Belize - Actun Tunichil Muknal

Belize - March 2002
Exploring Actun Tunichil Muknal -- "The Cave of the Crystal Sepulchre"
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The day's excursion begins in the town of San Ignacio.
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Arriving at the trailhead. The four wheel drive vehicles proved necessary to fight the heavy mud to get here.
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Occasionally our guides would stop to point out features of the jungle... including medicinal plants.
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A rubber tree. Nasty spines! Those little green blurs are bits of leaf being carried along by leaf-cutter ants.
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We eventually reached the staging grounds outside the cave. This cave system is essentially an active archeological site. It's closed to the general public, but this company has a permit to run guided tours.
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The entrance to the Mayan underworld...
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Our passage into the cave begins with a short swim. We follow the river for some time, negotiating rock falls, and wading through the water. Eventually, we stop to start a climb up into a branch of the cave system. (This is a view from above.)
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We take off our shoes, and then we come upon the first artifacts... All of these are the original Mayan artifacts. Everything has been left undisturbed.
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...as well as the remains of three human skeletons.
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This cave was also featured in the July/August 2001 issue of National Geographic Adventure magazine.

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