Two and a half years of work and finally Francesco Sauro's article on carsism and speleogenesis in quartzites was published, a comprehensive summary of current reviews on Earth Science Reviews.
Read more: Article by Francesco Sauro on carsism and speleogenesis in quartzites
In 2011 La Venta organized a long expedition and on that occasion we discovered the galleries of the "150 years" simply by continuing the branch of the GAIA that ended on a shaft to descend after a narrow. Kilometers of galleries and side branches opened, ending in the great hall called "Magellan". After 6 years we are here again for two days of geomorphological observations and especially photographic documentation!
Yesterday many of us went to the Day Light, the upstream entrance of the underground river, the beginning of the system. There were many important things to do, including a laser scanning and a new polygonal survey both of the initial part and of the gallery below, until the first flooded passage.
We arrived there in less than a hour of walking, first crossing the green rice paddies, then penetrating in the pluvial forest. A last tiring and sweaty ramp about fifty meters long leads to the large cave that constitutes the inactive entrance. At the end, after several very slippery passages, opens the black of the gallery below: a slide about fifteen meters long followed by a 25 meter jump in the void allows us to put our feet on the wet pebbly shore of the base level. The first Australian explorers called it Day Light, when they arrived here, because it is what you can see looking up.
We are on our third week of expedition. Our schedule is being respected despite some inconvenience that in any case is always to be taken into account during expeditions. Life here is frenetic: biologists, geologists, photographers, video operators, speleologists, meeting the needs of everyone sometimes is really complicated. But thanks to our team spirit we succeed at it.
Our schedule, with the aim to finish the study in the area of the National Park of the Underground River in Puerto Princesa, is really busy and detailed. International agreements include a number of specific activities that will lead to an improved knowledge of this cave, promoting a more responsible tourist access in the short stretch open to the public. Moreover, this study will become the basis for many other research works to be completed once returned to Italy.
I wake up as usual with the intriguing mix of cock singing, repeated from one side of the village to the other, and of the full-fledged music that accompanies the work of the yard alongside our bungalows, where they build the rocker boats typical of these lands and of these seas. Usually, this joyful symphony is joined by the barking of the dogs and the festive play of the children, but there is no real standard. Dogs and cocks can start their concert even at three o’ clock in the morning, or keep silent until the first lights. Sabang always surprises the traveler, both for the dazzling beauty of the places and for the way you are waken up in the morning.
Why is a sentence in Spanish written on the mud at the bottom of a long gallery of one of the most beautiful caves in the world, the Puerto Princesa Underground River, in Palawan, in the Philippines?
The doubt blocks me and I stop for a while looking at it. I take the time to breath, I need it because I’ve arrived here almost running and with two heavy backpacks on my shoulders.
Then I remember: Lucas was here a few years ago. Having seen a Southern Mexican native here might have been special. Yet this is just one of the peculiarities of La Venta. The ability to involve whom we meet on our path. To become first of all their friends.
