Angry Planet - 311 - Crystal Cave

僕が人生でやりたいことの一つに、メキシコのナイカ鉱山に行く、というのがあります。

皆さん、ナイカ鉱山をご存知でしょうか？

ナイカ鉱山は、別名「クエバ・デ・ロス・クリスタレス（結晶の洞窟）」と呼ばれ、
世界最大級11mにも成長したクリスタル達で埋め尽くされた洞窟なのです。

今回の動画や写真をググってもらえれば、その美しさに圧倒されると思います。

ナショナルジオグラフィックなどにも取り上げられています。

ですが、このクリスタルの洞窟は、2022年に保護のため水に沈むそうなので、何とかしてそれまでに管理会社の許可を取って入りたいと思っています。（しかし、今回の動画のGeorgeは許可を得るのに2年かかっており、ちょと絶望的...）

夜、癒しの音楽を聴きながらこの洞窟を観たくなったので、YoouTubeで検索したら、今回の動画を見つけました。普通によくできた面白い番組で、見入ってしまいました。

こんな感じで、皆さんも見入ってしまう動画を、ご自身で見つけてみてくださいね。

それでは今日もYouTube英語を楽しんでいきましょう！

00:05
my next destination is Mexico where an
00:08
incredible geological wonder lies deep
00:10
under the earth in a cave but this is no
00:14
ordinary hole in the ground this may be
00:18
the most bizarre and dangerous place on
00:21
the planet I've been to so far right now
00:24
if we were to stay in here we would
00:25
absolutely die we would die
00:28
[Music]
00:51
[Music]
01:06
I've explored many of the world's great
01:09
caves I've been inside giant ones
01:16
insanely small ones
01:20
Wet Ones and scary ones filled with bats
01:26
and potentially deadly viruses but in
01:33
chihuahua mexico 300 metres below the
01:35
earth's surface is a huge chamber that's
01:39
home to one of the most magnificent
01:40
geological discoveries of all time
01:44
these spectacular crystal formations
01:46
have been entombed in water in this cave
01:48
for hundreds of thousands of years
01:52
until its accidental discovery by miners
01:54
only a few years ago
01:57
this is the naica crystal cave I've
02:01
wanted to visit this cave for quite a
02:03
while but just preparing for this
02:07
expedition has proven to be a challenge
02:09
in itself
02:11
it has taken almost two years to get
02:14
permission to enter the cave the
02:16
crystals are delicate and the conditions
02:18
are so dangerous that only a small
02:21
number of explorers have gained access
02:23
to this site the reason it's so
02:27
dangerous is that directly below the
02:29
cave is a pocket of 2,000 degree molten
02:32
rock and it's because of this magma
02:36
chamber that the cave is sitting on that
02:38
the temperature inside is so incredibly
02:40
hot forty-five degrees Celsius with 95%
02:44
humidity the only way I can simulate
02:46
that before I go to the cave is to get
02:48
into the sauna and crank it right up
02:51
there are a few places on earth as hot
02:54
and humid as the cave will be and this
02:56
sauna is the best way to experience
02:59
these extreme conditions the idea is I
03:03
want to see how long I can physically
03:05
stay in this room and stand it because
03:07
it's gonna be horrible in the cave once
03:09
I'm there I will have a special chilling
03:11
suit that I'll be wearing but that'll
03:13
still only help a small amount it will
03:15
extend my workable time in the cave from
03:18
15 minutes to about 45 minutes if I were
03:22
to stay any longer I would probably lose
03:24
consciousness pass out and possibly die
03:27
[Music]
03:28
the longer I sit inside this cedar
03:31
furnace the more I realize what this
03:33
expedition is going to do to my body not
03:36
to mention our cameras and microphones
03:40
you
03:45
I want to push myself as hard as I can
03:48
today in here just to get myself
03:50
mentally prepared as well as physically
03:53
prepared for the actual rigors of being
03:55
indicated it's going to be probably the
03:58
most extreme thing that I've ever done
04:08
on my way to Mexico I make a stop in New
04:11
York City to scratch another item off my
04:16
bucket list
04:16
[Music]
04:24
this is the headquarters of the
04:26
Explorers Club which I am a member and I
04:28
have the incredible honor of being able
04:31
to carry one of their flags into the
04:32
cave time to pick it up
04:35
this unique organization has been
04:37
fostering exploration for over a hundred
04:39
years its illustrious members include
04:42
Robert Peary Sir Edmund Hillary and Neil
04:46
Armstrong
04:47
[Music]
04:48
[Applause]
04:51
[Music]
04:53
one of the long-standing traditions of
04:55
the club is assigning special flags to
04:58
be carried on significant expeditions
05:02
flags have been to both poles across the
05:05
Pacific with Thor Heyerdahl and to the
05:09
moon George on behalf of the Explorers
05:13
Club members the Board of Directors and
05:15
the flag and honors committee I'd like
05:17
to present you with flag number 74 to
05:20
take with you on the naica crystal cave
05:22
expedition good luck thank you so much
05:25
my pleasure and so armed with my
