​CUEVA ACAMPAR EN DIAMANTE FALLS

Tree of Life tour company calls it cave camping. Yes, technically we slept last night in a cave. Nicer than any of our cabin or hotel accommodations to date, we more accurately spent 24 hours in Eden.

Eating the classic breakfast of Costa Rica, Gallo Pinto y Huevos, and sipping perfectly roasted and brewed local coffee, I find myself writing drafts out loud in a vein effort to put this special place into words.

Tucked under a 200 meter wide rock overhang, four waterfalls breaking overhead, and long views down the lush Diamante River valley, our "cave" is complete with a full service kitchen, showers, 3 bathrooms, a bar, 3 picnic tables, and sleeps 30.

"This is perhaps the best party spot in the world," I share with Abraham, our guide, the 13th of 18 kids that nearly all work in the guide business.

"Yeah." This is how the majority of Abraham's sentences begin while he searches for the right words in English. It's easier just to speak to him in Spanish even though his English is quite good, a result, no doubt, of working for 8 years with Outward Bound and 5 years now with Tree of Life. "We have had 60 here. It took 10 guides to cook and take care of things."

That must have been an epic party.

Our first view of "Cave Falls" as Abraham calls them followed a sweaty 1 hour hike nearly straight up the ridge including 1,500 crude stairs hand set by the guided to make the trail a lot easier to climb than what we experienced on Cerro Chato over a week ago. This is decadent relative to our other rain forest hikes. They have spent 10 years dialing this trip in so anyone can make it if you give them enough time. Abraham recalls one particular woman who took 7 hours to make the mile long hike and loved every second of it. I am certain the "Ticos" were every bit as gracious with her as they have been with us our entire trip. That is simply their way.

The trail descends about 100 "steps" as you drop to the base of the waterfall. Our first view of Cave Falls is through the foliage. Two brilliant white falls are clear. They tumble from a long rock ledge dropping 120 feet to a plunge pool. Between the two gushers is a moss covered vertical rock face that tomorrow we will rappel. Good we didn't know that yet.

The scene is so big it is hard to take in on your first view. Finally pulling my eyes from the falls, I realize our trail goes through the plunge pool's run out, up a series of rock steps between the falls, and then ducks behind the second waterfall. Fascinated by the route, my eyes follow the trail 50 meters to the right and I see it. A camp site hidden in plain sight under the rock over hang, two more gentler waterfalls cascading over it. The rock overhang above it is decorated in green moss, danging vines, and guarded by a couple of towering trees and their foliage.

It's obvious that's the "cave." Nevertheless we have to ask, it just looks to good to be true: "Is that the campsite?"

"Yeah."

Excited, we stumble down the remaining stairs to the plunge pool. Looking up instead of down, two of us soak our feet in the stream crossing. We fly up the spray soaked rock stairs between the falls our tired legs suddenly immune to the effects of the preceding 1,500 stairs. Eager to see camp, we may have run the 50 meter trail behind the falls.

"Wow."

That's all the words that form as my eyes begin their inspection.

Dirt and rocks for retaining walls have been used to create three distinct levels in the "cave."

The first, a bedroom level, features elevated sleeping platforms tucked against the back wall of the cave for 30 people, give or take. A berm wall separating the bedroom from the Kitchen and Lounge level above serves the dual purpose of couch-like seating for about 15 people. A fire pit and two large tables complete the bedroom. The tables are substantial. They could have easily been pulled from the Hofbrau Haus in Munich. I suspect they have hosted just as many pints of beer and rousing drinking songs.

A dirt path runs gradually up to the second level - a kitchen, bar, and dining / lounge area surprisingly not constrained for space.

A large bar greets your arrival to the kitchen as if to say "what would you like to drink?" Behind the bar and in the center of the kitchen floats an island complete with two large propane powered commercial stoves. The back and side of the cave wall have been used to make an "L" shaped counter top that includes: a three sink washing station, a pantry, storage for the usual pots, pans, and utensils, and lots of room for chopping and prepping. Underfoot is a floor carefully tiled with flat stones and grouted with concrete. The floor is kept immaculate, clean enough to eat off. Overhead a small black chain dangles from the rock ceiling above the bar. Solar powered blow up lanterns will be hung from the chain once it gets dark.

Another large dining table sits between the bedroom and kitchen complete with more couch-like seating built along the cave wall. An end table of sorts is constructed of bermed dirt and capped with a long flat rock to form the table top. A stack of games, cards, and a bouquet of fresh cut greens and flowers makes the whole scene quite cave homey.

The mystery left in the kitchen tour is the three water faucets over each of the three sinks. Those can't possibly work, right?

Following the water pipes around the corner of the kitchen reveals a third cave level with a hand washing sink and four semi-private shower stalls. The water pipes run over head feeding shower heads each with their own turn-on valve. At the end of the row of showers is a private room featuring a fully functional, flush-able, toilet just like back home. I can't quick picture the laughs when they hauled this in here on horses. Like the kitchen, the shower floors and toilet room are tiled with cave stones and grouted with concrete, drains in the center. Seriously.

Beyond the bathroom, at the end of the 200 meter wide overhang, sits a five gallon bucket carefully positioned to catch a small stream of water running down the rock wall above. The collection bucket feeds the water pipes running out it's bottom. The contraption sits higher than the kitchen and bathroom levels, the water weight creating ample pressure for the whole system. The Professor should be embarrassed, our cave shames Gilligan's island.

The next logical thought, of course: where does the shit go?

Hidden in the lush foliage just below the cave's edge is a 4" PVC pipe that begins at the kitchen and runs under the bathroom drains. The pipe runs all the way to the canyon wall opposite from where we initially descended to the plunge pool. The pipe follows a trail that runs down to a self contained micro-sewage processing system that contains everything for treatment. Two more bathrooms, also equipped with proper toilets, are built above it; increased capacity for large groups.

The whole system is a remarkable feat of engineering.

Abraham lights the candles on our dining table and flips on the solar powered twinkle lights dangling from the bar. We pause our game of Canasta to generously fill our dinner plates from the feast laid out on the bar. The girls once again crush Laura and I in Canasta. Ribbing and laughs from retelling the day's stories fills the air.

Far from claustrophobic, brilliant star-field views are clear even from my bed in the back of the cave. The stars and a lightning show in the distance paint silhouettes of the foliage. The gushing falls lull you to sleep.

As my eyes grow heavy and close, I mutter a few final words to sum up another remarkable day: "So this is cave camping."

"Roughing it," Laura acknowledges.