ACTUN TUNICHIL MUKNAL CAVE TOUR
(No cameras are allowed on the tour, the following pictures came from the web)
We met up with the tour at 7:15am and waited around for an hour before leaving. We had locked our pouchies and cameras in the lockers at the campground because cameras are not allowed in the cave because a tourist in 2012 dropped his camera on a human skull and shattered it. I felt naked without my pouchie and camera, i did not like leaving them behind. When we finally got going we traveled by van for an hour West retracing our bus ride to San Ignacio 2 days ago before turning South onto a dirt road which led us 7 miles through shanty neighborhoods, mahogany plantation planted in rows and huge cornfields carved out of the jungle towards a ridge of jungle covered hills in the distance that gradually came closer. Once we arrived at the sight we were broken up into groups of 8 and given lifejackets, helmets and headlamps.
We were assigned a guide named JamJam and led down a muddy path to the 1st river crossing which was wide and deep and had a rope strung across for us to pull ourselves across with if we so choose. There were lots of groups of 8 and we had to wait our turn to cross. Jakobi was the 1st one in and would maintain that position the whole tour. JamJam talked as we walked about the jungle, the trees and the cave we were about to explore. It was only re-discovered 30 years ago in 1986 and opened for tours in 1997. The name means Cave of the Holy Tomb and it is a sacred place for the Maya; a place the priests and the ruling class used to enter the underworld to petition the water god for rain and his wife the storm goddess for fertility. It was not a place the common people ever went and before entering one got high by chewing morning glory seeds and by placing a brew made from the sweat of a toad up the anus. We crossed the river knee high twice more before we came to the cave entrance which was shaped like a 30′ high hour glass and had a stream running out of it.
There were two other groups entering with us and together we floated into the ‘underworld’, into a pool inside the hill leaving the bright jungle behind. Once inside each group took a different path through a jumble of boulders and streams that filled the passage which was about as high and wide as a subway tunnel but which creviced and nooked upward for about 30 yards. We climbed over smooth boulders and through tight passages and up small falls, pausing to let other groups pass before we emerged ankle deep in the main passage. Jakobi was right up front the whole time scrambling with JamJam while I took up the rear so I could linger a bit longer and explore all the formations and .the hidden nooks and crannies with the beam of my headlamp. We are going in 900 meters and have just completed the most difficult 100 meters.
In 300 meters we will ascend out of the stream into the main chambers where we will see Mayan artifacts and human remains. Here at the 100m point there is above us an opening to the world above which JamJam explained was most likely the Mayan’s principle entry point as the scramble we had just completed would not have allowed the Mayans to bring in the offerings to their Gods.
From that point to the ascent we were in water the whole way sometimes passing through pools that were over our heads. I appreciated the life vests at these points because they allowed us to just float in wonder. JamJam pointed out various formations and the minerals that made them, he told us that the Mayans considered the stalactites that descended from the ceiling to be the roots of the Tree of Life and thus sacred. He set the scene for us thus: “Imagine you are a Mayan Priest, stoned out of your mind and advancing through here in torchlight (he had us tirn off our headlamps and then shook his flashlight to simulate the flickering of fire) and you are here in search of your gods, all these formations come alive and move and tremble. You are in the midsts of your Gods, imagine how awesome and sacred and experience this would be!” At 500m we climbed out of the stream upa big rock and onto a shelf where we removed our shoes but not our socks so the oil on our feet does not degrade what we are about to walk on. JamJam then led us into a large chamber, our path delineated by a red ribbon beyond which we are not to set foot. groups of 8 are scattered about the chamber, their headlamps like mini constellation in the space which is huge, listening to their guides who are explaining what they are seeing. JamJam had a laser pointer and he pointed out shards of pottery, vessels brought in filled with tributes of maize, avocado, and banana for the gods.