05:30
historic flag I head for Mexico I arrive
05:40
in the northern town of Chihuahua
05:42
traveling with fellow adventurer Nick
05:44
Halleck who will join me on this
05:46
incredible journey
05:48
well Nick and I have made it to Mexico
05:50
we've just touched down in Chihuahua and
05:52
we're gonna check in basically just get
05:54
a bit of an orientation safety briefing
05:56
that type of thing
05:57
and then rest up tonight because
05:58
tomorrow it's gonna be a really long day
06:04
you're gonna be exact
06:08
you know there's me for more than 50
06:13
degrees yes it's more than 50 yeah
06:16
I thought it was 45 45 yesterday was in
06:20
52 52 Wow fantastic I cannot wait I'm
06:28
just I'm on cloud nine I'm so excited
06:30
cuz I've been literally dreaming about
06:33
going to this exact spot for two years
06:36
now so I'm like a kid in a candy store
06:41
of course this candy store can kill you
06:48
you
06:53
after two years of planning I've
06:56
traveled 3,000 kilometers to northern
06:58
Mexico for a once-in-a-lifetime chance
07:00
to explore one of the most fascinating
07:02
and dangerous geological wonders of all
07:06
time it has been a long trek but I could
07:09
finally see my destination the town of
07:12
Mecca and I come out
07:16
[Music]
07:22
we arrive at the mine and meet up with
07:25
the team that will assist us on this
07:26
adventure
07:29
this mountain has been actively mined
07:32
for over a hundred years and the shafts
07:35
run for thousands of meters underground
07:37
[Music]
07:40
we begin with a rather claustrophobic
07:43
25-minute drive down to the staging area
07:46
[Music]
07:53
his Amazings Road is carved right into
07:55
the side of this mountain quite the trip
07:58
down that's for sure
07:59
the long dark winding tunnel with no end
08:05
this is one wild ride
08:20
called the antechamber then the area
08:22
before the way
08:24
the staging area we've got the cooling
08:26
packs here
08:28
got the freezers for storing the ice for
08:31
the suits
08:33
and then down here liquids for fresh
08:35
bins water you need to have a lot of
08:37
that down here Wow every step I taking
08:39
is hotter
08:41
equipment staging area here medical
08:44
station my area here for all my personal
08:46
year
08:48
and then that metal door is the cave
08:51
within minutes I can feel the energy
08:54
draining effects of the climate down
08:56
here and this is just the beginning just
08:59
to put things in perspective this is the
09:01
cool staging area and it is 41 degrees
09:05
with 54% humidity so it is only gonna
09:08
get much much worse
09:11
is it possible today to go in and get a
09:15
quick look
09:16
yes the plan is we want you to go to the
09:19
cave yes no suit just go in yes just to
09:22
feel they the real it exactly otherwise
09:25
you want understand how your body's
09:28
behaving in that sir I have a feeling
09:31
stream environment like that get a taste
09:33
of it go in and feel it and then realize
09:36
what the suit is doing exactly when
09:38
you're wearing it and appreciating how
09:40
much it's helping you the doctor
09:41
measures your pressure yes and measures
09:44
your oxygen but we want to be sure you
09:46
are not going to faint in the cables we
09:48
would take a lot of effort to bring you
09:50
out right so we need you to pump oh and
09:55
just to measure you your formula Lamoni
09:58
probably we're gonna be here around 8
10:01
hours
10:01
yes 9 there's gonna be a long day it's
10:04
not a long day in hours no more in the
10:07
conditions it's extreme exactly yeah so
10:10
this is not a normal workplace this is
10:12
one of the most extreme environments in
10:14
the world exactly very careful is the
10:16
combination of the Sahara Desert and
10:18
they are muscle Amazon jungle take a
10:20
sign
10:22
sit here before we can enter the cave
10:26
Nick and I must undergo medical testing
10:31
to ensure that we're fit enough to
10:33
withstand the stress that these extreme
10:35
conditions will put on our bodies
10:40
once the medical team okay's us it's
10:43
time to enter the cave
10:46
unprotected but nothing can prepare you
10:50
for what lies beyond this door that is
10:56
unreal
10:57
[Music]
11:00
you
11:04
I'm about to enter the forbidding
11:07
climate of the naica crystal cave in
11:10
Mexico it's so hot and humid inside that
11:13
our cameras immediately fog up entering
11:19
the cave unprotected
11:20
we'll start feeling the effects of
11:22
