Grotta Donato Micello - Italy - August 2021
(The last documented explore of my trip)
Background
As stated in a previous report of mine, this region of Italy is rife with natural caves however they are mostly coastal.
I am unable to find much info on this cave. There is this report, done by a local caving team, but that's the best I can do.
It's a sink hole, and fossils have been found there.. No cave paintings (although a nearby cave apparently does).
I honestly have no idea how far I got.
The whole thing has more twists and turns than my garden hose and tighter than a fat girls leggings.
I'd estimate that I was about to enter Salla Delle Rudiste before shifting into reverse.
----------------------------------
The Explore
As always, a very hot day. Temps were >36c and I was in the mood for a cold and damp cave. I got dropped off a short trek from the cave and had a pleasant little stroll through the olive groves.
There was some spectacular scenery en route to the cave.
The cacti in the background, the orange hues of a setting sun, and a burnt out Vespa really captured the Southern Italian vibe for me.
At some point on my walk to the cave I began to smell the unmistakable smell of a rotting corpse. And believe me, when the weather is as hot and humid as it was, it was pungent.
As I ambled across empty olive groves and climbed stone walls, the smell got stronger and stronger. I began to spot spent shotgun shells on the floor and got excited at the prospect of discovering
a Mafia hit (and hopefully not becoming one). I was close to a quarry and in a fairly remote area of South Italy, so it's hardly impossible.
I followed the scent like a cadaver dog, and came across a big pile of sticks and some sort of corpse wrapped in a towel...
I had a peek and saw a mat of thick black hair.. On this basis, rookies may jump to conclusions that this was in fact some sort of animal..
however they would underestimate the hairiness of Mediterranean men.
My concerns were finally allayed upon finding tail bones and then the rotting skull of a dog.
Ok ok...
"Enough foreplay" - I'm just trying to say that the trip to the cave was a good mooch in and of itself...
----------------------------------
The Cave
As usual, I walked past the cave at first. It is well hidden amongst the undergrowth and under a tree.
It was unlocked too, which was a great result.
Some very tight squeezes.. Lid for scale
Navigating the cave system was slow progress. Much of it was spent crawling, or on my belly.
Usually there would be a tight horizontal crawl, followed by a small vertical hole like this. Crawl down.
Rinse and repeat.
Another example of the holes down to the next crawl
Really enjoyed seeing these
This was particularly fun.
You climb down the hole, crouch and then continue forward on your belly until you find the next chamber. At which point you can attempt turning around...
It wasn't long after this point that I had to call the trip short as I was rapidly approaching the point where even I think "gee, this is dumb"
I had left my supply bag behind a while ago due to the squeezes and it became obvious quite how big this system was... And it was no Sunday stroll to be tackled solo.
I had to slowly work myself back and then up out of this hole. The black object near the centre of the photo was the rubber shoe sole of a previous explore who probably had as much fun as I did.
These formations were stunning
The local caving team filmed their expedition into this cave back in 2010.
It can be found by typing "Poggiardo (LE) grotta Micello (I parte)" into Youtube.
There are two parts, and it highlights quite how tight and winding this cave is, but also how beautiful it is.
They got a lot further than I did!
I would love to go back with the right gear and do it properly because I barely scratched the surface of this place (although I can safely say that this cave scratched the sh*t out of me).
-----------------------
Hope you enjoyed this report, and I hope there will be a follow up to this one day..
(The last documented explore of my trip)
Background
As stated in a previous report of mine, this region of Italy is rife with natural caves however they are mostly coastal.
I am unable to find much info on this cave. There is this report, done by a local caving team, but that's the best I can do.
It's a sink hole, and fossils have been found there.. No cave paintings (although a nearby cave apparently does).
I honestly have no idea how far I got.
The whole thing has more twists and turns than my garden hose and tighter than a fat girls leggings.
I'd estimate that I was about to enter Salla Delle Rudiste before shifting into reverse.
----------------------------------
The Explore
As always, a very hot day. Temps were >36c and I was in the mood for a cold and damp cave. I got dropped off a short trek from the cave and had a pleasant little stroll through the olive groves.
There was some spectacular scenery en route to the cave.
The cacti in the background, the orange hues of a setting sun, and a burnt out Vespa really captured the Southern Italian vibe for me.
At some point on my walk to the cave I began to smell the unmistakable smell of a rotting corpse. And believe me, when the weather is as hot and humid as it was, it was pungent.
As I ambled across empty olive groves and climbed stone walls, the smell got stronger and stronger. I began to spot spent shotgun shells on the floor and got excited at the prospect of discovering
a Mafia hit (and hopefully not becoming one). I was close to a quarry and in a fairly remote area of South Italy, so it's hardly impossible.
I followed the scent like a cadaver dog, and came across a big pile of sticks and some sort of corpse wrapped in a towel...
I had a peek and saw a mat of thick black hair.. On this basis, rookies may jump to conclusions that this was in fact some sort of animal..
however they would underestimate the hairiness of Mediterranean men.
My concerns were finally allayed upon finding tail bones and then the rotting skull of a dog.
Ok ok...
"Enough foreplay" - I'm just trying to say that the trip to the cave was a good mooch in and of itself...
----------------------------------
The Cave
As usual, I walked past the cave at first. It is well hidden amongst the undergrowth and under a tree.
It was unlocked too, which was a great result.
Some very tight squeezes.. Lid for scale
Navigating the cave system was slow progress. Much of it was spent crawling, or on my belly.
Usually there would be a tight horizontal crawl, followed by a small vertical hole like this. Crawl down.
Rinse and repeat.
Another example of the holes down to the next crawl
Really enjoyed seeing these
This was particularly fun.
You climb down the hole, crouch and then continue forward on your belly until you find the next chamber. At which point you can attempt turning around...
It wasn't long after this point that I had to call the trip short as I was rapidly approaching the point where even I think "gee, this is dumb"
I had left my supply bag behind a while ago due to the squeezes and it became obvious quite how big this system was... And it was no Sunday stroll to be tackled solo.
I had to slowly work myself back and then up out of this hole. The black object near the centre of the photo was the rubber shoe sole of a previous explore who probably had as much fun as I did.
These formations were stunning
The local caving team filmed their expedition into this cave back in 2010.
It can be found by typing "Poggiardo (LE) grotta Micello (I parte)" into Youtube.
There are two parts, and it highlights quite how tight and winding this cave is, but also how beautiful it is.
They got a lot further than I did!
I would love to go back with the right gear and do it properly because I barely scratched the surface of this place (although I can safely say that this cave scratched the sh*t out of me).
-----------------------
Hope you enjoyed this report, and I hope there will be a follow up to this one day..
