Thursday we investigated several reported caves on Rancho Chato, situated on the west slopes of Santa Cruz. Our team of 9 once again piled in to 2 truck taxis (designed to carry 3 passengers each) and made the 20 min. drive out to the ranch. The previous day's rains were evident in this area as washouts on the gravel roads, and pools of water where usually dry.
We spoke with the caretaker of the ranch and discovered that there were several other caves on the property in addition to the ones that we already had information for. We divided in to 3 survey / exploration teams and continued down the ranch road.
We dropped Bob, Eli and Scott off to check out a cave downslope of the main cave on the property. The owner did not have any information on the cave, but thought that it continued for some distance. They were able to survey 389m (including a 5m pit) before being stopped by a terminal blockage in the cave.
The remainder of the teams continued to the main cave "Tuneles de los Piratas", The entrance to the cave is in a collapse feature that has caves on both sides. This is quite common with lava tubes. Chris, Geoff and Rick T. started surveying down flow from the entrance, surveying 216m for the day. This section of the tube was characterized by a short (but very steep) climbdown and somewhat muddy sections of cave.
My team of Theo and Rick H. started the survey of the main cave, half of which is operated as a tourist cave. This section of the system is a little unusual as it has two parallel passages for the entire length of the cave. The cave had some of the largest passage that we have encountered so far. We concentrated on survey yesterday, so I did not get very many pictures. Hope to be able to finish the survey Friday and also get some better photos.
Although we are in Galapagos for cave exploration, sometimes being in the right place at the right time has its benefits. Here is a photo of rays swimming in the harbor last night.
We spoke with the caretaker of the ranch and discovered that there were several other caves on the property in addition to the ones that we already had information for. We divided in to 3 survey / exploration teams and continued down the ranch road.
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| On the road - Rancho Chato |
We dropped Bob, Eli and Scott off to check out a cave downslope of the main cave on the property. The owner did not have any information on the cave, but thought that it continued for some distance. They were able to survey 389m (including a 5m pit) before being stopped by a terminal blockage in the cave.
The remainder of the teams continued to the main cave "Tuneles de los Piratas", The entrance to the cave is in a collapse feature that has caves on both sides. This is quite common with lava tubes. Chris, Geoff and Rick T. started surveying down flow from the entrance, surveying 216m for the day. This section of the tube was characterized by a short (but very steep) climbdown and somewhat muddy sections of cave.
My team of Theo and Rick H. started the survey of the main cave, half of which is operated as a tourist cave. This section of the system is a little unusual as it has two parallel passages for the entire length of the cave. The cave had some of the largest passage that we have encountered so far. We concentrated on survey yesterday, so I did not get very many pictures. Hope to be able to finish the survey Friday and also get some better photos.
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| Tuneles de los Piratas |
Although we are in Galapagos for cave exploration, sometimes being in the right place at the right time has its benefits. Here is a photo of rays swimming in the harbor last night.
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| rays swimming at night |
That photo of the rays is stupendous.
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