After striking out at the two locations in Luganville for the Millennium cave tour, yesterday afternoon I decided to give it one more go and tried calling. A number of rings later I had a booked tour. Carl and I were on the road a few minutes early and unlike yesterday the 4×4 truck arrived on time and we were off.
First stop was the office (which the cab driver stopped by but with no sign we didn’t find the office) to fill out paperwork and get an overview of the day. Then it was off to the village ninety minutes away up in the jungle. It really was a 4×4 road and we were jostled mercilessly most of the way. Arriving at the village we met Tony who would be our guide (and the uncle of the driver). Off we went on the trail.
It was about thirty minutes to his house where we met a few of his kids, his wife, and picked up life jackets. Then the real fun began. The trail started really wide and easy but then reached a bamboo bridge and we started climbing up and down ladders built-into the mountainside. Across our first stream, I attempted to keep my shoes dry but a few minutes later there was no choice but to wade through. Oh well.
This pattern continued, with the addition of ropes to climb down at some points, it was few hours before we reached the mouth of the cave. Out came waterproof torches and in we descended. It was a challenge find a good spot in the calf to knee deep water with only a small spot of light. But it was very cool with swallows zipping around, bats hanging upside down, and stalactites forming on the walls. A waterfall fell down, trying to spot where it came from all I could see made it look like it came right out of the rock wall. Super cool. About thirty minutes later spotted the sunlight and made our way to the exit but not before getting a shock of cold water as we needed to swim 25 meters through a deep pool.
Out of the cave there was a nice lunch spot to warm up on a rocky river bank. Bellies somewhat full on we went. It was a swim to start things, brr. But the scalloped granite walls and misting water dripping down were spectacular. Boulders blocked our way, so up and over them we went. All along this canyon section we would climb over boulders with the help of ropes, metal ladders, and steps carved out of the rocks. This was not for the faint of heart. I certainly did not expect this challenging of conditions but we absolutely loved it. This pattern of bouldering and swimming made us progressively colder and it was a relief when Tony exclaimed this was the last swim.
About two plus miles and ninety minutes later we were in the sun, wringing out our cloths and starting to warm up. The chill didn’t last long as the climb out was very steep on a mix of ladders and walls of tiny natural limestone pools (also super cool). Once back on the top, we hiked through farms and came across Tony’s father and other family members fixing a fence that their cows had damaged. Finally back to his home (three and a half hours later) for some pamplemousse refreshment before the finally bit back to the village to meet the truck.
It was an absolutely incredible tour, and I am so glad that I didn’t give up on finding a way to make the booking. Such a beautiful day but wowza was it long and exhausting. All told, we were hiking/swimming 4.5 hours and had about 3 more hours in the truck. Not the short little excursion we had expected.
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