Magma tunnel

Following a super morning on the beach where I eventually ventured into the sea properly I left my daughter and grandson and took a bus trip to the north of the island to visit the Green Caves. These turned out not to be really green after all - it is just the name of the family who discovered them! However, in reality the caves were formed by an enormous magma tunnel, millions of years ago, from which the erupting volcano poured it's molten lava across the land until it literally fell into the sea.

As we approached the northern part of the island it was interesting to see a lot more greenery, in the form of aloe Vera plants and cacti, as the black volcanic mass has gradually ground down over the years to become more like soil through which any falling rain can penetrate and sustain plant life again. The entrance to the caves, which have been formed by the tunnels of fast flowing magma, is quite big and as you work through it, following a guide, some areas are so narrow and low that you have to bend down and squeeze through. The narrow passageways open out into large caverns which take your breath away. Unlike the caves back home these are completely dry and the stone is hard to the touch and you can see various shapes and colours as the different parts of the molten lava have cooled in varying degrees. I was mesmerised and tried to take photos to attempt to give an idea of what is was like, but to be honest the best way to experience it is to be there. Flash photography bled the stone completely so I turned it off and although the resulting shots are somewhat blurry I hope you can get a sense of scale from this blip as the folk ahead of me were working their way up through the tunnel. Amazingly, about 50' down the tunnel opens out into an especially large space which is now used as a concert hall about once a month. The acoustics are apparently excellent as volcanic stone is so porous and there is no echo at all. Imagine working your way through dark, narrow fissures to a concert venue deep in the belly of the volcanic earth!

Once back to base my daughter, grandson and I had a great meal out to celebrate the end of a very enjoyable holiday. Although 2yr old L was way, way past his bedtime he was brilliant and watched everything with interest, alternately playing with some fun games on my daughter's IPad. He is sound asleep now but we hope his late night might mean he sleeps well in the plane tomorrow.