"Live the Cover!" Contest: Mexico

Great Travel Moment

Jumping into the cool water at the mouth of the cave was worth all the workouts of the previous months. We swam, crawled and scrambled our way through a maze of waterways and rock passages with hard hats and miner⿿s lights to a high rock ledge where we were now told to remove our shoes and climb to the top where the Mayan Ruins of Actun Tunichil Muknal lay. There we saw calcium-encrusted skulls and ceremonial ceramics left after human sacrifices dating back to the first millennium, just inches from our soggy socks. It was thrilling to be so close to these ruins without having to view them through a museum window. At one point our guide, one of only 18 licensed in all of Belize to guide the tours, had us turn off our headlamps. The absence of light was the most alone I⿿d ever felt.