Spelunking with a French Miner at Barra Honda

It was nice to wake up Saturday morning to an already prepared breakfast and coffee…helped take the sting outta opening those eyelids after just 5 hours of shuteye. A tall bottle of water, a quick shower, some rice and beans, with queso in sourcream and a tortilla…and two cups of coffee and we were out the door as the taxi was honking. The ride to Barra-Honda National Parque was a quick 20 minutes; but the Parque itself was millenniums away from Nicoya. We had a reservation which we were 20 minutes late for, but this is “Tico Time” so it was no problem. We paid our park fee, and our guide fee and were on our way hiking up the mountain to the underground caverns. The hike up the mountain was a little strenuous given our condition, but after we sweated out the rum it was no problem. We saw tons of different types of butterflies, lizards, trees covered in hanging vines, and huge plants relatives of aloe…and of course the ubiquitous mosquitoes. Howler Monkeys yelled at us, but did not reveal themselves until our walk down in the afternoon. We took a wrong turn and ended up walking on a trail that hadn’t been used in a while…and it only took us a few spiderwebs across the path with big, scary looking whompers chilling in the center of em, to realize we needed to turn around. As we headed back down to the fork where we took the wrong turn we realized a group of 7 or 8 Danish girls and 1 guy had passed us on the trail up to the cave…so we hustled a little and got lucky that their guide stopped to point something out to them…and we were able to overtake them and get to the cave first, so we didn’t have to wait for them to go and come back before us. At the cave we donned hardhats, headlamps and a rockclimbing harness (to be belayed as a safety mechanism) as we climbed down this device of 7 or 8 ladders jerry-rigged together down this 10 foot wide hole in the earth. At some point you look down and can’t see the bottom and it feels like the ladders go on forever into the blackness…fortunately they are only 70 meters (approx 220 feet) long. As your first foot touches down on the cave floor our guide reaches out and introduces himself, and helps you get out of the harness. They pull the rope back up to the top and the next person prepares for their descent. I scored a couple of pics of Ben on his way down as I waited at the bottom and let my eyes adjust to the darkness. Looking back up, it appears as though there is just a tiny window to the outside where you can see some tree branches and a little blue sky. The floor of the cave is wet, and mud trucked in from shoes on your hike to the cave covers all the rocks making the floor slippery and footing treacherous. We climbed down into the first huge cathedral like dome, that still had some sunlight entering from the hole in the top. The limestone walls were carved in flowing patterns like mud at the bottom of the river, or a retreating hightide leaving designs in the beach sand. We climbed downward towards our first change of venue, hopping on rocks and trying not to slip. At the bottom of the first cavern a small archway opened into the second, smaller catherdral like dome, and this is where the stalagtites and stalagmites began popping up…with a few that had already connected and formed single pillars. There was one scene which looks like a family, a mother holding a baby, with a father behind her to the left and a little doggy at their feet…kinda eerie. Throughout the cave at regular intervals are these things hanging on the wall that look like “pipe bombs” in white PVP piping. The guide tells us that they are test kits for a fungus that produces spores poisonous to humans, and have been known to form on the bat guaro the covers certain spots below where the bats nest. I didn’t know whether to be reassured, or more nervous. Anway – we passed the “family” and headed down another ladder to the third level which was pitch black, and much smaller. The guide pointed out the fossilized coral line which ringed the cave wall proving that the cave was underwater millions of years ago; and there was also a fossilized conch shell that appeared to be sitting on a pedestal, as it was on the top of a stalagmite. He also showed us a formation which looks like a huge old church organ (pic of the guide), where perfectly straight columns were carved out of the walls from floor to ceiling. This is where the real spelunking begins (see some of the photos) we twisted and contorted ourselves to slide through a wall into the final chamber. The final chamber had a surprisingly high ceiling and the guide told us we were over 100 meters (375 feet) underground. As we reached the extreme far wall of the cavern, and stopped in a tiny little rotunda, the guide told us to turn off our lights. Silence. Occassional drips of water. I opened and closed my eyes – seeing the same shade of black nothingness. I put my hand inches from my face and couldn’t see it. As my consciousness expanded I felt as if the walls of the cave were closing in, and getting smaller and smaller…my first real experience of claustrophobia. I took a deep breath of the dank, moisture laden air and the guide cracked a joke, breaking the spell. After a few more comments we turned the lights back on, thankful that they still worked, and began our ascent out. It took a good 30 minutes to return to the ladder, and we put on the harnesses to climb back out as the last of the Danes were climbing down. The climb back up was a lot more strenuous then the climb down, partly because you know how far you have to go, and you can see your destination. And there is no way to keep a smile off your face as you ascend over the lip of the mouth of the cave and return to the world of light. What an amazing experience, but I am glad that it was over when we finished. Over an hour underground was more then enough for me. Our guide took us on a short trail along the edge of the mountains that lead to a lookout platform with a roof for shade, where we settled down and had our lunch. A couple of ham n cheese sandwiches, some trail mix and an orange later we were refreshed and ready to go. The view was phenomenal and we hung out for a while digesting and appreciating it…you could see all of the cattle ranches dotting the valley below, and all the way out to the bay in the distance in one direction and the mountain ranges in the other. On the way back down we stopped to take closer looks at some of the plants and spiders, and other insects we spotted along the way. The howler monkeys smelled us coming and migrated from their hangout tree over closer to the trail so they could yell at us, but not close enough to toss their you-know-what. Tired, mud-covered and sweaty we finally reached the ranger station again and happily paid for two ice cold cokes – which seemed like the best drink I have ever had. We waited patiently as our taxi was supposed to return in 15 minutes at 4 pm to pick us up…and we waited patiently as a young girl used the only pay phone available and talked for an hour…and we finally tried calling the taxi when she got off, but he didn’t answer…so we finally ended up catching a ride home with one of the guides friends at 6:30…two and ½ hours after we were supposed to be picked up….ahhhh….”Tico Time”.

