Kakantulix - Memories of Mayans

Twenty years ago I stood beside Haulover Creek, a beer in hand, reflecting upon the previous months. I felt healthier, stronger, and certainly wiser. I had just spent the last few months in the jungles of Belize living out my Indiana Jones fantasies. The feelings on returning to civilization slowly crept over and the bubble of our microclimate would soon be a memory.

I was working for Trekforce Expeditions, a UK charity specializing in challenging expeditions. The ethos was to encompass leadership and team development with an emphasis on sustainable and environmental projects. In total there were twenty-six of us on the "Fireburn" expedition. Two leaders a team of twenty British students, a nurse, a doctor and two soldiers from the Belizean Defense Force. As ever on expedition, local guides were on hand to provide crucial knowledge and expertise in their home environment.

After a week of jungle training, where the students were taught essential skills in shelter building, water purification, fire building, navigation and identifying the many hazards that could, and would be encountered we set off to the north of the country. The jungle can be a claustrophobic environment and the rigors and necessity for self-discipline, adhering to strict and confusing procedures are all part and parcel of not just surviving but thriving.

 
I loved this challenge - the heat, the humidity, and then the rainfall that would cool. I embraced  the clockwork descent of darkness and the rhythm of the nighttime orchestra. The crash of deadfall in the night would prompt a few screams in the early days, but as we attuned to the heartbeat of the jungle routines were established. The days were spent with duties of cooking, latrines, food preparation and then conducting our objective - the mapping of long-lost Mayan ruins.

We marked out a square mile of secondary jungle, aware that somewhere inside the green box that were signs of a lost civilization. We would not be the first there, but we would be the first to start mapping the site. It was going to be hard, hot, and exhausting work. Establishing baselines, taking compass bearings, and tagging every piece of Mayan history. Global Positioning Satellites gave us co-ordinates, and duly and painstakingly marked onto grid paper at the end of the day. Slowly a picture was building up as we slashed our machetes, stumbled through thorns, navigated through waist deep ponds. Mosquitoes buzzed and bit, snakes and spiders and a myriad of other creepy crawlies abound. Hydration was key, purified water with its chemical taste guzzled by the gallon. Our Belt Kit with essentials was always on us. Preparation, routine each day surviving was turning into thriving. Our team were mastering the nuances of life in the jungle, more importantly they were enjoying it.

The bonds between individuals are complex at the best of time, throw into the mix an environment that is as alien as landing on the surface of the moon. A necessity to maintain exacting standards of hygiene, we were washing hands way before it became Covid sexy! Honesty about bodily functions, emotions and morale were crucial. End of the day meetings to discuss all aspects of project and camp life were crucial. During the months in the jungle the maturity of the team increased. It was an incredible experience to be part of and witness. I learned lessons that would go on to serve me during my career in austere environments.  

Belize had other long-term effects upon me. I had one set of clothes that were permanently wet, another set of dry clothes for night. A hammock, sleeping bag, mosquito net, tarpaulin, jungle boots, a machete, a set of eating utensils, water bottle, a mug, compass, and my camera. Those were my possessions. To this day I am not materialistic, I find it hard to settle, I can manage hardship. I learned that my body could take more punishment than I realized. I also came to understand more of the direction I wanted my life to take. Fear not there will be more of the bodily ailments, life changing events and career decisions in a later post!

 
Back to the jungle.... As our mapping continued, we started to find more and more structures. Shit was getting exciting. The jungle slowly gave up its secrets. plazas, wide avenues all overgrown. Then what started as a steady incline a mound appeared. Centuries of leaf litter, decaying trees and soil covered what was not a natural hill. As we explored around the site a stack of uniformed limestone blocks appeared. We look at one another, smiles erupting across our faces, whoops of joy and disbelief. A Mayan Pyramid! A face carved out of rock stares down at us guarding a narrow passageway. Indiana Gill was in his element!

Laughter and excitement turned to trepidation as we considered squeezing throw the entrance way. Thick spiderwebs swept away, headtorches lit and we crawled through. And then abruptly stopped. The years had not been kind, the entranceway blocked with soil and rubble. We were not going any further.

Hiram Bingham III went down in the annals of exploration for "discovering" Machu Picchu back in 1911. Sadly, for us, we were not the first to reach the Temple at Kakantulix. We found shattered pottery indicating that whatever treasures had been there had been looted long ago. However, it was an incredible feeling, knowing that we had rediscovered parts of a long-lost civilization. It is humbling to sit amongst structures that have existed for over a millennium, it is hard not to sit and wonder what happened to this magnificent civilization.

Our time in the wilderness was coming quickly to an end, representatives from the Institute of Archaeology (NICH) Belize, and a crew from Channel 5 news arrived. We presented our hand drawn map and said our farewells. Hammocks dismantled, equipment stowed, and the journey home began.

The jungle will prevail, funding for archaeological digs limited and the potential for a sustainable tourism project are on hold. However, the legacy of that expedition is not just about the map orthe adventure it is more far deeper than that.

Twenty years on, that young group of students fresh faced and embarking upon their adult lives stayed in touch with one another. A reunion organized, the Fireburn crew reunited, and memories shared. I was privileged to speak to them and see them on video from a noisy 5th Avenue in New York. Their smiles and faces as I remembered them, still as youthful as ever. 

The jungle had brought them together and it remains within them.

DG NYC March 2024