Indiana Jones was the theme of today´s adventure to find caves hidden among the mountainside. Since arriving to Orocuina, I have been enamored with the surrounding mountains into which Orocuina is tucked, but there has been one mountain in particular that has held my attention. Tall and majestic, this combination of tree covered hillside and sheer cliff faces constantly calls to me through the morning mist and glows in the sunsets during my bus trips back and forth to Choluteca each week. Early on, I learned that the mountain was home to many caves and even drawings thought to be left from ancient Mayan ancestors, making it all the more intriguing.
This morning I answered the mountain´s call with Miguel as a sort of send off adventure. We were accompanied by Nutrition health promoter Don Carlos and community member Luis. The 6am bus dropped us off at Carbonal, a town of ~60 and we made our way into town where we met up with Carlos and Luis and were told that conditions were a little rough due to the rains but that we would forge on... ¨conditions are rough?¨ (I thought, did not say.) Quite possibly the most difficult part of the trip was not the mountain itself but getting there. Before climbing, we had to cross a series of recently flooded fields. There happened to be volcanic rock ¨stepping stones¨ scattered throughout the field that we proceeded to ¨hop¨to cross the squishy lagoons. (I immediately laughed to myself imagining endless games of ¨hot lava¨ on the playground.) While Don Carlos practically ran the field, I found myself teetering rock to rock before the inevitable sploosh, I was in the lava. Thank God for water resistant boots!
This morning I answered the mountain´s call with Miguel as a sort of send off adventure. We were accompanied by Nutrition health promoter Don Carlos and community member Luis. The 6am bus dropped us off at Carbonal, a town of ~60 and we made our way into town where we met up with Carlos and Luis and were told that conditions were a little rough due to the rains but that we would forge on... ¨conditions are rough?¨ (I thought, did not say.) Quite possibly the most difficult part of the trip was not the mountain itself but getting there. Before climbing, we had to cross a series of recently flooded fields. There happened to be volcanic rock ¨stepping stones¨ scattered throughout the field that we proceeded to ¨hop¨to cross the squishy lagoons. (I immediately laughed to myself imagining endless games of ¨hot lava¨ on the playground.) While Don Carlos practically ran the field, I found myself teetering rock to rock before the inevitable sploosh, I was in the lava. Thank God for water resistant boots!
The first 1/2 hour of climbing was switchbacks through hillsides planted with corn, then into the forest we went. We quickly discovered that ¨a little rough¨meant that the path had not been taken since the beginning of the rainy season (May) and had grown over/been washed away... which could only mean one thing: we would cut our own path. The next two hours were straight out of an Indiana Jones movie with machetes drawn and swinging full force. Shrubs, vines, small trees and eight foot cactuses were no match for Luis, Carlos, and their machetes. Our forest adventures were broken up by brief scrambles across rock faces that opened to amazing views of the valleys below.
When we finally reached the cave, we rested in its cool, guano filled shade. The cave itself was approximately 25 meters deep and said to have once been inhabited by the devil himself, serving as a portal to the underworld... to which Luis said ¨but look, there are no tunnels, no doors, it doesn´t go anywhere.¨ Case closed.The walk back down was a slide to the finish with only two wipeouts and the hot lava game somehow seemed easier! At the end of our journey, we gave each of our companions a small token of thanks for taking a day off of make this trip a reality. We gave them each twice the amount they said that they earn daily. Each man received ~$7.50. We thanked them for an amazing adventure... I somehow think I´ll be back! :)
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