The Day I Had To Challenge My Fear: The Crystal Cave in Belize

"Sure!" I said.

I had been inside of many caves before. As a kid, we travelled to the South of France every year for our family vacation. And we visited at least one cave or grotto almost every year.

I remember being at awe seeing these beautiful natural formations, all done by water through millions of years.

When we went on our Belize holiday beginning of this year, we had not done much research. So we asked our host Peter at the Sanpopo Cottage in San Ignacio what to visit.

He told us that one of the absolute must-sees in Belize was the ATM-cave. 

The what?

The 'ATM-cave', ATM being short for Actun Tunichil Muknal, a cave known for the numerous archaeological remnants of Maya sacrifices. The most famous skeleton discovered here is the 'crystal maiden', a young boy that has most likely been sacrificed and whose bones have been calcified, giving it a shiny, crystallised aspect.

A river flows through this cave which means the halls are quite easily accessible. The only really narrow part is the exit.

So we scheduled the tour inside of Belize's famous ATM-cave for the next morning.

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And then it rained

It started to rain in the evening. And it didn't stop until early in the morning.

So we got a message from Peter saying: "So sorry, guys! Due to the heavy rainfalls last night, the ATM cave is flooded and they closed it for the next few days".

Bummer!

But then he added: "Would you be up to do the same kind of tour in another one called the 'Crystal Cave'? It's slightly more physical than the ATM-cave but very beautiful as well."

Of course! Like I said: I had visited many caves during my childhood and the marvellous sights of stalactites and stalagmites, natural pools and shiny quartzite never cease to amaze me.

Meet Francisco

We were ready, fed and dressed, when our guide Francisco showed up at the AirBnB.

Francisco is a very kind local of Maya descendance who has been doing caving-activities in Belize ever since he was a little boy, going on cave explorations with his grandpa. At the same time, he is super interested in archaeology because said grandpa also participated in several excavations in the country.

After a quick temperature-check (Covid19-times), we got into the pick-up and drove off. It was still a bit dark outside.

On the way to the Crystal Cave, he explained some things about his home, a small village in a Maya community just outside of San Ignacio, the languages spoken there and caves in Belize in general.

Arriving at St Herman's Blue Hole National Park

St Herman's Blue Hole is a small National Park that covers about 500 acres and has an elaborate underground cave-system, a very rich fauna and flora and a river called Sibun that leads to the 'Blue Hole', a sinkhole with various freshwater pools.

We parked at the visitor's centre and registered before Francisco handed out our equipment.

Our equipment?

Yep.

We didn't research this activity beforehand because we were supposed to do the ATM-cave, remember?

And so we couldn't hide our surprised faces when we saw that he had a helmet and a headlamp for each of us. But he told us to not put them on right away, just carry them. We fixed them at our backpack and followed Francisco to the main entrance of the jungle.

Hiking through the Belizean jungle

Getting to the main entrance of the Crystal Cave involves a hike of about half an hour through dense jungle.

During this fun hike, we heard different kinds of birds (among which Belize's national symbol, the toucan), saw many very interesting insects and even a 'snake-eating snake' of which I can't remember the name.

I kid you not. That snake literally had a smaller snake in its mouth. It was a bit disgusting but so weird, we couldn't stop looking.

But we had to move on because - well - our main goal was the cave.

Into the unknown...

There it was: the entrance to Belize's Crystal Cave.

That wasn't exactly how I remembered cave entrances in the South of France to be.

For one: there was no infrastructure whatsoever. No door, no proper staircase, no handrail. Just this big ol' hole in the ground. And darkness down below.

I mean, I was used to the kind of cave where a little electric train would bring you inside. Just like we had at the Postojna Cave in Slovenia for example.

And it got worse: Francisco started explaining why we needed the headlamps. It was not an 'additional light source'. Nothing additional, no. It would be our only light source.

Oh well, I'm always up for a challenge. I mean, I constantly challenge my seasickness too, so why not tackle my claustrophobia this time?

I haven't always been claustrophobic. This only started after I had to undergo a mediastinoscopy to check a (ultimately benign) tumour that had grown on my trachea (read the full story here). It had left me with a feeling of suffocation and ever since, narrow spaces or anything that could prevent me from breathing properly scares the heck out of me.

