Cayo Scoop! The Ecology of Cayo Culture

Great review of a day at ATM with archaeology instructor Sherry Gibbs.

"This was hands down my favourite part of my entire trip. This was a completely unreal and amazing experience. I felt things that were beyond my imagination...  Sherry Gibbs was my favourite professor at Galen University as well; so hanging out with her for the day was awesome...  We hiked to Handprint Cave first, and that was really cool. It’s hard to imagine a giant skull looking out over the jungle. But that’s exactly what it looks like if you had the means to cut down all the overgrowth that covers it now. I thought the painted hands littering the cave walls were even more interesting. It really left an interesting mark on that specific ceremonial center. Mrs. Gibbs talked about so many different functions that may have gone on in that cave. She showed us where pots were found and she discussed how looters were still trying to carve the hand prints off."

ATM gets a great review.  The author really describes the journey and the magic of the cave, which is number 1 on National Geographic's Sacred Caves list.  

"When we began planning our trip to Belize last winter, Actun Tunichil Muknal (or ATM as everyone called it) was a name that appeared often in travel guides and in conversations with people who had been to that country before.  'If you can only do one thing while you're in Belize, this is the one you can't miss.'  At first I was intrigued by the challenge.  A cave.  A long hike just to get to the mouth.  A longer hike to the end where a centuries old intact skeleton lay.  A guide required and only a limited number of people allowed in a group."