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| Trip Name: | Giant Caves of Northern Mexico
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| Trip Code: | 88 |
| Trip Summary: | Experience the enormous caverns and dramatic scenery of Nuevo León, Mexico, on this five-day pre-congress camp. Located within three hours of the Texas border, this area features the closest real mountains to Kerrville. This camp will include exploration of Gruta de Palmito, located near the town of Bustamante, as well as a tour of the famous show cave, Grutas de Garcia.
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| Start Date: | July 13, 2009 |
| End Date: | July 18, 2009 |
| Starting Location: | San Antonio, Texas USA
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| Ending Location: | Congress, Kerrville Texas USA
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| Minimum Size: | 6 |
| Maximum Size: | 24 |
| Contact: | Aimee Beveridge and Peter Strickland
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| Setting: |
The state of Nuevo León is located in northeastern Mexico, south of Texas. Monterrey, its capital, has a population of over three million people. The area is semi-arid, and in July will be hot and dry. Temperatures in excess of 35°C (95°F) are not unusual.
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| Trip Details: |
We will gather for dinner and orientation in San Antonio on the afternoon of July 13 and begin our travels around 09:00 on July 14. After clearing Customs in Mexico and stopping along the way to enjoy the ambience, we will end our first day's travel with a visit to Bustamante Canyon with its kilometer-high cliffs and warm springs. On the following morning, we will explore Cueva de Conseulo, an active bat cave. In the afternoon we will visit Grutas de Carrizal, known for its warm and cold running water and rare cichlid fish. Later in the day we will visit the historic Candela train station. The highlight of the trip, on day three, is Gruta de Palmito, with sport caving trips ranging from six to 12 hours in length. Although the entrance room is developed as a commercial cave, most of our trip will be wild caving in the huge, kilometer-long, passage-like room, starting with a steep and slippery breakdown slope of 60 meters. The cave contains world-class columns and stalagmites, helictites, and unique cave velvet
. The temperature in Gruta de Palmito is approximately 22° C (72°F). The cave is appropriate for new cavers in good physicial condition, with a total descent of over 200 meters. On day four we will do the commercial tour of Grutas de Garcia, located on the outskirts of Monterrey. Grutas de Garcia is a huge, well-decorated cavern with a 110-meter skylight. Together, Grutas de Garcia and Gruta de Palmito contain the 14th and 15th largest cave rooms in the world. We hope to visit the beautiful Huasteca Canyon with its dramatic vertical bedding. On day five we will stop for a swim in a local spring and eat lunch at a local area of interest before proceeding to the Congress site in Kerrville, Texas.
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| Accommodations: |
While in Mexico, we will be staying in the Buganvillas Field House in Bustamante. The field house has four interconnected bedrooms with 10-12 beds, a kitchen, shower, three toilets, covered dining area, swimming pools, and a spacious back yard for camping. If you wish to have more privacy or distance from the street, we suggest that you bring a tent. Loaner tents, sleeping pads, and bedding will be provided as needed. Because this area is semi-arid, the humidity is low and it will cool off at night, allowing us to sleep without air conditioning.
Dinner on the first evening in San Antonio will be prepared by field camp staff, as will one of the dinners in Bustamante. The other three dinners will be in restaurants. The field camp staff will provide breakfast (breakfast tacos, pancakes) at the field house and participants will make lunches to carry into the field. Some assistance in cooking and cleanup by paid participants will be appreciated.
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| Special Considerations: |
- Participants will be expected to share rooms and other facilities at the Field House, or to camp in
tents.
- Participants must supply their own caving equipment, including helmets and lights. The caves are warm;
jeans and t-shirts are more than adequate for the conditions. Knee-pads are recommended if you want to cave
in shorts. There is no need for a cave suit, which would be far too hot.
- This is an international trip into Mexico. Participants are responsible for determining visa requirements and obtaining the necessary documents for travel to and from Mexico as well as the United States. Travel documentation required depends on your country of origin.
Participants will need multi-entry visas for the US. For information on US travel policies,
visit http://www.travel.state.gov/.
Select the "International Travel" tab for information on other countries and
links to their embassies. For information on Mexican travel policies, visit
http://tinyurl.com/icsfc88
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| Travel Information: |
We will assemble in San Antonio, Texas, late in the afternoon of Monday, July 13th, and depart in private vehicles for Mexico on the morning of the 14th. We expect to reach the Congress location in Kerrville, Texas by midafternoon on July 18.
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 The 15th ICS Organizing Committee wants everyone to enjoy their trips and excursions, but cares about the safety of all visitors and the
protection of the caves, their contents, and the land in which they occur. ICS Trip Leaders will have the right to refuse entry to a cave or
property, or remove any person from a cave or property if that person's skills, equipment, or actions are likely to harm that person, other cavers,
the cave, its contents, or the property. For general information on accepted caving equipment, techniques, and conservation methods in the US,
see http://www.caves.org/safety/ and http://www.caves.org/info/policy.shtml.
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