Today we head north to Utuado, but we won’t go to the usual spot in the area, The Camuy Caves… nope, today we head to another smaller cave with a spectacular view! “La Ventana” or “window” in English, is a short trip. Utuado is really close to Arecibo, neighboring towns, and you could do this trip on the same round as the Taíno Indian Cave of my last blog.
“La Ventana” is named as such because there is a hole in the wall of the cave that lets you look at the view outside. As most of the amazing sites in PR, this isn’t some commercial spot with a parking and a gate. (Road #10, Exit 75B off PR#22 expressway.) You actually park at a Texaco gas station to your left (the name might have changed) and walk up the path that can be seen from the road. Take the left hand path that leads downward.
There will be a fork in the road. Once again, keep to the left. You will see a burnt car to the right of the path. (Yes, sadly, along with the beautiful sites, there is usually nasty stuff like trash. I should’ve taken a pic, but didn’t.) It’s really not a very long walk. Maybe 15 minutes.
As the path winds down you see some man-made steps… This is the point where you check to make sure you brought your flashlight. If you didn’t, go back to the gas station and buy one. It is pitch black inside!
Needless to say, if it is a cave, there will be bats. However, they usually mind their own business. On the other hand, I don’t recall seeing many spiders, “guavás” or other such cave dwellers. The place is actually pretty clean. And there’s no need to worry about getting lost… Somebody already solved that problem:
There are interesting rock formations to see. One in particular called my attention. A stalactite that looked like a seat hanging from the ceiling.
Follow the arrows or simply the cave and 5 minutes later you are at La Ventana. The view is just spectacular and it feels really nice to “step into the light” after the pitch darkness of the cave. Enjoy!
I’m not sure if this is a thing that the locals do, but I feel that sitting on that is kind of a stupid thing to do. Those formations take eons to be made and you want to try to ruin it by sitting on it for a picture?
Why would sitting on a rock for 2 minutes ruin it?