Adventure Tuesday

This week's Adventure Tuesday had multiple adventures.

I got to go diving for only the second time this year. Darryl was taking a couple from the States to Crashboat and I got to tag along.

Then Elaine, Kelda and I went to the Guajataca Forest and to the Cave of the Wind. Finally, after four years, we made it to Bosque de Guajataca!

Like many journeys, the hike to the cave itself is part of the adventure. It's about a 40 minute hike up to the cave. The area is crisscrossed with trails. The map we got from the ranger station was a great help keeping us on the right path.

The trail is narrow and frequently rocky. As it winds upward, it crosses back and forth over what must be a ridge. First a vertical wall is on your left and a drop-off of a hundred feet or more is on your right. Then suddenly you realize they've switched: the drop-off is on the left and the wall is on the right. Then back again. And yet again. Bosque de Guajataca is a rain forest but this is the dry season here in Puerto Rico so the trails were dry. I suspect the trails can be pretty slippery and treacherous in the rainy season. The good news is even if you slipped off the trail, you could fall far because the trees grow tight against the trail.

On the trail we met another couple coming out. They asked if we were going to the cave and when we said "yes," asked if we had a flashlight "'cause you're going to need one!" When we said we didn't have a flashlight, they gave us theirs, one they borrowed from the ranger station.

As you near the cave, the trail starts a steep descent with a couple of cut backs. It ends on a platform at the cave entrance. A set of narrow creepy-looking narrow wooden stairs spirals down into the darkness. We all stood there a moment, not really sure of the wisdom of disappearing into the darkness, all three of us a little freaked out by it.

As we started down, we were really really happy to have that flashlight. Within just a few feet of the bottom of the stairs the circle of light from the cave opening was absorbed by the dark. It was pretty much impossible to see anything.

The light from the flash revealed a surprisingly large open cave that disappeared into the hillside to both the left and the right with fascinating, unexpected limestone structures underground. Creepy, but amazingly beautiful. I have no pictures from inside the cave: the flash on my little camera quit working. But we're already planning another adventure to the cave, this time with more lights and cameras. Now that we've been there once we probably won't be as freaked out by it. Probably.