Join us this July to celebrate Machu Picchu's Centennial Celebrations. Photo by Adventure Life traveler, John Keller

To experience the once-in-a-lifetime celebrations this July, there’s still time to join our exclusive Machu Picchu 100th Anniversary Trip. Follow in Bingham’s footsteps with Adventure Life’s local guide, Marcos Palomino. In addition to Machu Picchu, we’ll visit Cusco, the Sacred Valley and Chinchero, a village known for its rich weaver heritage, handicraft market, and white-washed colonial church. The trip is topped off with a special ceremony with a local shaman.

Machu Picchu reopens April 1, after January downpours washed away access.

Access to Machu Picchu is very limited — the rail is the only practical way to the ruins, other than your own two feet on the Inca Trail. When downpours in January washed out portions of the railway, access to the ruins and the nearby town was virtually impossible. The open of the railway and Machu Picchu is celebrated by Peruvians and Peru travelers alike!

There are still portions of the rail that are not in operation. So travelers will use a combined method of train and vehicle transport.

Travelers will take a car or bus from Ollantaytambo to Piscaycucho (50 min.); then board the train at Piscaycucho to Machu Picchu Town and the ruins (70 min.). If things continue to go as scheduled, the entire rail is estimated to be running as usual within the next two to three weeks.

Machu Picchu and the Inca Trail are not only visually stunning, their history, cultural importance, architectural mastery, and spiritual significance have graduated this region into legendary status.

Views of the countryside from Caracol ruins in Belize

Ancient maya pottery in Belize's ATM cave

Tikal ruins rising out the jungle

Maya ruins at Xunantunich in Belize

Travel to breathtakingly beautiful Belize must include excursions to the awe-inspiring stone temples and palaces of the ancient Maya civilization. The architecture of this highly advanced civilization remains stunning, adding another spectacular facet to the beauty and culture of Belize. The Maya flourished in Belize from 250 to 900 AD, the Golden Age, during which this ancient civilization attained incredible artistic and architectural heights. The Mayan Kings or holy lords, played an ancient game of out do your neighbor, with rivals building majestic palaces and temples competing in grandeur with the lush green canopy of the Belize rainforest. Not to be out done, each lord filled his castle with intricate ceramic murals, sculptures, pottery and jewelry. Ancient history comes alive with a visit to these magnificent Maya ruins.

Caracol – Mayan true name -Three Hill Water
Situated in the highlands south of San Ignacio and accessible via road, Caracol is known as the supreme Maya city. This metropolis is one of the largest in the Maya world, thought to be the home of 150,000 people. Water was supplied by man-made reservoirs. Rising a spectacular 140 feet the most impressive pyramid, is the Canaa, which is the tallest ancient structure in all of Belize. Extensive excavation beginning in 1985 uncovered a round intricately carved altar stone which tells the story of a battle and ultimate victory over the powerful Tikal.

Lamanai -Ancient Mayan name, Submerged Crocodile
Definitely check out this ruin by a taking a spectacular boat ride up the New River. Approximately 70 structures have been excavated, although 700 have been mapped. The most striking structure is the “Temple of the Jaguar” which has two jaguar masks bordering the stone stairway. This ancient ruin is unique in that successive generations of Mayan people built progressively upon the previous structures rather than destroy and rebuild. The Mask Temple, which sports a thirteen foot stone mask of an ancient holy lord and the High Temple, which offers a stunning view from its peak are truly impressive. Also an added incentive, travel along the New River will encompass a bird sanctuary.

Xunantunich- Mayan translation, Stone Woman
Travel to this Mayan ruin can be an adventure. Beginning in San Ignacio take the Benque Viejo road to the tiny village of San Jose Succotz. Next a hand-cranked ferry will transport vehicles across the Mopan River. Then it’s one mile up hill to this incredible site. El Castillo is the largest pyramid on this site. It rises 130 feet and provides an amazing view of Belize and even Guatemala. Be sure to notice this pyramid’s intricate stucco frieze.

Actun Tunichil Muknal
Looking for even more of an adventure, consider visiting ATM, one of three caves accessible only by licensed guides who conduct single day or mullti-day stays. There is no vehicular access to this site so be prepared for a forty-five minute hike into the jungle. The cave can be found in the Tapir Mountain Nature Reserve and offers a wet welcome as the entrance is flooded with water. This archaeological site reveals skeletons, ceramics and stoneware. “The Crystal Maiden” is the most well known of the human remains. Natural processes of the cave make the bones of this teenage girl sparkle. Several of these types of skeletons can be seen in the main chamber. The trek through the caves will take 4-6 hours, so plan accordingly.

