Grutas!

Mexico’s Grutas (Caves) de Cacahuamilpa might not have the claim to fame of the Mammoth Caves in Kentucky (“the world’s most elongated,”) but they were far more awe-inspiring than what I remember seeing in Kentucky. A guide led Sheila and I and about 50 other people through a two and a half hour tour of the caves. Everything was lit up artificially, but in a tasteful way that artfully showed off the formations. Our guide pointed out various figures that the rocks resembled – crocodiles, dolphins, a witch, a gorilla covered in soap, an Aztec head and so forth. It was kind of like imagining shapes in underground clouds. The whole tour took us two kilometers into the caves and another two back out.

Afterward, Sheila and I explored the “botanical garden,” which was really a short, steep trail around a nearby mountain. We had thought about going back to Taxco, which is only about a half hour away. But by then it was already late afternoon so we wouldn’t have much time to see museums or shop. Instead, we decided to check out another, more “natural” two-hour cave tour that the national park offered.

These caves, named for Carlos Pacheco, who left his graffiti on a cave wall to mark that he’d explored them in 1870 something, had no artificial light at all. We went in with nothing more than the lighted hat on our guide’s head and a small flashlight. At times, we turned off all the lights and just listened to the silence or the soft dripping of water in the total blackness.

Although the Pacheco caves weren’t nearly as long as Cacahuamilpa, it took us almost as long to go through them because we had to hike a while to get there and then navigate through certain narrow or low passageways inside. That was also kind of fun, though. I felt like I was in an Indiana Jones movie. The best part was climbing through a tiny little tunnel in the ceiling. At first I thought the guide was joking when he pointed out the tunnel and told us we could go through it. It was literally in the ceiling, with no stairs or other visible way to get up there. But he wasn’t kidding. He gave us a boast up so that we could climb in. Once up, there was just enough room to turn around, stick my legs into the next section of the tunnel, and shimmy toward the end feet-first, laying flat on the ground because there was no way to sit up even a bit. At the end, I blindly edged my legs out until I felt the guide grab my feet and catch my jump down. It was quite an experience.

That dark spot in the ceiling above us is the tunnel we came through.

Also, a quick note to let you know that I’ve raided Sheila’s camera and added photos to my Tequisquitengo, Michuacan and School/Host family set on Flickr.