Las Cuevas de Taulabe...

Last Monday I went to Las Cuevas de Taulabe (the caves of Taulabe) with my friends Brenda and Sara. I hadn't been there in about 16 years. Things have really changed since then. I mean, the last time I was there, the caves were nothing more than a whole in the wall. Literally. They were still famous. But they were just a cave. You could just walk in. If you paid the guy at the mouth of the cave a few Lempiras, he would turn on the 3 or 4 light bulbs that were strung up and went back about 50 feet or so. After that, you were on your own. You and your flashlight.

Now, there's a gate to let you in off the highway. Then, you have to pay. Thankfully, I have residency status and only needed to pay 30 Lempiras ($1.58 USD). The cost for extranjeros (foreigners) is $4. And that's the way they have it posted on the sign. All the prices are in Lempiras except for 'foreigners', that's in US dollars. Interesting. What if someone from Europe is visiting?

Anyway, after paying your entrance fee, a guide tries to convince you that you need a guide and they can give you the history of the caves. No, thanks. Not this time. Then you walk up some steps (which were not there 16 years ago), and see this:

The stairs leading down and the wrought iron gate at the mouth of the cave didn't exist 16 years ago, either.

The changes that have been made are definitely for the better. There is a walkway and colored lights that go quite a ways back. It was great. Especially this view:

Interestingly, it wasn't cool inside the caves, like I thought it would be. In fact, it was hot and humid. Stiflingly so. But I did manage to get a photo of me:

I wasn't paying close attention, but my guess is that the walkway and lights go back about 500 yards or so.

Spending some time at the caves was definitely a lot of fun. It's something I'll do again.

By the way, the caves of Taulabe are about 2, maybe 3, miles away from the property where I stayed on my first two trips here to Honduras. We even got some gas at the Texaco that is across from the property. The Texaco didn't exist 16 years ago, either.