Tikal
Just across the boarder, Guatemala’s Tikal consists of 222 square miles of ancient Mayan ruins amid the lush tropical jungle. Many consider it one of the most impressive cultural reserves in the world. Five temples peek out of the forest canopy. The tallest is the “Temple of the Two Headed Snake.” The Grand Plaza is considered the most striking in all of Tikal. The plaza is surrounded by sculptured altars, stelae, ceremonial buildings, residential palaces and even a ball court. Tikal requires at least two full days to thoroughly explore; it is a jaw-dropping site.

Traveler and guide cross a river while hiking to Actun Tunichil Muknal

Ancient Maya pottery in the Actun Tunichil cave

One of nature's incredible formations in the ATM cave

Headlights on helmets light the way through the ATM cave to the Cathedral

Skull from one of the skeletons found in The Cathedral

By Elizabeth Coughlan
Our tour of the Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM) cave in Belize was a truly amazing experience, and not for the faint-hearted! Although you don’t have to be an experienced rock climber to explore the cave, you do need to be in good shape to cope with the ruggedness of the terrain. But we wouldn’t have missed it for anything!

The Actun Tunichil Muknal cave (Cave of the Stone Sepulcher) was, and is, a sacred place for the Mayas. They possibly thought that caves led to the underworld (Xibalba), and were places of sacrifice and religious ceremonies to the gods there. The site was excavated between 1996 and 2000 and about 200 pottery pieces and 14 skeletons were discovered. Many of these remain in the cave today, and excavation continue, making it a living museum.

The ATM cave is located in Belize’s 6,700-acre Tapir Mountain Nature Reserve, and due to its historical significance and fragility, only a few tour companies are licensed to take trips there. We were advised to wear shorts and T-shirts with socks and closed-toe shoes or boots and to take extra clothing to change into at the end of the tour. You’re going to get wet on this adventure. Swim suits are not necessary, but quick-dry clothing is recommended. It was also impressed upon us that, for our own safety, we had to comply with the guide’s instructions and keep with the group at all times.

We left San Ignacio at 8:30 a.m. and drove for about 45 minutes, until we arrived at the Tapir Mountain Nature Reserve. Once there, Carlos and Jaime, our guides, gave us helmets, dry bags and lunch packs in preparation for our trek through the jungle. Our trek took us over three lots of river, through knee-deep water and over slippery rocks, but it wasn’t really hard going. As we hiked, Jaime and Carlos told us about various plants on the way, accompanied by the all-too-human screeches of the howler monkeys. Apparently, there also tapir, jaguar, silky anteaters and white-tailed deer in the jungle, but, unsurprisingly, we didn’t see anything as we crashed about on the uneven ground. We did see lots of termites though, and some of our party even ate some, at Jaime’s prompting. Yuk!

After about an hour, we arrived at the encampment, in front of the entrance to the cave, where we ate lunch and divested ourselves of everything but our cameras and the clothes we were wearing. The hourglass-shaped entrance to the cave is filled with blue-green water, shimmering among the moss-covered rocks and lush jungle foliage. We divided into two groups and, helmets on and cameras in the dry bags, we ventured into the water and the darkness of the cave. After the heat of the jungle, it was refreshing, although rather eerie as only our headlamps lit our way ahead. Tiny fish nibbled at our legs and suddenly there was a great fluttering of wings as our shrieks disturbed the bats from their sleep; we were grateful for the helmets!

After the short swim, we climbed out onto dry land and clambered up over the rocks. Our headlamps flashed around the cave as we ducked and dove, picking out the stalactites and stalagmites and white flowstone hanging like drapes. For about 2 hours, we slithered in and out of water as we slowly progressed through the cave, until we reached a large dry cathedral-like cavern. Here, we had to take off our shoes and carry on in our socks to preserve the floor of the cave from damage by the oil in our skin and because, for the local people, this is still a sacred place.

This was the ancient place of sacrifice for the Mayas. Bits of broken pottery, dating back a thousand years, littered the floor. In the light from our headlamps, we glimpsed the occasional skull and the remains of 6 of the 14 skeletons already discovered by archaeologists. Jaime then led us up a rickety ladder to a separate cavern where the skeleton of the “Cristal Lady” lay, so-called because the dripping calcite has coated her bones. She is sprawled on the floor, with one leg akimbo, and is believed to have been about 16 to 19 years of age at her death. Hers is the only female skeleton – all the others are male. Archaeologists believe that she was sacrificed to Chac, a god of the underworld, to ask him for rain during a time of drought.

By this time, we were quite cold and tired and still had the return journey to do. There was no other way out, however, and the journey back I was grateful for the time to reflect. Everyone was quiet and thoughtful. We had seen something quite extraordinary. We finished our adventure exhausted and with a few acquired minor scrapes and bruises, but we had loved every minute. Would we do it again? In a heartbeat!