heatstroke within minutes
11:25
watch your footing it's very very uneven
11:29
it's over 50 degrees in here right now
11:32
with about 90% humidity the reason it's
11:37
so hot in this cave is that it lives on
11:39
a fault
11:39
and underneath that fault is a magma
11:42
chamber it's that hot magma that's
11:45
heating the groundwater and then heating
11:46
here with all those incredible humidity
11:48
I just want to get a feel for it right
11:51
now without the cooling suits so that we
11:54
can give it a real try later on but look
11:57
at these crystals my god
11:59
[Music]
12:02
these crystals are made of selenite
12:05
which is crystallized gypsum Jif is very
12:09
common mineral it's actually the same
12:12
thing that's in drywall the gyproc that
12:13
you have in your walls at home but these
12:16
crystals formed an extreme heat when the
12:19
chamber was filled with water the water
12:20
was well over 50 degrees and was very
12:23
stable for about half a million years
12:28
and those conditions are so incredibly
12:31
unique and so rare that we don't even
12:33
know if there's anything like this in
12:34
the world other than this place these
12:36
crystals weigh about well the big ones
12:39
weigh about 50 tons if not a bit more
12:40
each and there's a large crystals here
12:44
and then there's what I call these
12:46
shark's teeth these daggers of crystals
12:48
that are all over the walls and the
12:50
floor these is oppressive heat we're in
12:58
a furnace manner it's stifling what's
13:01
happening is your body is incapable of
13:04
shedding the heat that's in here so you
13:06
sweat but it doesn't evaporate your body
13:08
tries to radiate the heat but it can't
13:09
because the air is hotter than your skin
13:11
and so the heat just bill is up and your
13:13
cells basically die so right now if we
13:16
were to stay in here we would absolutely
13:17
eventually die we would die
13:19
how many minutes have we been in here
13:22
I think we need to start working our way
13:26
back slowly because it'll probably be
13:28
about 12 minutes by the time we get out
13:29
of here so that's pushing it too far
13:36
let's go you go Nick
13:44
that is it's unbelievable it's just hard
13:48
to imagine how hot it is in there and
13:49
when you scramble up those last few
13:51
steps it just takes it out of you the
13:54
entrance to the cave is one of the
13:55
highest points and that makes it one of
13:57
the hottest points so you're really got
13:59
blasted but you first go into first come
14:01
out it feels like walking into a blast
14:05
furnace a wall of heat hits you and you
14:08
start to feel the pressure and the heat
14:11
and you start to sweat instantly it's
14:14
like being in the most unbelievably
14:16
beautiful unbelievably dangerous sauna
14:18
you can imagine
14:19
[Music]
14:26
now that we have everything set for
14:28
tomorrow's extended exploration it's
14:30
time to go rest up tomorrow is going to
14:34
be a challenging day
14:35
[Music]
14:40
[Applause]
14:43
and the next morning it's back down the
14:45
narrow winding tunnel to the antechamber
14:48
[Music]
14:50
after our exploratory trip yesterday
14:52
Nick and I now know just how hot it's
14:55
going to be in there
14:57
so we really have to get ourselves
14:59
psyched for this day Nick you got
15:03
everything prepared you pretty much good
15:04
to go
15:09
the first task is to prepare the
15:11
specially designed cooling suits which
15:14
will enable us to safely stay in the
15:16
oppressive heat of the chamber up to
15:18
four times as long as yesterday's
15:20
unprotected entrance
15:25
the suits basically turn us into human
15:28
popsicles these ice filled suits help to
15:33
shield us from the outside heat while
15:35
also cooling our core body temperature
15:37
and providing us with chilled air to
15:39
breathe
15:41
but the suits effectiveness is limited
15:45
so we have to rely on our instincts and
15:47
our support team to keep us from
15:50
experiencing potentially fatal
15:51
heatstroke okay
15:57
first cave entry with the cooling suit
16:00
Manuel and his team will be monitoring
16:03
us closely only about 60 others have
16:08
ever explored this cave for good reason
16:11
beyond this door is one of the hottest
16:14
places on earth in which humans have
16:16
tried to survive
16:17
[Applause]
16:27
inside the crystal cave in naica mexico
16:28
the heat and humidity are almost
16:31
unbearable over 50 degrees Celsius hot
16:35
enough to kill a person in minutes we