In we go...

Putting the helmet on, bracing myself, trying to control my heart that had suddenly started racing, we commenced the descent into the abyss. 

Climbing down was already quite shaky as there was no handhold. And it was too dark down there to see where you might end up if you happened to slip.

We joined Francisco who waited below and took one last look towards the light of the day which we wouldn't see for the next five hours...

First minor panic-attack

Upon arriving at the first platform after the entrance, there was no light from outside anymore.

In order to demonstrate how incredibly important our headlights were - including lots of backup batteries! - Francisco asked us to turn them off.

Man! That was scary!! It's not like you are in a dark room with no windows. It's darker. The term 'pitch-black' suddenly had a whole other meaning than what I had known until then.

My heart started racing again and I deliberately closed my eyes because it just freaked me out to literally see nothing with my eyes open - not even my own hand when I held it in front of me. I was having my first panic-attack.

But I managed to stay calm-ish and we moved on.

Next hurdle: no space to move

Francisco showed us where and - most importantly - how to get to the first stop in our journey: through a very narrow crevasse that we had to climb down into. Not knowing if there would be any space behind or if we'd be stuck.

At least that's the impression I had. 

"Oh no.. no, no... Sebi, I can't do this... I'm having a panic-attack..." I was starting to hyperventilate this time.

Luckily, Sebi knows me so well, he knew what to do and say.

"See where Francisco goes? See his light beam through the gap? There's plenty of space behind. Trust me. Just breathe. Look at me while going in, I'll stay behind you."

So I went down. And indeed, there was plenty of space behind this wall. 

But that was also just the first of many, many other crevasses we had to slip through, let ourselves glide down or crawl in.

And there wasn't always a big hall behind! There were moments where it looked like the three of us were stuck, cramped inside a tiny chamber where you couldn't even lift your head up.

But we weren't stuck, of course. Francisco knew these caves by heart and how to tackle them.

Maya sacrifices

To the ancient Maya, these caves were sacred. In their belief, the rain god Chaak lived below the earth. 

But there was a time during the Maya era, about thousand years ago, where the rain stopped watering the fields, causing poor harvest and many problems. People got worried and they figured, they needed to please Chaak in order to better their situation.

They went looking for him inside of the numerous caves in Belize they already knew to bring their gods some gifts. It started with simple food sacrifices not that far from the entrance. But that didn't work. The rain failed to come back.

So they ventured deeper into the caves. And the sacrifices were intensified by adding animals.

Apparently this didn't work either because archaeologists found evidences of more sacrifices, even deeper in the caves. This time, there were people involved. Though it must be noted here that the Maya didn't fear death and that being sacrificed to the gods was a great honour. 

Sadly, even human sacrifices weren't enough. And when we arrived at the deepest level the Maya had reached, Francisco told us that this is where child sacrifices happened.

Going depper than the Maya ever went

The sad thing is, all these sacrifices were useless because the Maya just didn't realise that it was their behaviour that caused the droughts. By building their impressive cities all over Belize, they kept cutting down trees without thinking of planting new ones of course, not being aware of the consequences. 

Nowadays, we know how incredibly important trees are in terms of climate regulation.

At some point, the sacrifices stopped because the glorious Maya culture ended. But we went even deeper into the caves. 

Knowing that the Maya only had torches to light their way, I started to think about how many people must have gotten lost inside this dark place...

I was still wondering about that when Francisco announced that we had arrived at our lunch-spot.

Wait.. what? Totally forgot about food for a minute there.

Ever had lunch dozens of meters below the ground?

Us neither. Before coming to Belize. 

Francisco had packed delicious sandwiches, apples and juice boxes and we sat down on some rocks inside of this massive chamber - feeling so small, a bit freaked out by thinking what lied above us. 

What a cool experience!

Of course, we packed up everything nicely, leaving no traces behind.

Before we left this chamber, though, Francisco asked us to shut down our headlights ("Breathe... don't panic..."). And he took out a lighter he had brought. The moment he turned that on, I heard mystic music in my head: the walls around us started to sparkle like an enchanted fairy-world. So beautiful!

