Mallorca 2014 - Day 3 - Cova De Na Mitjana

Our chosen cave for the day was ‘Cova de Na Mitjana’ and we all set off in high spirits and with a lot less kit to carry than the day before. It was quite a long drive, and on arrival at the gates of a country park it was quite comical to see the occupants of both cars dash off in all directions to find suitable bushes!

Searching for the route down to the cave - Photo by Brendan

The group at the cave entrance - Photo by Brendan

The group at the cave entrance - Photo by Mark

We followed the book directions to the top of the hill and set off towards the coast, Mark disappearing with the GPS app on his phone in one direction, Wal following his nose in another and the rest of us trying to follow cairns and make sense of what the book said. Arriving at a little inlet, we could see so many possible cave entrances in the craggy cliffs surrounding us that it would have taken us ages to find the right one, but it turned out that the GPS coordinates that Brendan had given Mark from Google Earth turned out to be spot on, Mark had gone straight to the cave, and he guided us along the coast to the cave mouth. It turned out that all the directions given in the book were really good, but only once you’d found the cave and could work out what the directions were trying to say. GPS a definite winner this week.
There was only a short pitch to gain access to the cave, and again we were blown away by it. Although only one chamber really, it was packed with every formation possible, and a few that looked impossible as well. A beautiful blue pool of seawater completed the look.
The photographers in the group were wetting themselves with glee and started setting up myriads of flashguns, but after a couple of hours of wandering round and gazing, there was little else to do, so a group of us made our way back out and spent a pleasant few hours paddling and swimming at the nearest beach while we waited.

The magnificent chamber - Photo by Mark

The magnificent chamber - Photo by Mark

The magnificent chamber - Photo by Mark

The magnificent chamber - Photo by Brendan

The magnificent chamber - Photo by Brendan

All out by about 8.30pm, we raided the local supermarket and got back to the villa.
As we planned the next day’s activities, various opinions were aired (with emphasis) about what we each wanted out of the week, as the logistics of moving as a group of 8 with differing aims and abilities hit home. Various compromises were sorted and the next day’s trip was decided.

Present: Mark Burkey, Jess Burkey, Steve Wal Wallis, Helen Nightingale, Loz Appleby, Chloe Burney, Phil Lester and Brendan Marris
Report: Jess Burkey