Las Grutas de Juxtlahuaca

[Dan F]

Over Thanksgiving my wife and I flew down to Acapulco. From there we drove out to Zihuatanejo and then up into the mountains to Chilpancingo, the capital of Guerrero state.

The next day we drove to this cave called las Grutas de (the Caves of) Juxtlahuaca. These caves have been gated off since shortly after the initial (post-hispanic) exploration, so they contain some very pristine travertine formations anywhere, and much more importantly, cave paintings that are the oldest existing rupestrian art in the Americas.

The mineralized skull has been dated to about 1000 B.C. and was hugely trepanned.

 

[Gr8KarmaSF]

Wow! Looks amazing...

 

[Dan F]

The first painting, about 900 meters into the cave, shows a Jaguar Man with a woman on the end of either a rope, or possibly an umbilical cord.

The second shows a jaguar in battle with Quetzalcoatl, the Plumed Serpent God. Quetzalcoatl has the head feathers of a Quetzal, the body of a serpent, and the tail of a fish.

The paintings are dated to around 800 A.D. and are remnants of some of the Westernmost reaches of the Olmeca culture.

See this link for info:
http://www.showcaves.com/english/mx/showcaves/Juxtlahuaca.html

 

[Dan F]

There were tons of cool rock formations - stalactites, stalagmites, columns, curtains, and indescribable shapes. These are just a few, my dial-up connection slows down posting.

The aragonite crystals were at the end of the tour after a 100 meter wade/swim and a 24 meter crawl, but well worth it!

 

[pdbrady]

Wow, good stuff. The skull is crazy, as are the formations.. Thanks for sharing!

 

[msjinkzd]

amazing shots!

 

[Dan F]

On the way back from the caves we stopped at a place called el Borbollon. From a spring flows tens of thousands of gallons of crystal clear water into a natural pool that they have dammed up to make it deeper.

These little fish (livebearers of some sort?) were the only "Monsters" in the pool, but the adjacent Rio Azul into which it flows probably have some interesting fish.

 

[rmorse]

They look like guppies!

 

[Dan F]

Thanks for the comments, it was a pretty amazing experience.

These are a few more shots of rock formations. The "Brain" and "Beer Bottle" are easy to spot!

 

[Miguel]

Awesome place! Thanks for sharing Dan!

Though you would never catch me in such a cave......I mean never!