The pots were broken but not by the passage of time but by intent he explained, to release the spirit of the offering form the pot. We then saw our first human remain, a skull, encrusted with minerals deposits plus leg and arm bones, a sacrifice to the gods with a blunt hole in the back of the skull. Nearby were blood offering bowls, offerings of royal blood. The males took blood from their foreskins while the females ran a 9 bladed string through their tongues. All over the chamber were shards of pottery and a few intact vessels that only had a chip, called a kill hole in them. These were the blood offering vessels. In the next chamber we saw smoke deposits on the roof and stalagmites that had been carved into the profiles of their gods. Once again JamJam painted the scene using his flashlight to paint firelight on the walls and invoking a tableau of of stoned revelers, and drums and flutes bringing the chamber to life full of the power of the Gods. Occasionally we had to stand aside as groups that were ahead of us made their way back the way they had come. We climbed into an even larger chamber that had in its center a pillar from floor to ceiling. JamJam moved us to one side of the chamber and asked one of the girls with us to remove her helmet and had her stand next to a small stalagmite. We turned off our headlamps and he shined his light on her and the column and two nearly identical shadows of a female form appeared on the wall. This was another formation carved by the Mayans int the shape of a female god, another example of of how the Mayans brought this cave to life inhabiting it with their Gods. For our ascent to the final chamber we had to climb a 12′ aluminum ladder into a small chamber beyond which we were not permitted to go. Strung across the passage was a wire fence. As another group lingered there JamJam pointed out to us another skull on the floor up against the cave wall. It had a hole in the top of it and JamJam told us that this was the infamous skull upon which the camera was dropped initiating the ban on cameras on tours. And I have to agree with the ban. The tour must be treasured in our mind’s eye and would have been diminished with camera flashes going off all along our route, up ahead and behind.
When the group in front of us departed we moved up to the fence and peered beyond at the full skeleton that lay splayed on the floor before us. They don’t know much about this skeleton whether it is male or female, whether it was a sacrifice or a burial because to move it to examine it would crumble it into dust. The skeleton gives the cave its name and is a powerful sight as we imagine who it was and how it came to lay here to be viewed now day after day by thousands of tourists. We lingered for a bit and then it was time to make our way back to the upper world. We ran into a bit of a logjam of people as we descended the ladder and at the point where we paused to put our shoes back on. Our way out was much quicker than the way in but not as quick as some groups who entered the cave after us and now passed us on the way out. We paused to consider some green plants growing here in the darkness and learned the seed arrived in bat poop and that it is bacteria in the poop that nourishes the plant and gives it its green color. We found ourselves alone and I asked if we could all shut off our headlamps and sit in the dark for a moment. JamJam took us back through different routes where he could leading us into a narrow crack chest deep in water called the devil’s spine which we excited by a sharp right turn into an even narrower crack. Jakobi and Ambiana were in awe the whole time, often leading and Jakobi swimming like a frog whenever she could. We passed another crack and and peering in I could see another chamber and JamJam said I could go in and the whole group followed and to get out we had to climb out of the water and scramble over boulders following JamJam’s shouted instructions until we met up with him again. He then led us back to the entrance via the high water route they use during the rainy season which involved crawling up and over and down a narrow passage way and then we were back at the entrance. JamJam allowed us a few minutes to float again in the pool just inside the entrance soaking in and sealing the experience before we floated back out into the sunlight of the outer world and climbed out of the stream and back onto the muddy path. Three river crossings later we were back at the vans where we changed into dry clothes, scarfed up a yummy lunch and drank rum punch.
We got a group picture with JamJam and poached a few oranges form the grove nearby and then it started to rain as we scrambled into the van for the hour ride back to San Ignacio. Patti treated us to ice cream, Colleen when on a tortilla hunting adventure, the girls watched the TV and I lay in a hammock reading TC Boyle…Patti stayed for Chicken burrito dinner. the tortilla mission was a success!, and by 8pm we were thoroughly asleep after a truly astounding day!
