Monday, November 27, 2006
Canaries & Caving
Asking someone whose claustrophobia is so acute that she doesn't even like to close bathroom doors (if they have one), about caving is probably not going to the best source on the subject, however, since it has been suggested that I may be able to help and today, I received another enquiry about caving in the Canaries, I'll do my best to point anyone interested in this activity in the right direction.
It seems logical that there must be a whole world of caves to explore in the Canary Islands, since the aboriginal inhabitants, the Guanches, preferred dwelling in caves. Cave homes still exist in some areas and had remained in use in many other places until the relatively recent past as this photo - Cuevas-vivienda en Tenerife - shows.
The typical situation was to use the caves on the sunny side of a valley for habitation caves and those on the shaded side for burial caves. Often, but not always (in the case of "nobility") bodies were mummified. In 1526, a man named Thomas Nichols explored a cave containing approximately four hundred mummies. In 1770, a cave containing 1,000 mummies was located between the towns of Arico and Guimar in Tenerife and, in 1773, a smaller mummy cave was found. [Source]
These volcanic isles have no karst caves, but several lava tubes and a huge amount of mostly artificial volcanic caves. Whilst some caves have been turned into tourist theme parks, many others are not accessible to the public, so expert guidance should be sought before rushing here to explore their murky depths.
Caves in Tenerife
There are many caves around the area of Güímar, such as, "The Cueva del Cañizo, an aboriginal cave that was the summer residence of the Menceyes (Kings) of Güimar, is in the ravine. It gets its name from the network of tubes inside it."
Once thought to be the largest volcanic cave in the world, is the extraordinary Cueva del Viento (Cave of the Wind), near Icod de los Vinos in Tenerife. There are guided tours of the Cueva del Viento available, with expert guidance from the Grupo de Espeleología de Tenerife Benisahare (Benisahare Potholling Group).
Here it is probably best to ask someone who has actually been to the cave: "In March 2001 a 9-man team from Kraków led by Michal Gradzinski visited lava tube caves in the Canary Islands. Cueva del Viento on Tenerife Island was the main objective of the expedition." They also visited the nearby Cueva de San Marcos. Report with photos. These latter caves, also known as the Cuevas de los Guanches, were considered to be a seasonal habitat of the island´s aboriginal people.
One of the most famous caves of Tenerife, writes Jochen Duckeck at ShowCaveBlog, is the Cueva de Bencomo in La Orotava. Although this was once the residence of the Guanche "Mencey" (Chief) Bencomo and has been declared a cultural interest site, he says, "Currently the cave is in use as a goat pen and any content of archeological interest is protected by a 40cm thick layer of packed goat excrement."
In El Palmar, the local supermarket, La Cuevas, is named after the caves, the Cuevas del Palmar. There are caves, known as Las Cuevas, that look as though they have been used for dwelling, on the perimeter of the village of Teno Alto.
Caves Elsewhere in the Canary Islands
On the tourist route is the Cueva Pintada (Painted Cave) in Gáldar, in Gran Canaria - a small cave with geometric paintings from the Guanche era. This "archaeological theme park" can easily be visited by the public, even the non-adventurous types.
On El Hierro, the most noted cave is the Cueva de Don Justo - the second longest cave on the islands - but this is located on private ground and is not regularly open. Even though it is 200 years since the last volcanic eruption, El Hierro has the highest density of volcanos in the Canary Islands, with 500 open cones, 300 more that are covered by more recent flows and some 70 caves and volcanic tubes.
Numerous habitation and burial caves have been found in the area known as the Degollada de Peraza on the island of La Gomera. The most famous of these is the Cueva de Guahedum or Guadejume. Shepherds reused this cave and built the wall over the opening. (See photo) It is nothing special, but it is a sort of historic site - a story of love and murder - at least, if you believe contemporary chroniclers.
The Cueva de los Verdes (Spanish meaning "green cave") is a cave located on the island of Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, created around 3,000 years ago from a volcanic eruption. The cave is famous for its concert hall which is located near the entrance and the exit of the cave, but the cave has now become unstable so performances in the hall are not permitted in case the cave collapses.
On the island of La Palma too, speleology - the scientific study of caves, or potholing - is not unknown either. "As the island of La Palma has experienced the majority of all volcanic eruptions which have occurred in historical times (the last 500 years), it should not surprise us that there are a great many caverns, which in turn are connected with volcanic tunnels." Report with photos.
Where to get more information: PuntoInfo list the Canary Island Potholing Federation. C/San Sebastián 76, 1piso (Casa del Deporte) S/C. Tel: 922 22 72 55. Sports: caving and potholing, descent of canyons and ravines and cave diving. I phoned them today and they gave me the address for the Club de Espeleologia Tajinaste C/ San Juan, 15. 38320 La Cuesta (La Laguna) Tel: 922 641 558.
It seems logical that there must be a whole world of caves to explore in the Canary Islands, since the aboriginal inhabitants, the Guanches, preferred dwelling in caves. Cave homes still exist in some areas and had remained in use in many other places until the relatively recent past as this photo - Cuevas-vivienda en Tenerife - shows.
