With ancient sites scattered throughout the region, Belize is recognized as the centre of the Maya world. On Thursday we took a canoe tour through Barton Creek Cave, which was once a gathering place for human sacrifices, bloodletting rituals and fertility rites. Along the mile-long stretch, we marvelled at glittering stalactites and stalagmites, some boasting 50 feet in length, and at the eerie remains of an identifiable human skull, one of many scattered throughout the cave, or as the Maya call it “Xibalba” – the sacred underworld.