Gruta San Pedro

San Pedro Cave


Useful Information

Location: At Sorata, 150 km north of La Paz. County Larecaja, Department La Paz.
Open: daily 8 to 17.
Fee:
Classification: SpeleologyKarst cave. Marble.
Light: electric - for a fee. You are advised to take a torch in case the electricity fails.
Dimension: L=660 m, A=2,590 m asl
Guided tours: If you hire a guide in the village, insist on a boat!
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography: Andrew Pavey (1976): A Cave in Bolivia, The British Caver Vol 64 August 1976 pp 6 - 12, location map, survey, photo.
Address:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then.
Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1966 electric lights installed.

Description

From La Paz, take the bus to Sorata, which is about 150 km to the north. From Sorata head for the village of San Pedro which is a two hour, down hill walk. The cave takes its name from this village. The cave entrance is just visible from San Pedro at the base of a 40 m high marble cliff. The entrance narrows to to an ancient gate 2 m high by 1 m wide. This is followed by a small chamber with a sloping dirt, boulder strewn floor with a roof lowering from 2 m down to 1 m where it is necessary to crawl through to a very large cavern which is 30 m wide and 15 m high and goes for 100 m to a lake. Here a boat is required to visit the rest of the cave.

Some interesting legends are connected with this cave. It is said that the conquistadores buried a large hoard of treasure somewhere deep inside the cave and that they deliberately flooded the cave to conceal their riches. Although the lake inside the cave is natural, ”El Dorado„ still exists in the minds of the local people.


Text by Tony Oldham (2002). With kind permission.