Greetings dear friends and photography lovers

Today I want to show you photographs of a very peculiar place. This is the Cave of Guácharo, discovered in 1799 by the German Naturalist of Origin Alexander Humboldt. It is part of what is now known as El Guácharo National Park. Extending for 62,700 ha, it covers part of the Ribero municipality in the Sucre State and four municipalities of the Monagas state including the Caripe Municipality where the entrance to the cave is located. It should be noted that the cave of Guácharo is specifically located, in the bowels a mountain called Cerro Negro. This geological formation was declared a Natural Monument Alejandro de Humboldt, in 1949, making this place the first of its kind, here in Venezuela. This interesting place has become the main tourist attraction of the beautiful town of Caripe del Guácharo.

I confess that, as a child, I always heard about this place. Due to the relative proximity to Carúpano, a city where I was born and raised, it was common for the Carupaneros to visit her, they could even come and go the same day. But, since my parents had no vehicle, I never had the opportunity to meet her. I had to wait to be married, to plan a visit to the wonderful town of Caripe and in the process to know its main tourist attraction, the famous CAVE OF GUÁCHARO. Upon arriving there, everything was spectacular, wonderful vegetation, the facilities around the cave are very nice and pleasant. There is a restaurant, a museum and a small artisan market where you can buy sweets and crafts typical of the area. I was super excited about the idea of ​​entering the cave.

To my surprise, being right in front of the cave entrance, an uncontrollable and indescribable sense of oppression invaded me. Even when I see the images, I can experience, to a lesser extent, the same feeling. I remember clearly, a strange emotion that, however, I felt that the walls of the huge cave were imprisoning me, despite being meters away from me. What I was feeling was so strong that, although I tried to make myself strong and managed to enter. After traveling a few meters inside, I have to confess that fear overcame me. When I realized, the sensation was so overwhelming that tears rolled down my cheeks and I started running away from the cave almost running. It has been one of the most horrible experiences I have lived.

How about! ... Bad time to discover that I suffer from ANTROPHOBIA, do not you think? ... From what I can understand from what I have investigated, this pathology basically consists in that the person is panicking Caverns, caves, caves or similar places. So, the photographs that I share with you today, were a great challenge for me, because, I mean to calm down from the first impression and arm myself with all my reserve of courage. Little by little, attached to my husband like a gum, I went back inside, of course, as far as my fear allowed. Then, I took the photos as quickly as I could, so I could run away as soon as possible. But I remember that the experience was so strong that, the next day, my whole body ached, it was as if I had been knocked down. From that opportunity, although I have returned, I have not re-entered, I am content to see the entrance of the cave from afar and, even so, it generates a sense of fear.

Leaving aside my bad experience and my phobia, I wanted to tell you that this cave has always been surrounded by a lot of mystery, even around it an infinite number of stories have been woven. For example, I came to listen, that it was so long that it was going through practically all of Venezuela, reaching our neighboring country, Colombia. Moreover, it was even said that the main inhabitants of this cave, the Guácharos, traveled during the day through their dark passages, until finally arriving in Colombia, with the sole purpose of getting their food. I have no idea, if all that is said is true, but from what you can investigate, what has been proven so far, is that this geological formation dating from the Mesozoic era, covers 10.5 km. It is presumed that 130 million years ago, approximately, that place was part of a very old sea, which ended up retreating, product of transformations in the earth's crust. Decades and decades of continuous erosion, generated by water when seeping through sedimentary rock, have majestically designed a whole intricate network of galleries and corridors, which not only serves as habitat for the famous Guácharo, but is also the ecosystem where Some species of bats, insects, rodents, arachnids and beetles coexist.

References

https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parque_nacional_El_Gu%C3%A1charo

Content and photographs of my intellectual property

Technical information