BIENVENIDO A LA PAGINA DEL GRUPO ESPELEOLOGICO ZOTZ

Show caves often have electric lights, cement "paths" and noisy crowds moving through the cavern on a tight schedule. While all this assures the visitor that he or she is perfectly safe, it also takes away the uniqueness of an under-ground experience, con-verting it into a sort of stroll through a Disney-land basement.

A guided tour of Tampumachay Cave - located about ten kilometers south of Colima City, Colima - is guaranteed not to cheat tourists of the thrill and wonder that entice cave explorers again and again into the subterra-nean wilderness.

We came to know about this cave from Manuel Gallegos of Colima, a member of SEDUE, the government branch which looks after ecology in Mexico. Naturally, we decided to do our own tour, without benefit of a local guide.

First of all, we were told that there were two caves located in this long, limestone cerro, their entrances a short distance apart. We entered the first, which is less than a meter high and soon came to a pit with a wooden ladder in it. This looked sturdy enough, so we climbed down, wondering if (as on other occasions) the "cave" might turn out to be a mine. However, at the end of a short duckwalk we found ourselves peering down into the darkness of an obviously big room. We could spot flowstone off in the distance and enormous chunks of breakdown on the floor. Best of all, the room just kept going off to the right, for as far as we could see.

What a treat awaits the casual visitor who spots the Grutas sign at the pueblo of Tampumachay and signs up for a tour! They get to duckwalk through a forest of shimmering white columns and stalactites, clamber down gigantic chunks of breakdown into a huge chamber whose ceiling is barely visible and march through thick deposits of spongy bat guano.

Several kinds of bats (including vampires) flutter above at all times and, if you're lucky, you may even spy a vinagrillo creeping along some wall. These strange creatures resemble large (six-inch-long) scorpions because of their crab-like claws and get their name from a vinegar-like smell they supposedly exude when disturbed. However, fear not; instead of a sting, they merely have two big, black fangs, which, according to some reports we've heard, may not even be poisonous (no one seems to know).

It didn't take us long to demolish the two-cave theory. The second entrance leads to a really beautiful balcony that overlooks the far end of the "big room". We made the connection with our cable ladder, whose seven meters didn't quite reach the floor, but later discovered an easier way down.

There are plenty of side passages in both the upper and lower parts of the cave, one of which is filled with carbon dioxide, as Juan Blake and I discovered when we were forced to turn back in a crawlway leading to a drop of unknown depth. We didn't gripe too much about having to abandon our search, as the floor of this crawlway is literally crawling with small centipedes!

There's a flat, grassy area just outside entrance number one, and here is where we set up camp. Then, as twilight descended, we were treated to the amazing spectacle of thousands of bats fluttering out into the night sky, off to search for mosquitoes and other nasty pests. We had never been so perfectly located for bat-watching and were just as awed as Manuel and several of his friends who had never gone caving before.

But the most memorable event in our two visits to the cave was the discovery of a small boa constrictor hanging from the ceiling of the low entrance tunnel, methodi-cally knotting itself around an unfortunate bat which it had apparently plucked from the air moments before. After strangling the bat, the snake, whose head was no wider than your finger, proceeded to swallow it whole. Manuel told us that this or another snake had been seen dangling from the ceiling before, suggesting that this method of hunting may represent learned behavior and frequent visits to this convenient "restaurant."

As we were planning to go into the cave through the entrance occupied by the snake, some of us city slickers wondered just what the creature was going to do as we passed by, only inches away. One of Manuel's friends told us not to worry. The local people, it seems, are used to keeping a boa around the home as a mouse catcher and he assured us they don't bite, but only swallow.

Located in a semi-tropical zone, Tampumachay cave is rather warm and humid. However, there is a wide, cool river only half an hour's walk away, at the end of a pretty path through the woods. We washed off the sweat, mud and guano and the next morning spent some time conducting an improvised caving course for Manuel and company.

Tampumachay cave was just too interesting for anyone to even attempt mapping it, which means we have a good excuse for at least a few more visits. Maybe we'll be lucky and have a chance to watch how that clever boa gets to the top of the entrance.