16:38
wear special cooling suits to hopefully
16:41
keep us from developing fatal heatstroke
16:44
although I'm anxious to make the most of
16:46
my limited time in here the treacherous
16:49
terrain and bulky suits make getting
16:51
around a monumental task
16:53
[Music]
17:07
every step on the slippery shark's tooth
17:10
crystals has to be carefully calculated
17:15
one slip on this terrain could spell
17:18
disaster
17:22
what you're putting in
17:24
carrying an injured team member out of
17:26
the far reaches of this place would be
17:28
an almost impossible task
17:32
so we tread carefully over the half
17:34
million year-old crystal formations
17:36
[Music]
17:38
what makes the discovery of this
17:40
one-of-a-kind geological wonder even
17:42
more fascinating is that until the year
17:44
2000 this entire chamber was completely
17:48
underwater
17:50
[Music]
17:55
an interesting thing about the mine here
17:57
is that this cave is temporary
18:00
once the mine is no longer viable
18:02
they're going to turn off the pumps and
18:03
this whole cavern will flood yet again
18:06
just like it was five hundred thousand
18:07
years ago totally lost to human eyes
18:10
this may be my one chance to experience
18:14
this incredible place
18:26
so right now I'm sitting up on one of
18:28
the larger crystals and this is my view
18:32
totally unreal one of the curious
18:37
features of the cave is there are some
18:40
very big crystals that are broken and
18:42
call it on the floor here there's really
18:44
only one thing that could have caused it
18:46
and that's an ancient earthquake look at
18:49
this
18:49
this crystal probably weighs about 50
18:54
tons but yet it was snapped like it's a
18:56
piece of dry spaghetti I don't know when
18:59
it happened but I do know that this cave
19:01
does lie on a fault line so earthquakes
19:04
are certainly not unheard of here and
19:07
it's proof positive of that as we
19:10
struggle to explore as much of the cave
19:12
as possible we get the sign that our
19:15
time is almost up with little time or
19:23
energy left I find a good spot to
19:26
fulfill my duties to the club which I
19:28
proudly belong
19:29
[Music]
19:33
we are in honor of this exploration
19:36
proudly displaying the flag of the
19:39
Explorers Club here in the Crystal Cave
19:41
of Giants this Explorers Club flag has
19:47
an illustrious history it's been chased
19:50
by Nazis it's been to Greenland 12,000
19:52
feet below the surface of the ocean
19:54
it's been a long Amazon and now it's
19:57
been to the Crystal Cave
20:04
Thanks so weak we've stayed well beyond
20:08
what is considered a safe amount of time
20:10
and our cooling suits are beginning to
20:13
fail see where my footholds are our
20:20
Mexican support team is becoming concern
20:23
for our safety and warned us to get back
20:25
to the antechamber as quickly as
20:27
possible we just need to find the way
20:32
getting low on cool air we're heading
20:37
out now we have to go right now
20:43
[Music]
20:46
okay we're already over time we got to
20:48
get out of here
20:49
what time is up let's go
20:54
it takes every ounce of strength we have
20:57
to get back to the entrance
20:59
Oh even the sauna couldn't prepare me
21:02
for the brutal effects of prolonged
21:04
exposure to these conditions we finally
21:08
make it out and the relatively cool 41
21:11
degree antechamber is a welcome to leave
21:17
that last entry was supposed to be 15
21:20
minutes but it ended up being 23 which
21:23
doesn't sound like lots but when you're
21:26
counting down the survivability of a
21:29
place in minutes those few minutes make
21:31
a big difference percentage-wise time to
21:35
rest and rehydrate god that's hard this
21:41
cave is just so absolutely beautiful
21:43
it's such a treasure it's like being
21:45
inside a giant geode that normally a big
21:48
one you could hold in your hand this is
21:49
just so massive so unique and I consider
21:53
it such a privilege to be able to go
21:55
inside and experience it as harsh as it
22:00
might be
22:03
this is what I do I explore the extremes
22:05
and there's nothing more extreme in this
22:07
place
22:11
the inhospitable climate and the beauty
22:14
of this unique natural phenomenon made
22:17
the adventure to the Crystal Caves one
22:19
of my most memorable if such an
22:22
impressive sight can remain hidden from
22:24
us for so long and what other wonders
22:28
remained to be uncovered on this planet