DAY 9 – The main event of today, a visit to the ATM cave, exceeded my expectations. We left TEC around 8:00 am after a sad goodbye to Adrienne. She will be missed.

Nelson drove us skillfully down the bumpy gravel roads to Actun Tunichil Muknal (or ATM) Archaeological Reserve. The trail through the forest to the entrance of the cave started off strong: we all waded across water up to our necks, which left us refreshed for the hike ahead.

Along the path, our guide showed us the destruction that remained from a hurricane last August. He pointed out some debris about 12 feet off the ground where the water reached. We waded across more sections of the river, finally arriving at the cool, dark opening of the cave.

The cave is formed mostly from limestone, some dolomite, and has lots of calcite deposits. We walked/waded through various depths of (chilly) water, surrounded by beautiful rock formations. There were plenty of stalagmites, stalactites, and curtain formations to go around. I was shocked at how extensive the cave was; I could have walked around and explored all day.

Our guide told us a lot about the ancient Mayan people who had used the cave between 700 and 950 AD. Mayans believed caves were connected to the underworld, and so very few people actually entered the caves. Priests and their entourage would go into the cave to perform sacrifices, including blood-letting. The Mayan people would cut themselves with obsidian blades or sting ray barbs and drip their blood onto paper to be burned. In order to appease the gods, or to ask for their favor, various sacrificial acts would be performed. In some cases, human sacrifice was performed inside the caves. We saw remains from 5 bodies in the cave, the last of which has been dated back to 950 AD, right before the collapse of the Mayan civilization. Sacrifice was seen as an honor, and those who were sacrificed to the gods skipped the nine trials of the underworld and went straight to the upper world.

In the big, cavernous rooms of the underground cave, there was also lots of scattered ceramic pieces. There were boards for grinding corn and cacao, lots of vessels, and remnants of fire pits. It’s crazy that the artifacts survived for so long. According to our guides, they are most likely exactly as the Mayans left them.

I could go on and on about the cave, but I want this blog post to be brief and I also have bees to talk about!

As we emerged from the cave, it began to pour in the forest, which was really cool. We were already soaked from the cave water and river water, so more water couldn’t hurt us at all.

We ate lunch and drove to San Ignacio, where we walked around a little bit. Sarah and I found a bathroom (for free!) thanks to a nice waiter at a restaurant in the city. I also tried an apple banana, courtesy of Scott. It was a tiny little bugger, and really sweet.

Finally, the moment you’ve been waiting for, the bee. We drove from San Ignacio to Crystal Palace Eco-lodge where I saw my first confirmed sweat bee. There were three in total, walking around on the table. They are in the Halictini tribe, and are small and black all over.

We head into the rainforest tomorrow! Wish us luck!