An extreme athlete who lived in a cave for 509 days as part of a scientific experiment has revealed that, a year later, she is still finding it difficult to adapt to the outside world.
Beatriz Flamini, 51, began her challenge on November 20, 2021, before the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war and the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
For a year, four months and 22 days, he had no contact with the outside world while living 70 meters underground in an 11-meter-high cavity in Granada, Spain.
And when he emerged on April 14, 2023, back to the real world and the prospect of a hot shower, it wasn’t exactly the feeling of exhilaration he’d expected.
Speaking at The Explorers Club’s Global Exploration Summit (GLEX) In Portugal, Flamini revealed that he did not want to leave the cave and that “the first six months after he left were very disturbing.”
Beatriz Flamini, 51, began her cave living challenge in Granada, Spain, on November 20, 2021, before the outbreak of the war between Russia and Ukraine and the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
For one year, four months and 22 days, Flamini had no contact with the outside world while living 70 meters underground in an 11-meter-high cavity in Granada, Spain.
Since Flamini likes to spend time alone in general, she says she didn’t find the challenge of living in a cave daunting.
Flamini explained in a video interview that after being isolated for so long, she didn’t feel like she fit back into society.
Referring to 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 in.
‘You get to know a lot about yourself.
‘You are your own company, no one judges you, you don’t judge yourself.’
Since Flamini likes to spend time alone in general, she says she didn’t find the challenge of living in a cave daunting.
After entering the underground dwelling, he quickly began to structure his days with a vague routine.
Recalling his daily schedule in the dark, he said: ‘You know, when I woke up, the first thing I did was have breakfast.
‘So, I did my hygiene routine in a place in the cave where there was no light.
After entering the underground dwelling, he quickly began to structure his 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 went down to leave my waste and then, out of necessity, I knitted, wrote, read, drew, (I) was just there, that’s what I did. (I) tried to keep the cave clean.
‘Psychologically, being inside the cave was nothing for me. It was very easy.
‘In fact, when they came to tell me I had to leave, I didn’t want to leave. I did not want to do it.’
Flamini attended The Explorers Club’s Global Exploration Summit (GLEX) as a guest speaker and was described on the program as an “extreme athlete and mountaineer…known for her acts of self-isolation and self-sufficiency.”
His spelunking quest was part of a project called Timecave that was designed to study how someone would fare spending alone underground for so long.
Flamini used two cameras to document his experiences and placed the recordings at a sharing point in the cave.
Her teammates dropped off food and other needed items at the recovery site and picked up everything she left there.
With no sense of time, he said he stopped trying to count days after estimating he was there about 60 days.
His spelunking quest was part of a project called Timecave that was designed to study how someone would fare spending alone underground for so long.
With no notion of time, he said he stopped trying to count the days after calculating he had been there about 60 days.
A group of psychologists, researchers, speleologists and physical trainers from Timecave studied the recordings but did not have any direct contact with her.
They were studying the impact of social isolation and extreme temporal disorientation on people’s time perception, the possible neuropsychological and cognitive changes that humans experience underground, and the impact on circadian rhythms and sleep.
Speaking in footage provided by Timecave, during his stay in the cave, he said of his surroundings: “Caves are quite safe places, but very hostile to the human being and the brain because you don’t see daylight, you don’t know how it happens.” time, you don’t have neurological stimulation.
“It’s not that time passes faster or slower, it just doesn’t pass, because it’s always four in the morning.”
Her support team says the elite athlete, who turned two while alone underground, has broken a world record for the longest time she has spent in a cave.