Actun Tunichil Muknal

Last Sunday we had an amazing adventure at Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM). Morrie and Mary Dieleman recommended this trip to us and we are so glad they did. ATM is a Mayan site with pots and other artifacts and also human remains that they believe were sacrificial deaths. You get there over a very bumpy road, followed by a 1/2 hour hike through the jungle, with 3 shallow (knee-deep) river fords. When you get to the cave you need to swim into the entrance and then wade upriver ( with the water ranging from ankle-deep to neck-deep) in the cave for about an hour. Another 1/2 hour of strenuous clambering and even climbing finally get you up to the level where the artifacts and skeletons are. What an incredible sight--no barriers, you just wander (carefully!) among the objects. One skeleton was amost intact, another had evidence of the hands being tied behind her back. This was by far the most physically challenging thing I've done in a few years, but that just added to the uniqueness of this experience.