After a short dip in the hotel’s cold pool, it was off for the first of today’s sightseeing sites – Camuy Caves. I think we may be closet troglodytes!These subterranean caves are here courtesy of the underground Camuy River, were carved out over one million years ago and now form the third largest cave system in the world.
Once we were hard-hatted, we were taken to the cave system on a Disney-like tram. This travels through some beautiful forest trails before descending about 200ft on a scale version of the Nailsworth ladder into the sinkhole that’s the entry to the parts of the cave system we’re allowed to visit. Currently only a small part is open—three sinkholes and two caves.
After the tram ride, it’s on foot for about an hour through the Cueva Clara and its neighbouring cavern. The caves are home to bats (thankfully asleep), a unique species of blind fish and some kind of spider. The incredible stalactites and mites are beautifully and artistically lit, but there’s no spiritual element like the feeling we experienced in the Caves of Diros or the caves near Karen. The sinkholes are awe-inspiring: eye achingly bright after the gloom of the caverns. We oohed and aahed at the height of the ceiling but didn’t appreciate how high it really was. Apparently there’s an optical illusion called the twilight effect which makes it look smaller than it is: Cueva Clara is about 170’ high, the height of a 15 storey building. To see the underground Camuy river rushing through, perhaps 100’ below, we had to lean over a vertiginous drop holding hard hat and glasses.
The kids were unimpressed after the first 15 minutes and perhaps the tour could have been shorter and perhaps we have visited enough caves for one lifetime...
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