Cueva del Guácharo — where the ancestors live

OVERVIEW

Guácharo Cave is a limestone cavern over 10 km long near Caripe in Monagas, at a constant 19 °C and 100% humidity, home to thousands of guácharos, or oilbirds, which leave in great flocks at dusk. Their Spanish name comes from an old word for one who shrieks.

HISTORY

The cave was sacred to the Chaima of the Caripe region. Their piaches (magicians) and imorons (poisoners) used it to summon Ivorokiamo, the supreme evil spirit. The account recorded says the cave was a mystical place where the souls of the ancestors lived in the depths; a man should fear places not lit by sun or moon; and to join the guácharos was the same as joining the ancestors — to die. Only the first section, where the birds nest, was entered, for the annual harvest of their oil. Alexander von Humboldt visited in 1799 and made the first scientific study of the cave, naming the oilbird Steatornis caripensis.

REPORTED ACTIVITY

The entry records a documented indigenous belief about a specific cave, attached to the place since before Humboldt, rather than any modern report.

VISITING

Guided visits from the park entrance 12 km from Caripe. Stay for the evening exodus of the birds. The inner cave is closed.