Discover the Cave of the Crystal Maiden

Trips Worldwide’s brand new 15-day Belize and Guatemala itinerary is designed for those of an adventurous spirit and an Indiana Jones’ persuasion, offering steamy virgin rainforest with its hidden cache of ancient Mayan ruins, refreshing highland waterfalls plunging into sparkling pools, a little underground exploration in the Cave of the Crystal Maiden, followed by a few days of extremely unadventurous luxury on a palm-fringed beach. Pack your hat, your whip and get cracking! Departures from London are available daily.

Fly to Belize City, via Miami, and hop aboard a road and boat transfer to Lamanai Lodge, a remote jungle lodge in the heart of Belize’s northern rainforest. A stay here includes two activities a day – choose from kayaking, a river safari, nature walks, jungle medicine trails and a visit to the Lamanai Mayan ruins. Transfer to Mountain Pine Ridge near the Guatemalan border, for a stay at Five Sisters Lodge, a quirky property full of character, perched on top of a gorge with spectacular views over the Five Sisters Falls.

Accommodation is in one of the cabanas dotted around the grounds, plus there’s an ingenious water-powered lift that transports guests to the bar at the foot of the gorge, so no Indy-style rope swinging necessary! Next, cross the border into Guatemala and head for La Lancha, a rainforest retreat on the shores of Lake Peten-Itza, with the magnificent Mayan site of Tikal close by.

Returning to Belize, don that floppy adventurer's hat and head off at dawn, crossing Menonite fields and streams, to swim into the cave of Actun Tunichil Muknal – the Cave of the Crystal Maiden. Spend four hours underground, wading through watercourses, climbing through caverns packed with Mayan artefacts, before arriving at the ‘stone sepulchre’, a tiny chamber concealing an entire female human skeleton coated in Calcite crystals – the Crystal Maiden, breathtaking and quite creepy.

Finally, ditch the satchel, hat and whip and pull on floral Bermuda shorts for a very un-Indy ending to two weeks of high adventure, at the fabulous Coppola beachfront hotel in Placencia.

The holiday costs from £2,695 p/p including flights, transfers, accommodation, some meals and activities as per itinerary.

For more information, visit Tripsworldwide.co.uk.