After showering up at Ben’s house we were immediately picked up by the first taxi who has ever arrived early. We ran a few small errands and then headed the 35 km out to the coast to a tiny little beach town called Samara. Ben’s Tico friend “Charlie” from Nicoya had recommended this little cabina for $15 a night per person, and we met him there and he helped us get the last room available. Ditched our stuff and met Charlie and his wife for dinner…had this really interesting plate of spaghetti with shrimp in an avocado sauce…delicious. After dinner we thanked Charlie for all his help, and headed back to the room to finish off the bottle of rum, listen to a little music (on blast from my ipod headphones…wish I had one of the newer ipod versions with the travel speakers…those would be clutch…hinthint Xmas present from the fogies ;o); and generally rested before heading out for the night. When the bottle of rum was “terminado” we motivated and hit the town. There were two bars/clubs, located right on the beach…the first was a dance club with raggaeton and some bad hiphop; and the second was a reggae bar with pool and foosball tables…guess where we spent the night. Had a blast meeting some of the locals, lots of cute tico girls running around, played some foosball and took beers out onto the beach to sit and chill and look at the stars and listen to the waves. Somehow it ended up being 4:30 in the morning when we finally migrated back to the cabinas and the comfort of a nice bed.

Another night of little sleep – 5 more hours – and we were up and walking along the beach and hitting a local soda, where we sat in the shade of a cashew tree, and had a great view of the beach and ocean while we drank coffee and water and waited for our breakfast. After breakfast we packed up our gear, and left it in Charlies’ room (sorry no pictures of Samara cause I left the camera in my bag) and headed to the beach. After a swim and some body surfing we walked the length of the 5 km crescent shaped beach, to get a little sun, walk off a little of the rum n beers and check out the cuties in bikinis :o) The rest of the afternoon was spent lying in the shade of a palm tree in a hammock between swims in the ocean. Nice, quiet, relaxing…a perfect culmination to a beautiful, action packed weekend…except the weekend wasn’t fully over yet. We hopped a cab back to Nicoya with Charlie and his wife, and I got dropped off at the bus station, where the last bus to San Jose left at 5:20 and was standing room only. With no other alternatives I got on, slid into the first seat right behind the driver, paid my fare and was given a lecture in Spanish about how I would have to get up and stand if anyone else got on with a ticket. So the first stop the bus makes and this young kid gets on and sits next to me…the last open seat on the bus…and the next stop a guy gets on with a ticket, but luckily for me, he booted the kid and sat down next to me. I was exhausted, so after watching the sunset over the mountains, I put on the headphones and drifted in and out of consciousness – trying to sleep for the 5 hour trip – but every stop (and this driver stopped EVERYWHERE) necessitated the lights being turned on…meaning my sleep was fitful at best. Nevertheless I was able to get the bus to stop at Hospital Mexico and walk home avoiding having to pay for a cab; and I rolled in the door at 10:30…tired but happy. A load of laundry and some fresh pineapple and mango from maximo and I hit the mattress with a smile on my face and slept like I was at the bottom of the cave enveloped in the calm, cool darkness.