I had heard of Tamana cave from last years’ expedition but none of the stories could fully prepare us for the actual experience. An almost two hour drive from St.Augustine down a road in mild disrepair (although worse nearer the end, leading to some screams of surprise when a hidden pothole would jolt the car) lead us to the bottom of Tamana Hill (mountain). The mountain itself is 308m above sea level and is the highest point in the central range mountains of Trinidad; it is also honeycombed with deep cave systems cut out of the limestone. The climb up (lead by the magnanimous Mike Rutherford) was pretty hard going, bordering on treacherous due to the mud, causing a few spills. The trail was covered in loose canopy for the entire length and the area felt so isolated that you could believe you were in the middle of a jungle. We saw many incredible animals on the way up but to name a few; orb weaver spiders (Roni decided to ignore us when we spotted one) in an array of colours and shapes; harvestmen with long gangly legs and tiny bodies; young stick insects, leaf cutter ants, a lizard and a tarantula. We heard more animals than we saw; from crickets chirping stoically amongst the ferns to cicadas adding their pervading but peaceful hum throughout the forest and even some frogs singing their chorus to attract a suitable mate.
Bats leaving the cave at dusk, Tamana Cave.
Inside Tamana Cave.
The entrance of the cave was not grand or cavernous but had a quiet mystery about it; a steep slope lead down to a dark mouth made darker by the canopy overhead. After an awkward descent down (a very big well done to Veronica who had to confront her Arachnophobia to do so!!) we were in the cave itself and after our eyes had adjusted to the gloom we were bombarded with the sight of thousands of bats swooping around our heads. Occasionally the bats would crash into us causing some of us to squeal in fright. The floor of the cave was deep in guano (bat poo) and crawling with cockroaches making walking a delicate affair. We were able to descend even deeper into the cave through a crawlspace not much bigger than ourselves which was nerve wracking but exhilarating.
Waiting for the bats to come out...
The crawlspace lead to a tunnel system which followed a small stream deeper into the cave leading to a clearing formed by an exit chimney. The stream continued further and deeper into the mountain but was inaccessible because of a deep drop into the cavernous darkness. The chimney clearing itself was full of small plants, millipedes and some stream frogs (a strangely reminder of our Manno the stream frog story), a veritable hotspot of activity amongst the ‘monoculture’ of the cave system. Getting out of the crawlspace was much more daunting than getting in; the hole sloped downwards making climbing up very slow and often cumbersome leading to some nerve testing moments. We made our way back out of the cave and waited for dusk to fall, and with it, the million and a half bats exiting the chimney to forage creating a small vortex of dark shapes spiralling up the chimneys and exploding into the surrounding forest.
Chloe high 5'ing a bat.
Chloe and Emma, Tamana Hill.
Some of the gang's muddy boots :D
The trip back down was just as treacherous, if not more than, the ascent (there must have been some rain whilst we were in the cave) with many of us making as much progress on our rears as we did on our feet. During the fall/climb down we finally saw our first Fer de Lance, one of Trinidad’s venomous snake species (just as Mike was saying the path was boring because you never see snakes on it) providing the expedition a rare treat to see a juvenile snake. Driving back was much quieter, probably because we were all exhausted from the trip but it was well worth the effort for the vast treasure of experience that we all found.
Juvenile Fer de Lance snake, Tamana Hill.
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