Actun Tunichil Muknal (Cave of the Stone Sepulchre) dubbed by National
Geography as the top sacred cave to explore in the world; should be on your
bucket list! Your journey starts from San Ignacio in air-conditioned comfort
with a 45-minute drive until your arrival at the ranger outpost. Here, our
guides will provide you with a helmet, headlamp, and life jacket if needed.
When geared up, it’s now time to hike, wade and swim the sacrificial Mayan
underworld of the ATM. There’s 3 river crossing and a 30-minute hike, which
will bring you to an hourglass entrance. From here, the cave system spans
approximately 3 miles with stalactites, stalagmites, jarring boulders and fresh
water streams from ankle to waist deep.  

After an hour of spelunking, you’ll arrive at the
ceremonial area, and squeeze
through an orifice which opens up into a large football field cavern. Here
you’ll remove your shoes. Walking bare feet, deeper into the underground
surrender will unearth untainted Mayan history dating back 1-1000 AD. Pottery,
ranging from intact to completely shattered; tools, ceremonial items, and the
skeletal remains of 14 bodies on display, from finger bones to skulls, among
other skeletal remains, fused to the bare ground within a few feet steps. The cavern ends with the
main chamber where the calcified to sparkling crystalized remains of the
“Crystal Maiden” lays, believed to be the skeleton frame of a young woman who
was sacrificed in a bloodletting ceremony to the “gods”. It is here you’ll turn
around and retrace your steps to the cave’s entrance with only one question in
mind: How do they allow you to do this?