In Pursuit of the New, the Strange, and the Unexplored

The thing about caves is that they are absolutely not our natural habitat. They are not, in fact, the natural habitat of most species, save for a chosen few. Virtually every aspect of a cave feels designed to ward off humans – rocks stab from all angles hard and unforgiving, there is no sun or soil, the slippery ground throws unsuspecting explorers off their feet - off cliffs, into ravines or rapids. There is the ever present risk of a collapse, or a flood. The alien dark and cold atmosphere invites danger with every plodding, fumbling step. Is there anywhere that feels less like Earth than the inside of a cave? And yet we plunge inside, eager to experience a look behind the curtain at the world below.

We walk, climb, crawl, and swim through the passages of the Actun Tunichil Muknal cave, our headlamps illuminating the glittering walls as we turn to look at deep caverns and tiny passages. The true treasure of the trip is found when we encounter the cave's other inhabitants, a set of skeletons hundreds of years old, Mayans sacrificed to gods now nearly forgotten. As we file through a skinny passageway we see the remains of two little boys, their hands tied behind their backs. Further in is the Crystal Maiden. She lies splayed on the ground, her limbs flung out and her mouth open in a grimace, just a teenager when she was killed. The Maiden's postmortem fame derives from her calcified bones, which give her a subtle glitter, gem-like, when spotlighted by our headlamps. We stare in silence for a long moment before our guide hustles us along. We see forgotten pots, old tools, and drawings, sculptures, and altars carved into the stone walls.

Walking through the nearly untouched remains of the past makes it easy to imagine shadowy figures solemnly marching these passages, carrying torches to illuminate the still-present carvings showing the way. The Mayans believed this cave was connected to the underworld, some ethereal plane where the spirits of those little boys and girls still wander. Looking into the cool, unforgiving darkness it is easy to see why. While caves may be dangerous, alien places, human beings have always been drawn to them. We are pulled into their shadows - to breathe the air of the deepest, darkest places, to feel the pressure of tonnes of rock between us and the sky, or to be the newest set of footprints in a path seldom walked. In these places, often as untouched by time as they are by sunlight, there is a kind of otherworldly magic.