Costa Rica's Underworld

Adventure in Dripstone Caves

How could it be different in Costa Rica – when we speak about the underworld, we don’t talk about guys and dolls, but about an adventure in the nature, the caves of Venado. Whoever now imagines a cold, damp cave like in Europe, will be surprised: these caves near Arenal are wet, but also pleasantly warm.

The temperatures are even one to two degrees higher than the outside temperature. – so sweating will happen. We therefore are dressed in swim wear when we walk on the 200 meter path to the dripstone cave entrance. Just a helmet, flashlight and gum boots reveal that we aren’t on our way to the beach.

The entrance of the cave, in which a little river flows, lies between a few big trees. Already here it’s clear to us that a mixture of swimming fun and cave hiking awaits us. With Alfonso, our guide, we find ourselves after a few meters in a large hall with many stalactites and stalagmites. Hundreds of petrified shells embedded in the crag are time witnesses that Costa Rica laid below the sea level millions of years ago. And not only us find this site interesting, bats, crabs, fish, frogs and crickets are also around here.

In 1942 the cave entrance was first discovered by two hunters and, until today, almost three kilometers have been explored, 600 meters of that is open for tourists. But this part is fully enough. For more than an hour, we climb and creep over the rocks and through gangways and even partly swimming. But always broad enough and through a few large halls so that one doesn’t get claustrophobia. The caves are still very aboriginal and nothing is concreted or illuminated. And it’s really pleasant that we can rely on our place-knowing guide. In order to really feel the darkness, we switch our flashlights off. There’s absolute darkness around us, a very special experience. Perhaps with each group, Alfonso enjoys a joke by frightening us with a “Bye-Bye, see you later” outcry. We quickly switch the flashlights on again and, with him, leave the Costa Rica underworld that, even without guys and dolls, is exciting and thrilling.CRS

More Information: Costa Rica Spirits 3/2010, page 20 ff.