Oaxaca - Sense of Adventure Required

As mentioned in a previous post, my sister and niece were here visiting for 2 weeks, and my step daughter and her fiancé were here for a few days at the same time. I realized I had done a terrible thing, sending my sister some proposed tours. She had responded back that she wanted to do everything, and after a day of being a bit lazy around the house, she had her itinerary out, made a calendar of days left, and planned what we would do every single day until the moment she boarded the plane. I did say she was my sister, after all.

And so we did almost everything on her list. On Christmas Eve we went to San Sebastien de las Grutas, which are caves about an hour and a half drive away.

Ralph and I have now been in Oaxaca for a few months. As previously posted, the roads here are a bit incredible. I am happy to say my sister has now experienced this first hand. When we had driven the 10 kilometers off the highway along a dirt road filled with potholes and rocks, parts paved and still parts with topes (speed bumps) to slow down cars on a particularly steep switch back, my sister got out of the car and I thought she was going to kiss the ground. Sweaty palms and all, we went on to experience one of the most incredible cave walks I have ever done in my life. Our guide (a cost of 20 pesos per person for 1.5 hour guided walk through the cave) walked us up the hill to the mouth of the cave, and then into a darkness that was surreal. He abandoned us at the base of another cave opening, instructing us to follow the red arrows back to the car. We did, feeling quite gazelle-like leaping over rocks along what could loosely be called a path. We stopped for lunch at a little comedor, got eaten by bugs and stared at by dogs, and then headed back to the car for another trek of dirt road.

Not a trip for the faint of heart, but not a trip to be missed, either.