Nacimiento de Opiolla

We got up around 9:00. I had Papaya for breakfast along with egg, potatoes, and a turkey sandwich. It took awhile for us to get going. We walked to get some groceries for the day and eventually were off. We drove to the Lago Dos Bocas dam above the Rio Grande de Arecibo. We would soon visit a spring do. We drove to the Rio Abajo campsite where I spoke some Spanish with a local and learned that the office wasn’t open today but would be open on Monday. It was rather fun speaking Spanish though I didn’t understand everything he said. Pat got permission for us to visit the spring. We hiked across a cow field along the river to it. Along the way, Alan pointed out fire ant mounds and a sensitivity plant, the leaf slowly coils when touched. We crossed the river. A 200+’ limestone cliff loomed above. Ahead, we saw the cave entrance which looked small from the river. We walked downstream and then hiked up some cascades wading through huge, broad leaves. I ducked under and fought through vines to proceed. We had entered the cave before I even knew it. The entrance to Opiolla Spring was 40’ H x 15’ wide. I had unknowingly followed the stream into a large canyon passage which continued ahead to a sump and climb-up. I hiked another 25 feet upstream to a sump on the left. Pat wanted someone to pose in the water so I stripped off my shirt and waded in. I later fed my feet along the edge of the sump feeling for passage. I submerged up to my neck; the water felt good. It was probably around 70 degrees and noticeably warmer than Indiana cave water. The sump has been dived but was too dangerous to continue. I felt a wide passage about 1.5’ high. Alan and Marion had climbed up a steep slope above the sump. Alan wanted his camera so I climbed up the bat guano caked slope and ducked under some breakdown about 35’ feet above the sump. Above, the ceiling was another 15’ up. Behind me, the passage ascended a slope and dead ended. Ahead, after a short crawl through breakdown, I emerged into a small stoop walk passage. Another 30 feet ahead the passage decreased in size to a squeeze which would be Brian size if the dirt floor was dug another 2”. I got in to my shoulders and could see it was probably too tight ahead. I couldn’t see perfectly above but don’t think anything went. On the way out, Alan pointed out an interesting insect as I came in. He took pictures of the Amblypigid. We climbed back down and I washed off the guano in the sump. We exited the cave and I followed Marion and Alan to another cave entrance. Marion climbed up roots and vines and managed to get into a termite nest. He was cussing for about an hour. Marion is hilarious! Pat came over and pointed out where we should have climbed up. We looked at it and determined it was a difficult free-climb. We hiked back to the car teasing Marion and listening to him curse the termites. We intended to check out the karsts area we’ll soon ridge-walk but Pat took a wrong turn. We ended up seeing some beautiful scenery. It’s rather wild driving down the curvy mountain roads. You never know what will be around the next corner. We saw dogs, awkwardly packed Puerto Rican cars, mini-cycle gangs, 4 wheelers, animals, etc. I’ve never seen a stronger cop presence. Cops are everywhere! It grew dark as we drove back to San Juan. We decided to walk on the beach near Parque Barbarusa. It was windy and the waves were crashing. There were some limestone islands in the sand along the shoreline. It was neat to see the water cascade over the edge of the flat bedrock. I love the feel of sand between my toes! The water was warm and the wave action sporadic and surprising. Between the two cloud banks we could see Orion and its surrounding constellations. I can’t wait to thrash around in the karsts jungle looking for caves!!