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From Belize to Thailand via Spain and Vietnam: the meaning, mystery – and peril – people have found in caves.

Richard ‘Harry’ Harris is a medic, anaesthetist and experienced cave diver. When he read about the 12 Thai boys and their soccer coach trapped in the Tham Luang cave system in Thailand in 2018, he knew he was uniquely placed to help. When he arrived at the scene, he was given the unimaginable responsibility of anaesthetising the boys and their coach to swim them to safety. But as he told Outlook’s Emily Webb in 2020, he felt it was a mission doomed to fail.

In April 2023, Beatriz Flamini, an extreme athlete from Spain, emerged from a cave 70m below the ground, where she'd spent over 500 days alone in the dark. This was part of an experiment to measure the effects of extreme isolation and time disorientation on mind and body. Beatriz had no time devices with her and, without natural light, had no way of knowing when a day began or ended. Surprisingly, she says the hardest part for her was the moment she was told that the time was up. She spoke to Andrea Kennedy in 2023.

When Belizean archaeologist Dr Jaime Awe entered a cave, now known as Actun Tunichil Muknal or ATM cave, he had no idea what to expect. As he descended deeper into the underground void, he realized it had been a sacred site for the ancient Mayan people who inhabited Belize a thousand years ago. He found pottery, grinding stones and made much more macabre discoveries. Throughout the caverns were the skeletal remains of 20 people, including 12 children, who he concluded had died as human sacrifices. His jaw-dropping discovery helped him begin to unravel a nagging archaeological mystery of the mysterious decline of the ancient Mayan civilisation.

Hidden in the jungles of central Vietnam lies a subterranean labyrinth that holds the world’s biggest cave, Son Doong. In 2014, the school teacher Huong Le was among some of the first Vietnamese people to visit. Awed by its spectacular beauty, when Huong heard about cable car plans that could destroy the cave, she knew she had to act. Huong spoke to Outlook in 2023.

Presenter: Saskia Collette
Producer: Zoe Gelber

Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com or WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707

(Photo: Cassette tape. Credit: Getty Images)