Spelunking

Look out below!

We had the opportunity this weekend to check out Talofofo Caves, a series of five caves of varying sizes. This is one of the more popular boonie stomps. It does not require trekking through sword grass under the hot sun.  The path from the road is fairly short and the entrance to the largest cave is easy to find right off the trail.  This cave opens to a drop-off of about 90 feet. A group of young spelunkers had a system of ropes set up and were rappelling down into the depths of the pit. When we peered in, they could hear our voices echoing, and they immediately began chanting, "Don't touch the ropes! Don't touch the ropes!"  We moved on to the next cave, although my oldest son really wanted to try the rope descent.  We had inconveniently failed to pack gloves, carabiners, and crash helmets.

The second cave had a large opening that shrank to a small passageway. On hands and knees we followed a slight breeze to a slit in the rock where you could crawl out onto an overlook.  Had it been a bit clearer and our eyes more eaglelike, maybe we could have seen all the way to the Philippines.

The best cave was the third.  It looked like just a small opening in the rock, but once you shimmied through the mouth, it opened up into a large room with lots of stalactites and a large column. We followed the intrepid 8 year old along a passageway that led to a rope-assisted climb and then down a slope where, in a tiny puddle of cave water, we found a land crab.  He fiercely defended his hole until we finally let him alone.

For a moment we turned out our flashlights and sat in a darkness too deep to discern even the faintest shadows. Our eyes never did adjust, although we waited quietly in darkness as long as the six year old would let us.

The four and fifth caves were shallower. We read that one was supposed to have a turtle pictoglyph, but we couldn't discern it.  One of the pleasures of this area is that you can still explore without being contained along a roped-off passage, as you are at some of the caves we've visited in America, but apparently time and freedom to touch have caused the drawing to erode away.  Or maybe we just didn't know where to look.

Interesting roots.

My pictures aren't very good because I took our little camera which has a focusing problem. Or maybe it's my skills that are lacking. But I don't think even the big camera could capture the fascinating formations of the open spaces and the passages, nor the adrenalin-rush inspired by the view after being confined in a tunnel.  The eight year old, who regularly is reprimanded for being too rambunctious, was in a state of delight as he climbed up rocks, explored dark corners, and  got thoroughly dirty sliding through the tunnels.  As he hung from a tree branch, he declared this his favorite boonie stomp ever.
 

The 16 yr old loved the adventure, too.

Giant birds' nest fern really makes you feel like you are in Land of the Lost.