Caving!

Last night the hostel volunteers went through our options for today's activities. I knew I wouldn't be attempting to summit or even hike too far up Cotopaxi on this trip because, aside from the fact that I don't have the appropriate gear, I learned after the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal last year that altitude needs to be respected and that it's not something I can expose myself to on a whim! So I was excited when caving/exploring was named as an option. There is a network of manmade caves about 45 minutes away from here. No one knows how old the caves are but local myth has it that the Incas built them. The caves were said to have low ceilings and bats.

 

After a fantastic sleep and a big breakfast, five of us guests, one hostel volunteer, and one local guide set off for the caves. We hiked through a large bull pasture but because of the terrain, we were able to see that the bulls were safely off in the distance. (While most of the bulls have been domesticated, about ten of them are very dangerous as they are used in bull fights and just the previous day, three people were chased by an aggressive bull.)

 

We had been told in advance that we would get wet during the hike but obviously we still hoped to stay as dry as possible. We descended into a canyon and faced our first stream to cross. I managed to leap across and land dryly on the other side. Not everyone made it and a few people ended up with one or two wet shoes. Our first stop was a waterfall where we all posed for photos. From there we continued on and soon encountered streams that were easily calf high. It suddenly seemed so silly to me that I had even attempted to keep dry! Before long the group was stomping through streams like kids in puddles.

 

It took about an hour of walking, crossing streams, and scrambling over rocks and boulders to reach the mouth of the cave. It was located near a waterfall where we left our backpacks. Taking only our headlamps and my waterproof camera, the seven of us climbed up a muddy wall and entered. After taking just a step or two inside, I was plunged into darkness, which not only told me this was an authentic cave but that my headlamp was no longer working. Uh-oh! I tried to stick close to the person in front of me so I could see where I was going. We were immediately crouching and waddling like ducks to avoid hitting our heads on the uneven ceiling. And after just a few minutes, the cave became so narrow we had to crawl on all fours! Since the caves are manmade, there are ventilation shafts periodically which let in light and fresh air. As the shafts are the only spot where you can stand up straight, we regathered at the first one and two of the group decided to turn back and wait for the rest of us at the waterfall. This photo was taken in one of the roomy ventilation chambers.

 

Five of us carried on and quickly met the bats we had been warned about. They swooped at our heads and flew past our faces! All I could do was keep my mouth shut tight (good thing, too, since the guy in front of me said he got a wing in the mouth!) and make myself as small as possible until they passed. This also meant we now had to be mindful of where we put our hands because where there are bats, there will be bat poop. It was impossible to avoid so we just accepted it.

 

Around this time we also hit water. It was deep and it was cold! At one point, the water was almost knee deep and the already low ceiling got even lower, forcing us to squat. I just barely managed to keep my butt dry, unlike some of the others.

 

The cave continued like this--ventilation shafts, water, bats, and low ceilings--for some time, all the while we were laughing and cracking jokes and trying to not inhale the bats!

 

I ended up right behind our guide, Omar, as we waded through the water. In one spot, the ceiling got low again, so Omar aimed his headlamp to see what was in front. He suddenly started yelling, "MUCHOS MURCIELAGOS! MUCHOS MURCIELAGOS!" in rapid fire Spanish as he turned around to retreat! Remember, I didn't have a headlamp so I was following him very closely and I was the only other person who spoke Spanish, so I had to shout, "Bats! Retreat!" to the others so Omar wouldn't trample me as the bats swarmed above! So far it had just been a few bats at a time but now we were swarmed! It was chaos and it was hilarious! There was a ventilation shaft nearby where we stopped to recover from laughing.

 

We took the nearest exit out of the cave and had to climb down some muddy, slippery ledges to get back to the waterfall where the rest of our party was waiting. They had gone for a swim under the waterfall while we were in the cave. We celebrated our adventure with a bit of cake(!) and started the hike back.

 

The sloping landscape which had let us see there were no bulls in the vicinity on the way there was suddenly working against us and we couldn't see uphill or around blind corners. The only way to be sure we wouldn't run into any killer bulls was to take a winding "path" through thick, overgrown, prickly shrubs. Ouch! I had several good scrapes and scratches by the time we emerged at the road and climbed into the tuck for the drive back to the hostel.

 

I had twigs in my hair, bloody scratches on my shins, bat poop on my raincoat, and a huge smile on my face.