The travel brief – party of four, somewhere we’d not been before, MUST include an adventure that pushes the boundaries. What stated with a random flick of the pages of a travel book, fortuitously landing open at Belize, quickly led to researching the ‘Must Do’s’ and finding the perfect experience to get our hearts pumping. The Actun Tunichil Muknal Cave! Located in the rainforest close to San Ignacio, this archeological wonder is a scared Maya site. To preserve the environment and it’s cultural heritage, there is a limit of only 125 visitors per day to ATM and you must be accompanied by a licensed guide. The tip? Book early! The ATM adventure began with a trek from base to the cave entrance. We thought this was relatively easy, until we turned the first corner and faced a chest deep river crossing. Or, for someone my height, it was time to swim! A couple of shallower river crossings and a pleasant, but humid, 45 minute walk later and we arrived at the entrance to ATM. We paused under the jungle canopy to soak up some daylight and use the ‘facilitrees’, before it was time to get wet again as the only way to enter ATM is to swim in. The journey deep into the cave was incredible. Wading through water, clambering over boulders and squeezing ourselves between impossibly small gaps, we navigated the dark labyrinth, spotting bat colonies overhead and praying nothing else was lurking in the shadows. After a kilometer or so, we came to a ‘ladder’ which was just a whole lot of rocks piled on top of each other. The ascent felt treacherous but what awaited us at the top was worth it. The sheer expanse of ‘The Cathedral’ was mind blowing and now in the dry cave, we marveled at the man-made water vessels and tools that provided a fascinating insight into the culture of the Mayas. So deep in the earth the temperature was cool, but that wasn’t what gave me goosebumps. ATM was used as a site for human sacrifices and that was something difficult to get my head around. Remnants of the Mayas offerings to the gods were visible throughout the main chamber with many skulls, mostly of children, emerging from the cavern floor. The most famous, and perhaps most confronting, was the thousand year old ‘Crystal Maiden’. While ‘she’ is actually a ‘he’, the calcification of the maiden’s almost perfectly preserved skeleton created a glistening and particularly eerie effect in our torchlight. Exiting ATM and swimming back out into the sunshine we were awestruck. However, no matter how remote it felt we knew we weren’t the first, or last tourists, who would visit this place and upon joining the other tour groups, it felt like maybe this ‘adventure’ was a bit too organised. Until it became total and utter chaos! An American woman grimaced in pain clutching an obvious broken ankle. Facing a 3km trek to medical assistance, another chapter to this adventure began. Jordan and our guide started running the hot and muggy track back to base to fetch the stretcher. Stopping only moments to catch their breath they turned back into the jungle, completing the river crossings with the stretcher overhead, swapping the load every few minutes, until Jordan arrived sweating, puffing and carrying this stretcher over his shoulder ‘Bay Watch style’. Meanwhile, Jenny, an emergency nurse, quickly started strapping the ankle. Nick found a place alongside the stretcher and prepared to lift. While myself and others loaded ourselves up with all of the caving gear. The earlier walk to ATM felt pleasant and full of anticipation, but this was now replaced with trepidation. The awkwardness of the stretcher, the heat, the roughness of the terrain. Those carrying had to stop every few metres. Defying exhaustion, the teamwork continued across the final deep river crossing as the stretcher was eased into a canoe and guided to the safety of the opposite bank. A three hour ordeal, only possible through the banding together of everyone at ATM that day. A stark reminder that anything can happen in the jungle and certainly a great story to relive over a well-deserved rum punch!