A beautiful 45 minute drive from our eco lodge in La Fortuna brought us to The Venado Caves. Named so because of the deer hunters who first discovered them in 1945 (venado translates to deer).
Entrance to the caves ($28 each in USD) includes helmets, headlamps, guide, and rubber boots. We declined the boots after reading reviews that they fill up with water. For another $20 we hired the photographer to join us for a rare opportunity. Every photo in this blog is courtesy of Fausto Perez. The caves are over 6 million years old but have sea shell fossils even older. Currently they are home to fruit bats, vampire bats, and these lovelies. Scorpion spiders. This female has eggs!
Our guide told us not to be afraid and then proceeded to catch one and let us hold it. They have long antenna to help them feel their way through the caves because they are blind. Eeeeeeee!
We had to suck in our guts to make it through the ‘Birth Canal’. This really tested my latent claustrophobia.
We squeezed through tunnels, rock climbed slippery precipices, and walked through waterfalls deep under ground.
We had the amazing luck to be the only ones there today. Sometimes they have entire tour busses come through.
We got soaked to the bone, smelled bat guano from fruit bats and vampire bats, army crawled through tunnels barely bigger than my shoulders half full of running water, got spooked by countless spiders and the story of a Fer de Lance snake that was seen just a few weeks ago resting on a rock ledge. Had the time of our lives. Muchas Gracias Costa Rica! Pura Vida!
