Caves & Cosmos

Thursday morning we took a scenic drive westward along the northern coast of Puerto Rico to visit the Cavernas del Rio Camuy, the largest cave system in the western hemisphere. This vast series of limestone caverns was formed over time by the Camuy River, the third largest underground river in the world. There are over 10 miles of caves in the system and sixteen known entrances. It is believed that the system extends even further and that more remains to be discovered.

Near the end of the tour, we entered a new room in the cave that was slightly warmer than the areas we'd just visited. Was it warmer because of lack of air circulating? Or maybe geothermal heating? Nope. Our guide informed us that this room was warmer because of the thousands and thousands of bats that made their home here. All of their little mammalian bodies together are enough to noticeably raise the room temperature. Eeek. That 's enough to make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. Fortunately for us, most of them were asleep; we saw only a few flying around.

After lunch we continued on to the Arecibo Observatory, a radio telescope that appeared in the James Bond movie, Goldeneye. The enormous dish is constructed inside a sinkhole depression. It is used by scientists worldwide to conduct research in the areas of planetary science, radio astronomy and atmospheric physics.

Later we were able to return to Old San Juan and the kids had some additional free time for shopping.

As you may have noticed, I am a couple of days behind on my blogging responsibilities! We have been so busy these last few days, I haven't had time to keep up with the writing. We are headed to the airport in a few short hours and I will finish the remaining entries in the next day or so.

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Location: Puerto Rico