The typical situation was to use the caves on the sunny side of a valley for habitation caves and those on the shaded side for burial caves. Often, but not always (in the case of "nobility") bodies were mummified. In 1526, a man named Thomas Nichols explored a cave containing approximately four hundred mummies. In 1770, a cave containing 1,000 mummies was located between the towns of Arico and Guimar in Tenerife and, in 1773, a smaller mummy cave was found. [Source]
These volcanic isles have no karst caves, but several lava tubes and a huge amount of mostly artificial volcanic caves. Whilst some caves have been turned into tourist theme parks, many others are not accessible to the public, so expert guidance should be sought before rushing here to explore their murky depths.
Caves in Tenerife
There are many caves around the area of Güímar, such as, "The Cueva del Cañizo, an aboriginal cave that was the summer residence of the Menceyes (Kings) of Güimar, is in the ravine. It gets its name from the network of tubes inside it."
Once thought to be the largest volcanic cave in the world, is the extraordinary Cueva del Viento (Cave of the Wind), near Icod de los Vinos in Tenerife. There are guided tours of the Cueva del Viento available, with expert guidance from the Grupo de Espeleología de Tenerife Benisahare (Benisahare Potholling Group).
Here it is probably best to ask someone who has actually been to the cave: "In March 2001 a 9-man team from Kraków led by Michal Gradzinski visited lava tube caves in the Canary Islands. Cueva del Viento on Tenerife Island was the main objective of the expedition." They also visited the nearby Cueva de San Marcos. Report with photos. These latter caves, also known as the Cuevas de los Guanches, were considered to be a seasonal habitat of the island´s aboriginal people.
One of the most famous caves of Tenerife, writes Jochen Duckeck at ShowCaveBlog, is the Cueva de Bencomo in La Orotava. Although this was once the residence of the Guanche "Mencey" (Chief) Bencomo and has been declared a cultural interest site, he says, "Currently the cave is in use as a goat pen and any content of archeological interest is protected by a 40cm thick layer of packed goat excrement."
In El Palmar, the local supermarket, La Cuevas, is named after the caves, the Cuevas del Palmar. There are caves, known as Las Cuevas, that look as though they have been used for dwelling, on the perimeter of the village of Teno Alto.
Caves Elsewhere in the Canary Islands
On the tourist route is the Cueva Pintada (Painted Cave) in Gáldar, in Gran Canaria - a small cave with geometric paintings from the Guanche era. This "archaeological theme park" can easily be visited by the public, even the non-adventurous types.
On El Hierro, the most noted cave is the Cueva de Don Justo - the second longest cave on the islands - but this is located on private ground and is not regularly open. Even though it is 200 years since the last volcanic eruption, El Hierro has the highest density of volcanos in the Canary Islands, with 500 open cones, 300 more that are covered by more recent flows and some 70 caves and volcanic tubes.
Numerous habitation and burial caves have been found in the area known as the Degollada de Peraza on the island of La Gomera. The most famous of these is the Cueva de Guahedum or Guadejume. Shepherds reused this cave and built the wall over the opening. (See photo) It is nothing special, but it is a sort of historic site - a story of love and murder - at least, if you believe contemporary chroniclers.
The Cueva de los Verdes (Spanish meaning "green cave") is a cave located on the island of Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, created around 3,000 years ago from a volcanic eruption. The cave is famous for its concert hall which is located near the entrance and the exit of the cave, but the cave has now become unstable so performances in the hall are not permitted in case the cave collapses.
On the island of La Palma too, speleology - the scientific study of caves, or potholing - is not unknown either. "As the island of La Palma has experienced the majority of all volcanic eruptions which have occurred in historical times (the last 500 years), it should not surprise us that there are a great many caverns, which in turn are connected with volcanic tunnels." Report with photos.
Where to get more information: PuntoInfo list the Canary Island Potholing Federation. C/San Sebastián 76, 1piso (Casa del Deporte) S/C. Tel: 922 22 72 55. Sports: caving and potholing, descent of canyons and ravines and cave diving. I phoned them today and they gave me the address for the Club de Espeleologia Tajinaste C/ San Juan, 15. 38320 La Cuesta (La Laguna) Tel: 922 641 558.
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3 Comments:
Pamela Heywood wrote (on
February 18, 2008)
Thans for your question Tom.
Since I do speak Spanish, the quickest and most obvious thing to do, which I've done this morning, was to phone the town hall in Icod to see if the Cueva del Viento is open to the public or not at the moment. I think it was closed in around 2004, in order to have work done (with the intention or re-opening it to the public.) The bad news is that they say it is closed still.
Beyond that, I'm not aware of any caves that are or intend to be open to the public, but then I'm no expert. My only other suggestion is to get in touch with ATAN (Tenerife Association of the Friends of Nature) as I feel that they will have people who speak English and, may be likely to know on the subject.
Patrick wrote (on
May 13, 2008)
Hi, like Tom i'm also an amatuer caver and have explored some lava caves on tenerife. If anybody is interested please contact me so i can send some detailed information.
See also German caver site: www.hagh.de
Patrick
I have discovered this invaluable web site and been reading through before My Fiancee and I travel to Tenerife this Saturday (23rd Feb).
I am an amateur caver in the UK and have tried contacting the numbers in the article. Unfortunately I dont speak Spanish so have got nowhere.
Do you have details of an english speaker who might be able to arrange a trip to any of the caves while we are there, especially Cueva del Viento?
I have been in touch with Patea Tus Montes S.L. who are mentioned in another of your articles but I was hoping to get a selection of places to visit and hopefully a little less expensive than the ?90 for two people I have been offered.
It is one of the parts of the Island I would love to see but with the language barrier telephoning is a bit of an issue.
Tom Marshall