"This is SO awesome..."

At breakfast this a.m. the kids announced they had slept great – funny thing when your curfew is 9:30 p.m.  Many have appreciated the down time we have given, and though they might bark about the long days, and early evening curfews, it is necessary with the pace at which we move for them to be well rested.

The Cavernas de Venado (aka “the bat caves”) are about 45+ minutes from the hotel.  The distance isn’t all that great, but the roads are slow, curvy, and at times simply gravel.  We entertained ourselves sufficiently with an updated playlist on my iPod, and students were soon singing along.  They also caught an occasional glimpse of both our guide and drive with their practiced dance routines or hand gestures which occur right on queue. 

Upon arrival at the caves, we were fitted with masks, helmets and flashlights.  It wasn’t until the photographer we hired showed samples of his digital pictures that a few started to get a little anxious.  The sample pictures they viewed highlighted the smaller crevasses, and they quickly interrogated me about whether it would feel claustrophobic.  I have learned to not tell them much about the experience before hand as the interior of the cave is simply difficult to describe, and any preconceived ideas they might have will be difficult to overcome. 

It was heart warming to see students helping calm the nerves of one another, hold hands, and simply lend a hand to those less easy on their feet.  Within about 300 meters inside the opening of the cave, and having watched a large colony of bats, students began to descend one by one, feet first, down through a narrow crevasse.  This spot has been appropriately named “the birth canal”.  For the record, this is the first group in 4 years to have 100% participation at this first stop.  From there, we moved through the cave, crawling, climbing over rocks, tip-toeing through rushing water, and swimming through openings in the cavern where the ceiling was not higher than 30” and the cool water about 8-10 inches deep.  Most, if not all, had followed my suggestion to wear long pants, so as to avoid getting banged up on the rocks.  After 2 hours, and lots of twists and turns, and opting for the more adventurous route, we emerged to find a huge wind storm had blown through, and many trees were downed on the trail we had used to hike in to the caves. 

After insisting students all take soap/shampoo showers we had lunch in the restaurant on site, and journeyed back to La Fortuna for a final afternoon of sightseeing and shopping. 

(Pictures from the inside of the cave, with MANY individual shots, were purchased and burned to a CD.  We don’t have the ability to upload them from this computer, yet have included a few pre/post cave shots that we took.