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Isla de Mona, Puerto Rico

3/3/2014

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Isla de Mona is an island roughly halfway between the Caribbean islands of Puerto Rico and Hispaniola.  It is part of Puerto Rico, which is a territory of the United States. 

And it takes a boat to get there, and after many hours on that boat you see..
Picture
A ship wreck in front of the numerous cave entrances on Isla de Mona.
The island is a mostly flat-topped mesa in the middle of the sea, with a lot of caves.

And there is a bit in common with the comics about a deserted island, which is different from a desert island.  This is a desert island, and has lots of cactus and otherwise spiny plants to demonstrate such, but other than a biologist and a guard is also a deserted island..
Picture
Spiny cactus and sharp limestone make walking interesting.
But we were fearless and hit a lot of caves while there (this was back around the year 2000)
Picture
Off to Agua Cave
Agua Cave is a rather small cave, but one of the few caves on the island that goes down to water.  Don't slip on the trail!
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Pretty stuff in Agua Cave
Picture
And the blue water at the bottom of the cave.
But there are dozens of caves.  I will end this with a couple pics from Erickson Cave.
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Rex looking at a wild pile of stal.
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Rex on a trail. These caves were mined heavily for guano back in the day, and lots of reminders of such are still there.
Picture
And there are a number of caves with artwork. Here, still in Erickson Cave, is a bit where fingers smooshed some art on the walls. This is unique in the Caribbean to my knowledge.
Picture
And this seems like something of note. There is a likely pre-Colombian artwork here with a bit of mud over-scribbles that looks like a crucifixion (the arms out are clear in the larger-sized pic). Or something. Both Pre-Colombian art and early post-Colombian art seem present in this room.
And while all these caves seem like they should be connected, some are not.  From Erickson Cave, there is a high-level route to get to Surprise Cave.  And I end this post with a photo of Matt on this rather exposed bit.
Picture
Matt crossing the exposed section of trail after working in Surprise Cave
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    Keith Christenson - Wildlife Biologist

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