Today is Claudio’s 30th birthday.
San Ignacio is a pleasant little town and the real reason people come here is to explore the ATM caves. The Actun Tunichil Muknal cave system was only recently explored and documented. The best thing the archaeologists did here was preserve the artifacts and leave them in situ. Fourteen skeletons of varying states of preservation are dotted through the cave system. Our guide, Erin, a Belizean, turned up and made a phone call. At first, it sounded like English but then the Creole was chucked in. Creole is a bizarre mix of English and ….. It sounds so different. That different that Tan was laughing at the guy!!
We boarded our van, with a speaker / air-con set attached the roof on the back seat. No problems except that our torsos were too long and we didn’t fit into the seats. Tan got a little car sick mainly due to the 30 minutes of off roading and the cars serious lack of suspension. On arrival, a 45 minute trek through the jungle, once again with howler moneys in the distance making a racket and only three knee deep river crossings and we arrived at the mouth of the ATM Cave.
Our guide gave us an overview of the caves history, how it was found and what rules, as tourists, we were expected to follow once we entered the caves. Onto the entrance, our camera’s went into the guides dry bags. We donned helmets and headlamps as there is no lighting at all in the caves an immediately entered one of the deepest parts of the cave and had to swim (fully clothed and shoed – to stop being scratched as we would be climbing over sharp rocks) in. Out of the sunlight our headlights provided a guide of where we had to go. We climbed over and under rocks and through narrow passages and swam and walked through running water for around another 45 minutes. The formations including stalagmites and stalactites were beautiful. This cave remained fairly untouched as only two operators were allowed to bring tourists in and the rules were quite strict. We finally made it to the large dry chamber of the cave (where we were allowed to take some photos) and were requested to remove our shoes and wear socks so the natural oils in our feet did not touch the formations. 
Before us was littered with pots from Mayan Rituals and a number of skeletons. Very unique that in this instance the person who had found the cave was given the right to elect that none of the skeletons or ruins would be removed, dated and returned to the cave. So basically what we saw, was how the cave was discovered.
We toured through the dry chamber with our guide for around a further 90 minutes. At this point, we popped our shoes on and headed back into the water to climb back through the cave for a further 45 minutes back to sunlight. The experience was very unique.
We mosied our way back to town, and I didn’t have dry clothes, so I lay across the back seat (because I couldn’t sit up) in my undies. Hey, we are in Belize!
That night we hit town for Claudio’s birthday, his 30th. We all bought small presents and they were handed to him throughout the dinner. We had a mix of drinks, beer, pina coladas, and even a gin and tonic (which was pink in colour?). Silver balloons, a party hat and whistle were given to the party boy as well. 
The mix of presents included “the prawn”, a bottle of One Barrel (Belizean rum) which we all shared, a rasta hat, a turtle and a man bag. All of these related to significant parts of the trip and funny moments. The oreo cheesecake hit the spot and Claudio took great delight in counting the 30 candles on the cake.
We hit a bar close by, more beers and some dancing. Bendy, one of Team Denmark, took a shot of the girls dancing with their fellas on the wall. It was a very provocative style of dance.
Tan, Sara and Sandia all bailed at this stage, so the remainder of the group went up the hill to the Roomba Room. 
This place doubled with patrons as we arrived, so it was pretty quiet. We caught up with two Americans who wnet tubing with us and danced away. After quite a few beers, the tired group retreated back to the cabanas, arriving home at 3.30am. The walk was home was weird as fog had set in. We all think Claudio had a great 30th birthday.
San Ignacio is a pleasant little town and the real reason people come here is to explore the ATM caves. The Actun Tunichil Muknal cave system was only recently explored and documented. The best thing the archaeologists did here was preserve the artifacts and leave them in situ. Fourteen skeletons of varying states of preservation are dotted through the cave system. Our guide, Erin, a Belizean, turned up and made a phone call. At first, it sounded like English but then the Creole was chucked in. Creole is a bizarre mix of English and ….. It sounds so different. That different that Tan was laughing at the guy!!
We boarded our van, with a speaker / air-con set attached the roof on the back seat. No problems except that our torsos were too long and we didn’t fit into the seats. Tan got a little car sick mainly due to the 30 minutes of off roading and the cars serious lack of suspension. On arrival, a 45 minute trek through the jungle, once again with howler moneys in the distance making a racket and only three knee deep river crossings and we arrived at the mouth of the ATM Cave.
Our guide gave us an overview of the caves history, how it was found and what rules, as tourists, we were expected to follow once we entered the caves. Onto the entrance, our camera’s went into the guides dry bags. We donned helmets and headlamps as there is no lighting at all in the caves an immediately entered one of the deepest parts of the cave and had to swim (fully clothed and shoed – to stop being scratched as we would be climbing over sharp rocks) in. Out of the sunlight our headlights provided a guide of where we had to go. We climbed over and under rocks and through narrow passages and swam and walked through running water for around another 45 minutes. The formations including stalagmites and stalactites were beautiful. This cave remained fairly untouched as only two operators were allowed to bring tourists in and the rules were quite strict. We finally made it to the large dry chamber of the cave (where we were allowed to take some photos) and were requested to remove our shoes and wear socks so the natural oils in our feet did not touch the formations. Before us was littered with pots from Mayan Rituals and a number of skeletons. Very unique that in this instance the person who had found the cave was given the right to elect that none of the skeletons or ruins would be removed, dated and returned to the cave. So basically what we saw, was how the cave was discovered.We toured through the dry chamber with our guide for around a further 90 minutes. At this point, we popped our shoes on and headed back into the water to climb back through the cave for a further 45 minutes back to sunlight. The experience was very unique.We mosied our way back to town, and I didn’t have dry clothes, so I lay across the back seat (because I couldn’t sit up) in my undies. Hey, we are in Belize!That night we hit town for Claudio’s birthday, his 30th. We all bought small presents and they were handed to him throughout the dinner. We had a mix of drinks, beer, pina coladas, and even a gin and tonic (which was pink in colour?). Silver balloons, a party hat and whistle were given to the party boy as well. The mix of presents included “the prawn”, a bottle of One Barrel (Belizean rum) which we all shared, a rasta hat, a turtle and a man bag. All of these related to significant parts of the trip and funny moments. The oreo cheesecake hit the spot and Claudio took great delight in counting the 30 candles on the cake.We hit a bar close by, more beers and some dancing. Bendy, one of Team Denmark, took a shot of the girls dancing with their fellas on the wall. It was a very provocative style of dance.
Tan, Sara and Sandia all bailed at this stage, so the remainder of the group went up the hill to the Roomba Room. This place doubled with patrons as we arrived, so it was pretty quiet. We caught up with two Americans who wnet tubing with us and danced away. After quite a few beers, the tired group retreated back to the cabanas, arriving home at 3.30am. The walk was home was weird as fog had set in. We all think Claudio had a great 30th birthday.
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