Sistema Actun Chen
By Christophe Le Maillot
Only the mosquitoes and ticks on these early April days seemed to enjoy
the 100-degree humidity. Bernd Birnbach and I wish we were as well adapted
to this environment.
A 45-minute hike through the damp, Yucatan jungle brings us to Cenote
Kop, the main entrance of Sistema Actun Chen (Cave Fount). It is located
7 kilometers south of Akumal on the property of Don Lorenzo Ancona and
his son.
The access is made difficult by the fact that all equipment must
be lowered 25 feet down through a narrow crevasse.
200-foot wide room
The initial 800 feet of cave was small and unstable. Visibility quickly turned to zero. Several restrictions were only navigable in side-mounting configuration, and hopes for larger passage kept us squeezing forward against the steady flow of water. Continuing northeast, the cave slightly widened but revealed few of the beautiful formations so abundant in other nearby systems. Several hundred feet further, the walls suddenly disappeared from sight, and we found ourselves in a 200-foot wide room. This room was later named "La Mancha".
The N-W side of the cave kept us busy exploring and surveying. It was not long before we had emptied the reel. We observed a 12-foot stalagtite hanging down from the ceiling. On the way back, Bernie and I decided to scout east. We struggled passing through several small and nasty areas. Ultimately, the team discovered another1,500 feet of cave passage.
Nightmare logistics
The exploration of Sistema Actun Chen started on April 7, 1998. To date, this cave has revealed 17,000 feet of passage. A halocline sits at 35 feet. The average depth is 38 feet with a maximum depth of 73 feet. So far, eight cenotes were discovered in Aktun Chen. The entrance to the cave is a 45 minutes hike from the main access road of Akumal.
2/9/00- Road access to Sistema Actun Chen has now been established and renewed exploration efforts are sure to reveal more secrets.