An extreme sportswoman who lived in a cave for 509 days as part of a scientific experiment has revealed that she is still finding it difficult to adjust to the outside world one year on.
Beatriz Flamini, 51, began her challenge on November 20, 2021 – before the outbreak of the Russian-Ukraine war and the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
For one year, four months and 22 days, she had no contact with the outside world as she lived 230 feet below ground in a 39ft-high cavity in Granada, Spain.
And when she emerged on April 14, 2023, back to the real world – and the prospect of a hot shower – it wasn’t quite the feeling of rejoice she was expecting.
Speaking at The Explorers Club’s Global Exploration Summit (GLEX) in Portugal, Flamini revealed that she did not want to leave the cave and the ‘first six months after leaving were very unsettling.’
Beatriz Flamini, 51, began her cave-dwelling challenge in Granada, Spain, on November 20, 2021 – before the outbreak of the Russian-Ukraine war and the death of Queen Elizabeth II
For one year, four months and 22 days, Flamini had no contact with the outside world as she lived 230 feet below the ground in a 39ft-high cavity in Granada, Spain
As Flamini likes spending time alone generally, she says she did not find her cave-dwelling challenge daunting
Flamini explained in a video interview that, after being isolated for so long, she didn’t feel like she fit back into society.
Touching on how she feels about things now, the adventurer continued: ‘I’m still getting used to the outside world but I still feel like I don’t fit.
‘You get to know so much of yourself.
‘You’re your own company, nobody judges you, you do not judge yourself.’
As Flamini likes spending time alone generally, she says she did not find her cave-dwelling challenge daunting.
After getting into the underground dwelling, she quickly went about structuring her days with a vague routine.
Recalling her daily schedule in the darkness, she said: ‘You know, when I woke up, the first thing I used to do was eat breakfast.
‘Then, I would do my hygiene routine in a place in the cave where there was no light.
After getting into the underground dwelling, she quickly went about structuring her days with a vague routine
She explained in a video interview that, after being isolated for so long, she didn’t feel like she fit back into society
‘I would go down to leave my waste and then, out of necessity, I would knit, write, read, draw, [I] was just there, that’s what I would do. [I] tried to keep the cave clean.
‘Psychologically, to be inside the cave it was like nothing to me. It was very easy.
‘In fact, when they came to tell me I needed to come out, I didn’t want to leave. I didn’t want to.’
Flamini attended The Explorers Club’s Global Exploration Summit (GLEX) as a guest speaker and was described in the program as an ‘extreme athlete and mountaineer… known for her acts of self-isolation and self-sufficiency.’
Her caving pursuit was part of a project called Timecave that was designed to study how someone would fare going solo underground for so long.
Flamini used two cameras to document her experiences and placed the recordings at an exchange point in the cave.
Her teammates dropped off food and other necessities at the retrieval site and picked up whatever she left there.
With no sense of time, she said she stopped trying to count days after calculating she was down there some 60 days.
Her caving pursuit was part of a project called Timecave that was designed to study how someone would fare going solo underground for so long
With no sense of time, she said she stopped trying to count days after calculating she was down there some 60 days
A group of psychologists, researchers, speleologists and physical trainers with Timecave studied the recordings but did not have any direct contact with her.
They were studying the impact of social isolation and extreme temporary disorientation on people’s perception of time, the possible neuropsychological and cognitive changes humans undergo underground and the impact on circadian rhythms and sleep.
Speaking in footage provided by Timecave, during her time in the cave, she said of her environment: ‘Caves are quite secure places, but very hostile to the human being and the brain because you don’t see the light of day, you don’t know how time is passing, you don’t have neurological stimulation.
‘It’s not that the time passes more quickly or more slowly, simply that it doesn’t pass, because it’s always four in the morning.’
The elite sportswoman, who marked two birthdays while she was alone underground, is said by her support team to have broken a world record for longest time spent in a cave.
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