Cueva Lucero

Cueva Lucero is a cave in the Juana Diaz area that is close to the road, well visited, and offers Taino petroglyphs and pictographs as well as a huge amount of graffiti. When we first entered it didn't seem like it would be that interesting for a few reasons: it was an easy saunter to get there, the cave was very small and didn't involve crawling or much mud, there was a lot of graffiti mixed in and over the interesting stuff. It is kind of like going to the Guanica Dry Forest - if you don't know anything about the plants there and their uniqueness it is a scrubby place that doesn't seem special at all! Luckily we had some avid caver friends with us who know what is what and who have some historical information to help us comprehend what we are looking at. This trip was done to try to document through photos, drawings and mapping the locations and designs of important petroglyphs and pictographs. The other people used rulers to show scale, or gave locations inside the cave as to where they were located and I just set out to record the images themselves.

When you slip through a hole into the cave you are really in a giant room where the top has fallen in. The area is bathed in light and the rock walls that get light have a green tinge to them. This opening above is huge and there are also little tube type "windows" up above. There are two main passages that lead to areas that have a lot of carvings in them. This petroglyph is inside the initial entry. It is believed the Taino slaves would escape to this cave to hang out I guess. They couldn't read or write so many of the designs are very simple. (I am trying to piece together information I heard, that I've read about, and if any one has good information for me I'd like to investigate these things further!)


There are mainly pictographs and some are very faint which is why we are documenting them. This one is obviously a bird, probably a heron, but some of the other designs are kind of odd looking and don't look like anything to me.

This could be a pelican.

These carvings are designs found elsewhere in the cave as well. Some designs are repeated in multiple places. I don't know if this is the sun god I've read about but the other design maybe is a butterfly?

The designs are all very simple. It is disappointing that there is so much graffiti covering things, but the graffiti also has a story to tell (that is another post).

These are probably turtles.

A centipede maybe?

Possibly a coqui? I guess it is natural to try to figure out what things "are." I don't know why I feel like I need to know but I do. Maybe there are clues as to what things were living here and what was important to the people. I would love to come here with an anthropologist!

These figures were in the main fallen-in-area. I have many more photos of different designs and a lot of historical graffiti that is interesting but you can't fit many images on a blog post so they'll have to wait! It was a small but interesting cave that when you start really seeing what is there becomes a very interesting cave. Every cave has a personality and this one is the first that seemed full of people!

Warm Furry Bodies All Around

It's been awhile since we've had a cat post. They are still a huge source of amusement and we seem to have shut down the baby factories - no new kitties (whew). Tuca of course was the little kitty my neighbor brought over. She is the most socialized since she was young when she came to us and she sleeps in the crook of my arm at night. She is ugly and adorable at the same time. Why do we love these little sacks of guts?

I came home after being out and discovered Stripes totally comfortable and stretched out on the bed on a rainy day. When we are home he isn't ever on the bed. What goes on when we are out?

Princess is the one who had the armpit slice that was totally feral to the point of the vet putting the bird cage she was in in a bag to administer gas so they could knock her out before touching her to fix her up. She sits next to me now and likes to be scratched or gently petted. She is really homely and one of her eyes is very foggy. Poor girl.


Chicken is the first and one of the favorites (except when he hops off the bed and wants out at 4am). Look at that little pink mouth! He is still kind of a solitary guy and I think he hangs with the real chickens in the morning.


Blanco is beautiful and super sweet. He is so soft and gentle...a lovely boy.


Bepo was the baby factory and is mother to all except maybe Mini and Pollo and Chicken. She had those huge wounds a few months ago but they are healed and she mainly stays inside and doesn't wander unless it is directly near me in the yard.


In the morning after breakfast the group picks an area and heads out in a caravan up the hill, down the other hill or into the plants. On the bottom is Puff, upper left is Mars, and on the right is Pollo..Mini was the leader and is up top somewhere. Where do they go all day? Sometimes I discover them in little mobs snoozing under shrubs or trees or in the tall grass. Some of them just hang out on or under the couch. They really like to be on the balcony outside the screen they have pulled out that gives them entrance to the house...safe I guess. We love the kitties...

Yesterday's Rain

I still can't get all my little videos on here so I just have the one. Yesterday it rained almost 3 inches in a couple hours after a long, grey, day. Our river appeared again and sent debris down down down near the fence line. The neighbors chain link fence borders the two properties and we are/were on the "up" side but they think digging it out is a good plan so it gets deeper and the water moves faster and one of these days the fence will fall over. It is unbelievable how fast and furious the water moves and then in an hour it is completely gone. I have been planting gingers and trees and all kinds of things I dig up and move from one place to another down there. I have some bamboo started and the plan is to plant that down there to stabilize things but I don't want to do it when it might get washed away! The house and "creek" have been here for 30 years so we know the house isn't going anywhere and the erosion is gradual I guess. I plan on planting vetiver in the path of the water every 10 feet or so when the wash out danger is past but it will probably only divert it somewhere else! If I can grow enough vetiver I can use it to terrace things with a trail on the upside and the vetiver as a dam sporadically across the hill. What I WILL NOT be doing is digging it deeper! It doesn't rain all that much here but when it does....it really does!

Ideas Requested...

Jeff and I are looking for a couple two night mini-vacations on the island. They don't need to be diving or caving adventures - just a couple nights on the eastern, central or northern part of the island.

We'd like to see El Yungue and maybe do some hiking. We enjoy waterfalls, hot springs, adventures, animals etc. We also like botanical gardens and kayaking. Staying in a small cabin or bed and breakfast (with a normal American breakfast) would be nice. We aren't extravagant. We are interested in Culebra or Vieques but can't get good info on how to get there - sounds like walking on is best but then what? We need to take a couple trips by the end of December. Maybe a bunch of botanical gardens close to good food...someplace quiet in the forest near hiking trails etc...some kind of neat place where they wander around with you pointing out amphibians, different types of coquis or plants... it seems best to sort things out by seeing if any of you have gone anywhere!

So if you have gone overnight somewhere in those areas and have a place to recommend we'd love to hear about it!