I still have the guidebook that, well, guided me to the marvellous Cueva de La Pileta, late evening in winter, or maybe autumn. The sun was going down, my 20 year old Renault Clio was resting in the car park, the edge of which offers stunning views as well as stomach churning drop. Resting after winding up the road from Benaoján, once again with the stunning views and stomach churning drops, with the added joy of tight corners up against the cliff face. Resting, was I also, there’s more than a few steps from the car park to the unassuming entrance to the cave, with it’s equally unassuming wooden cabin which serves as the ticket office and waiting area.
However waiting I did not have to do. The guide, having glanced at his watch, seemed more than happy to let me and my partner in and give us the tour. Only a couple of years later did I realise, how so very luck I’d been that day.
The circular entrance requires you to duck down and enter the cave, where normal posture can be resumed. The entrance has at least the natural light filtering in, and the lights of the desk inside, so your eyes, although drawn to the passage disappearing off in the darkness, focus and acclimatise on the guide and the small, plastic lantern he hands to you.
A brief explanation of the general rules of the visit is duly given, including one which, I can after now dozens of visits, not repeat enough, is no photos, none, not a sneaky selfie, none, if the whirr of a motor, the click of a lens is heard or even more dire, the flash of a camera is seen, you may well join the remains of some of the ancient humans that occupied this place, some of whom we’ll meet later. The cave deservers the camera and phone being off for an hour.
The initial entrance to the cave ascends, guided by the lanterns and the guides torch, the formation of the cave is explained, the minerals, the ancient rivers and seabeds, as well as the discovery of the cave, a century ago. Rock formations are pointed out throughout the visit, with prominent ones having been given names, from The Simpsons Family to Wedding Cakes, Michelin men and dozens more, all humoursly named, whether by the discoverers, the archaeologists or the guides is not clear, but they do seem to stay consistent and it’s nice our modern day humour can leave an impact alongside the paintings that decorate, far more graciously the caves walls.
Still even more beautiful and in no need of dry names, are the waterfalls of minerals, deposited over millions of years by the rain filtering from the outside world above and glistening off in the surprisingly large abyss of the cave, pointed out and bought to life by the light of the torch.
Not by the light of the lanterns, the lanterns do nothing apart from light your step but hold them up and point anyway, it helps to to feel adventurous. They do, as mentioned, do a good job of lighting your next step, and you’d be wise to use them and remember the rules from the beginning, one of which you’ll hear a lot “Floor Slippy”.