Diving deeper into Belize's eco-tourism activities

The slight chill in the air gives me goosebumps as we wade waist-deep in an underground river, eyes wide as we take in the magnificent glittering stalactites and stalagmites. “You want to see without the light?” asks our guide, prompting nervous gasps among our ragtag group of amateur cavers. “Let’s turn our headlamps off,” he says and we dutifully obey until, click, the last light goes out.

I try desperately to see – to no avail. It’s pitch black, and all I can hear is the gentle burbling of the stream. I expect claustrophobia to hit, but instead a strong sense of peacefulness and calm washes over me, as if I’d been meditating all day and had not just, in fact, been hiking and scrambling over rocks for almost three hours. 

This must be the magical effect of the Actun Tunichil Muknal, better known as the ATM Cave, a vast geological wonder in Belize used by the ancient Maya people as a sacred burial site. Today it is a museum and houses Mayan artefacts and the skeletal remains of human sacrifices, including the Crystal Maiden, the most intact of them all. 

This mystical excursion may be on the more adventurous side, but those who dare will be rewarded with a unique, ethereal experience – a fitting introduction to small yet mighty Belize.