had said that we must do it whilst in San Ignacio. We were intrigued and so set about investigating what all the fuss was about. It turns out that ATM stands for Actun Tunichil Muknal and is a cave and sacrificial holy site of the 850 AD Mayan communities. Gill decided that it wasn’t for her, and so it was left up to Ant to go get the photos!
It was located about an hours drive SW of San Ignacio, the last seven miles being on rough unmade road, the minibus fording rivers and driving through orange plantations, the trees heavy with ripe fruit. The flat valley floor and the green mountain karst scenery behind reminded me of western Cuba.
We parked up and with instructions to leave anything we wanted to keep dry behind, off I walked in swim shorts and a t-shirt. The hike followed the river for about 45 minutes through thick jungle on an incredibly wet and muddy path. I really enjoyed seeing the marching leaf cutter ants and the lush trees, but I kept an eye out for boa constrictors and rattlesnakes though! Within a few minutes of leaving the van, it became clear why we had to leave dry clothes behind, the walk entailed wading through the Roaring Creek river three times on the way out and three times on the return walk. In parts the chilly river was chest deep and quite fast moving, which meant I had to take care underfoot.

It was a fun walk which I thoroughly enjoyed. The best was yet to come. I was issued with a bright red caving helmet and a light and asked to put my t-shirt in my helmet. The guide took my camera and we walked to a large arched cave entrance. We then had to swim 15 m across into the cave through the dark, jade coloured water that was flowing out. The water was surprisingly warm as was the air when we scrambled out the other side and with instructions to switch on our lights off we went, following Francisco our guide. It was fantastic. We were in the cave for over four hours, moving 1km inside and 200 m beneath the earths surface. I loved it and had never done anything like it before. For the next hour we walked and sometimes swam through the underground river, sometimes over and at other times under rock falls, through tiny gaps, past stalactites and mites and into impressive caverns, lit only by the torches on our helmets. Finally, we climbed high above the river to upper level caves, up a treacherous rock face, about three storeys high, no ropes, no lights, nothing – can’t imagine being allowed to do this anywhere else in the world without signing massive legal disclaimers.

At this point we had to take our shoes off (to protect the area), leaving socks on to avoid getting human oil onto the rocks, and could put my surprisingly dry t-shirt back on.

ATM was rediscovered in 1986 and dates from 600 – 900 AD. It has 200 broken ceramic vessels and 14 human skeletons. Almost all certainly human sacrifices. They are believed to be offerings to the rain god Chaac (the rain god who lived in the cave) in a time of drought in the second half of the 9th century AD. I wasn’t praying to him today but did keep an eye out for the sun god!

Everything was untouched, the pots broken over 1000 years ago, once the offerings were made, the skeletons left to calcify. The ‘main event’ was the completely calcified skeleton of an 18 year old girl lying prostrate. To reach this we had to climb a ladder and peer into a small area, where she was lying. Eerie but amazing. Just loved it. Then of course we had to make our way out again and follow our footsteps back to the cave entrance, with tired legs this part was probably the most treacherous, but got out unscathed.

It was a great adventure and one of the highlights of the trip so far.