Grotta delle Striare - Italy - Salento
My adoring fans may have noticed my absence for the last month or so...
Or not. Either way, I'm back.
Background
This was one of many caves I explored in Salento - but one of just two that I was able to photograph. Many of the caves in the region can only be accessed from the sea, and unfortunately I no longer have a trustworthy camera housing.
Plus, I left my cheap Chinese Go-Pro back in the UK... Not that anyone would want to see footage from it.
I had spotted this cave on the map and saw that nobody had posted any photos from inside it (aside from the Italian speleological society) so I thought this was up my alley. There are boat tours that allow you to see the outside of the cave (along with many others).
I used this as a good scouting opportunity - It looked doable from above, although swimming from a boat would've been more refreshing in the 36c weather...
I include the photo on the right for scale - it's hard to gauge the magnitude of this cave otherwise. Accessing the cave was done in much the same manner as the chap in the photo, (except I was wearing shorts, T-shirt. baseball cap and had no ropes...)
It was a scorching hot day but there had been storms in the preceding days - this had resulted in a big chunk of coastline collapsing (in the bay just north of here - Miggiano), but everything looked ok in this bay..
This particular cave is dubbed The Cave of the Witches due to the the particular conformation of its internal rocks, which seem to suggest the presence of female hands with long nails. They also say that the natural bowls of water near the entrance are used as cauldrons.. and that the sulphur vapours are related to witchcraft too. In 1879 Paolo Emilio Stasi, a painter from Spongano, identified a deposit of Pleistocene fauna inside the cave. Part of the Pleistocene deposits are still observable among the different rocky stratifications of the cave, and re-emerge as light patches of various sizes in brown and red deposits. These caves along the coast are evidence of freshwater rivers that used to flow underground and out into the sea (karst).
I took this halfway down the climb - the views were just incredible. Photos can never do the scale of this justice...
(Consult earlier photo for scale)
Witches cauldrons on the ground in front of the entrance.
The remaining rock is some of the hardest and roughest rock I've ever encountered - climbing it barefoot is impossible (dur to pain) and my hands were rather scratched up.
I don't know what rock it is, I have a geological journal article of the area but it's in Italian and I've not had chance to get it translated.. just take my word for it.
Rock formation above the entrance. Not sure how it's all held together..
The opening chamber. White stuff is a combination of very bright sunlight + pigeon sh*t... it must be part of the witches brew because it was everywhere (along with a few stewing pigeon carcasses)
As you can see, the cave continues down a narrow passage (at the back)
One of my favourite views.. Hard to get tired of this
"Hmmm, I wonder what all the black stuff is......"
"Seems like there's a sort of black moss lining the rock.."
NOPE
Insects from hell
Turns out that the passage into the second chamber was absolutely lined with these buggers...
When you walk past them and disturb them with movement or light, they instantly begin to swarm you. I had to run down the passage because it quickly became impossible to breathe.
In fact, I nearly called the whole thing off. I have video footage if anyone wants to see.
My adoring fans may have noticed my absence for the last month or so...
Or not. Either way, I'm back.
Background
This was one of many caves I explored in Salento - but one of just two that I was able to photograph. Many of the caves in the region can only be accessed from the sea, and unfortunately I no longer have a trustworthy camera housing.
Plus, I left my cheap Chinese Go-Pro back in the UK... Not that anyone would want to see footage from it.
I had spotted this cave on the map and saw that nobody had posted any photos from inside it (aside from the Italian speleological society) so I thought this was up my alley. There are boat tours that allow you to see the outside of the cave (along with many others).
I used this as a good scouting opportunity - It looked doable from above, although swimming from a boat would've been more refreshing in the 36c weather...
I include the photo on the right for scale - it's hard to gauge the magnitude of this cave otherwise. Accessing the cave was done in much the same manner as the chap in the photo, (except I was wearing shorts, T-shirt. baseball cap and had no ropes...)
It was a scorching hot day but there had been storms in the preceding days - this had resulted in a big chunk of coastline collapsing (in the bay just north of here - Miggiano), but everything looked ok in this bay..
This particular cave is dubbed The Cave of the Witches due to the the particular conformation of its internal rocks, which seem to suggest the presence of female hands with long nails. They also say that the natural bowls of water near the entrance are used as cauldrons.. and that the sulphur vapours are related to witchcraft too. In 1879 Paolo Emilio Stasi, a painter from Spongano, identified a deposit of Pleistocene fauna inside the cave. Part of the Pleistocene deposits are still observable among the different rocky stratifications of the cave, and re-emerge as light patches of various sizes in brown and red deposits. These caves along the coast are evidence of freshwater rivers that used to flow underground and out into the sea (karst).
I took this halfway down the climb - the views were just incredible. Photos can never do the scale of this justice...
(Consult earlier photo for scale)
Witches cauldrons on the ground in front of the entrance.
The remaining rock is some of the hardest and roughest rock I've ever encountered - climbing it barefoot is impossible (dur to pain) and my hands were rather scratched up.
I don't know what rock it is, I have a geological journal article of the area but it's in Italian and I've not had chance to get it translated.. just take my word for it.
Rock formation above the entrance. Not sure how it's all held together..
The opening chamber. White stuff is a combination of very bright sunlight + pigeon sh*t... it must be part of the witches brew because it was everywhere (along with a few stewing pigeon carcasses)
As you can see, the cave continues down a narrow passage (at the back)
One of my favourite views.. Hard to get tired of this
"Hmmm, I wonder what all the black stuff is......"
"Seems like there's a sort of black moss lining the rock.."
NOPE
Insects from hell
Turns out that the passage into the second chamber was absolutely lined with these buggers...
When you walk past them and disturb them with movement or light, they instantly begin to swarm you. I had to run down the passage because it quickly became impossible to breathe.
In fact, I nearly called the whole thing off. I have video footage if anyone wants to see.
(Yes, the white stuff is webs)
This is a small segment of the passage.. On one side you had the flies, on the other you had a wall of spiders.
Apologies for the awful pics, I was in a rush to get through the flies whilst avoiding the spiders.. not a fan.
An upper level - this leads to one of the ?'s shown on the map.
It definitely wasn't the spiders and insects which put me off climbing up there and seeing....
(I'm sure there's a good reason why the Italian caving federation didn't venture up there with all their gear, I'm sure it wasn't arachnophobia)
After the passage of spiders and flies, there is a small chamber which occasionally floods during the prolonged bad weather, and then ^this^ narrowing.
(For scale, it must be done on hands and knees)
After crawling though the narrowing, you soon reach the end.
Many of the mineral deposits had unfortunately been damaged, but still lovely to look at.
On the climb back up...
Arrivederci
This is a small segment of the passage.. On one side you had the flies, on the other you had a wall of spiders.
Apologies for the awful pics, I was in a rush to get through the flies whilst avoiding the spiders.. not a fan.
An upper level - this leads to one of the ?'s shown on the map.
It definitely wasn't the spiders and insects which put me off climbing up there and seeing....
(I'm sure there's a good reason why the Italian caving federation didn't venture up there with all their gear, I'm sure it wasn't arachnophobia)
After the passage of spiders and flies, there is a small chamber which occasionally floods during the prolonged bad weather, and then ^this^ narrowing.
(For scale, it must be done on hands and knees)
After crawling though the narrowing, you soon reach the end.
Many of the mineral deposits had unfortunately been damaged, but still lovely to look at.
On the climb back up...
Arrivederci
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