Extreme sportswoman who lived in a cave for 509 DAYS reveals how she is ‘still getting used to the outside world’ one year on
An extreme sportswoman who lived in a cave for 509 days as part of a scientific experiment has revealed she is still finding it difficult to adapt to the outside world a year later.
Beatriz Flamini, 51, started her challenge on November 20, 2021 – before the outbreak of the war between Russia and Ukraine and the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
She had no contact with the outside world for a year, four months and 22 days, as she lived 70 meters underground in a 10-metre high cavity in Granada, Spain.
And when she came out on April 14, 2023, back to the real world — and the prospect of a hot shower — it wasn’t quite the feeling of joy she expected.
Speaking at The Explorers Club Global Exploration Summit (GLEX) In Portugal, Flamini revealed that she did not want to leave the cave and that the ‘first six months after leaving were very disturbing.’
Beatriz Flamini, 51, started her cave-dwelling 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 a year, four months and 22 days, Flamini had no contact with the outside world while living 70 meters underground in a 10-meter high cavity in Granada, Spain.
Because Flamini generally enjoys spending time alone, 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 felt like she no longer fit into society.
As for 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 so much about yourself.
‘You are your own company, no one judges you, you don’t judge yourself.’
Because Flamini generally enjoys spending time alone, she says she didn’t find the challenge of living in a cave daunting.
After entering the underground home, she quickly structured her days with a vague routine.
Recalling her daily schedule in the dark, she said, “You know, when I woke up, the first thing I did was eat breakfast.
‘Then I would perform my hygiene routine in a place in the cave where there was no light.
After entering the underground home, she quickly structured 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 went downstairs to leave my rubbish and then, out of necessity, I knitted, wrote, read, drew, [I] was just there, that’s what I would do. [I] tried to keep the cave clean.
‘Psychologically speaking, being in the cave was nothing for me. It was very easy.
“When they came to tell me that I had to go outside, I didn’t really want to go. 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, which was designed to explore how someone would fare going underground solo for so long.
Flamini used two cameras to record her experiences and placed the recordings at an exchange point in the cave.
Her teammates dropped off food and other necessities at the pick-up location and picked up what she left there.
She said that because she had no sense of time, she stopped counting the days after she calculated that she had been down there for about 60 days.
Her caving pursuit was part of a project called Timecave, which was designed to explore how someone would fare going underground solo for so long.
Because she had no sense of time, she said she stopped counting the days after calculating she had been there for about 60 days
A group of psychologists, researchers, cavers and physical trainers from Timecave studied the recordings, but had no direct contact with her.
They investigated the impact of social isolation and extreme temporal disorientation on people’s perception of time, the possible neuropsychological and cognitive changes that people undergo underground and the impact on circadian rhythms and sleep.
In footage from Timecave, she said of her surroundings during her time in the cave: “Caves are quite safe places, but very hostile to humans and the brain, because you don’t see the light of day, you don’t see it.” I don’t know how time passes, you have no neurological stimulation.
“It’s not that time passes faster or slower, it’s just that it doesn’t pass because it’s always four in the morning.”
The elite sportswoman, who celebrated two birthdays while alone underground, is said to have broken a world record for the longest time spent in a cave, according to her support team.