Cueva de Palestina

Cueva de los Guácharos


Useful Information

Location: Región San Martín, Provincia Rioja, Distrito Nueva Cajamarca. 10 minutes walk from Palestina village. (-5.92691, -77.35190)
Open: All year daily after appointment.
[2020]
Fee: .
[2020]
Classification: SpeleologyKarst Cave
Light: bring torch
Dimension: L=3,386 m, VR=33 m, A=900 m.
Guided tours: cave trekking tours, D=2h
Photography: allowed
Accessibility: no
Bibliography: J. Y. Bigot (2018): Visite de la partie touristique de la grotte de Palestina Bulletin ECA-GSBM-GSD-GSVulcain, Cerro Blanco 2017 : 61. pdf
N. Mazzilli, D. Vignoles (2018): Cueva de Palestina Bulletin ECA-GSBM-GSD-GSVulcain, Cerro Blanco 2017 : 132-133. pdf
C. Mick (2018): El turismo como incentivo para la protección del medio ambiente? Apuntes etnográficos de una región kárstica Second International Karst Symposium, Chachapoyas (Peru), 08/2018. pdf
Address: Cueva de Palestina, Centro turistico Cuevas de Palestina S.A.C. (ADES), M. Herrera Ruiz. E-mail:
Celmira Bustamante Torres, Tel: +51-951-581485.
Esther Bustamante Torres, Tel: +51-948-451019.
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

2003 first speleological exploration by the Bristol Exploration Club during the 2003 Pucará expedition.
07-SEP-2010 explored by the ECA group from Lima and the Expedition Pérou 2010.
18-MAY-2011 ECA Group explores and surveys.
04-SEP-2013 extended during the Alto Mayo 2013 expedition.
2014 during the Nueva Cajamarca 2014 expedition, three groups explore the cave at the same time.
10-SEP-2014 the "Pérou Planète Extrême" film crew films in the cave.

Description

The entrance to the Cueva de Palestina (Palestine Cave) is located at the bottom of a narrow valley with two entrances that give access to the underground river. At the right the fossil gallery to the north is arranged for tourism. It is accessed with a staircase, which ends with a recently opened narrow passage. This artificial entrance allowed a one way tour through the cave, which is left through a natural entrance. The cave is named after the nearby town Palestina.

The bigger section is the river cave which is only accessible to spelelologists. The cave was intensively explored by French and Peruan cavers between 2010 and 2018, with almost yearly speleological expeditions. The development of the tourist section boosted the economic and helped the locals to be less dependent on the coffee course. But there are also drawbacks, like damages to the cave, ecologic problems and social conflict. The development is monitored by the speleologists.