Entering wonderland

"Take off your shoes now", Francisco said. Uhmm, okay.

"We want to protect the stalagmites - and it's easier. Less slippery."

So we took off our shoes and followed Francisco into what he called Belize's Crystal Cave's 'Wonderland'.

And, oh my, wonderland it was! The beauty of these formations with different colourful shapes, ranging from huge pillars to seemingly floating drapes, over music-making columns to sparkling ice-like figures.

Again: I have seen many caves of the sort before but this one was still raw and natural - no spotlights, no stairs or balustrades interfering with these impressive sights. It was incredibly special.

Nature is unbelievably fascinating. Millions of years and little trickling water drops were necessary to build this gorgeous place. It amazes me every time thinking of how us humans are only guests for about a fraction of time on this planet.

The dangers of caves in Belize

Our eyes still filled with sparkles, we got back to where we had left our shoes to put them back on and begin the ascend towards the exit.

On the way up, I asked Francisco if he has ever been scared while inside these caves. And he told us: "Once, yes. A tourist forgot her phone at the lunch spot. And she only noticed it when we were already near the exit. So I went back down alone. When there is nobody else with you, your imagination goes crazy. At some point, you start to see and hear things that you know can't possibly be real. It was very strange. But I would still do it every time it's needed."

I must say, I was kind of relieved when we started to see daylight again. It also felt like the air was easier to breathe - while it's hardly noticeable, there is a tiny bit less oxygen when you are that far below the ground. Nothing to have you suffocate, no, but enough for me to get my head running crazy again...

Franciscos also casually mentioned that he has experienced occasional earthquakes while below ground. But he learned how to behave and what to watch out for when that happens.

Didn't help to keep my heart from racing again, seeing enormous rock boulders lying around that had broken off from the ceiling during such earthquakes...

Oh, and flash floods happen too. Though these are very predictable so it is highly unlikely that this ever happens when people are down there. 

Back to the jungle

Climbing up towards the exit was quite strenuous and the fear of slipping and gliding all the way down into a hole was very present.

But it all went well and half an hour later, we were back in the green jungle. The half hour hike back to the main entrance actually felt very light, after this proper workout we had in the cave.

Arriving at the car, Francisco told us that we could wash up at the water reservoir, if we wanted, before having our afternoon-snack. Yes, the snack was included too.

That's when we realised how much we actually had used our bums inside that cave - it showed on our clothes.

While we were trying to get rid of some of the dirt, Francisco went to the office to check if we could go to the Blue Hole close-by for a swim. 

Unfortunately, due to Covid19-restrictions, the access to the 'Blue Hole Pool' was prohibited.

So we just enjoyed our snack that included rum-punch (Belizeans love their rum-punch!) and headed back to San Ignacio.

Cave-tubing in Belize

While we didn't do it because we were quite tired from the Crystal Cave hike, we came across a few groups in swimming gear with big grey tubes on their backs, hiking towards the river. Cave tubing is a very popular activity in Belize in general and San Ignacio in particular.

So if you happen to book a Crystal Cave tour and it's not indicated, ask if there is a possibility to add cave-tubing. It looked like so much fun to do.

The Crystal Cave in Belize: bottom line

Am I allowed to say that I'm proud of myself? I think I am.

It's not always easy and I wouldn't be able to do it without my incredible boyfriend but I'm glad that I never refrain from trying anything. 

Challenging my fears is my thing. Be it my fear (or rather respect) of heights by scrambling on a dam wall in Western Austria, my seasickness by going diving in French Polynesia or a lack of oxygen in high altitudes in Cusco, Peru: I will try to beat my fears every single time.

The Crystal Cave in Belize was one of these daring moments. And I know now that even narrow spaces and potentially suffocating situations (I mean, realistically, I would never have suffocated but that's how it feels inside my head) aren't going to hold me back.

This particular Crystal Cave expedition with Francisco was one of our top highlights in Belize and we both developed a certain liking for caving experiences. This might be something we'll be on the lookout for in the future.

Have you ever done this kind of experience? Or some other, fear-tackling stuff? Feel free to comment or drop us a message!

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As ever

xx

Cyn

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