Mallorca 2014 - Day 4 - Sa Cova Tancada - Cova De Cal Pesso

Full of enthusiasm we were up and out next day with plans to find not just one, but two caves in the day. We had picked two that were fairly near and needed almost no tackle – an easy day then!
Setting off to find the first one, which was right on the coast, I was driving the first car with Mark guiding us from his Maverick app on his phone. Using the app he managed to avoid all the busy main roads, taking us instead along ever-more-narrow-and twisty back streets between farms. Unsurprisingly, we also managed to lose the other car at some point, but Mark wasn’t too worried; “Brendan has the map so he shouldn’t have any problem finding it” he said.
The road soon turned into a track full of potholes, and we bounced along until we found the parking place noted in the book. There we waited. And waited. And waited. Eventually we tried phoning the other group, which was more difficult than it should have been as half our phones wouldn’t work in Mallorca. I spoke to Brendan, who told us that they thought they were close, as they were following the coast road towards us. Mark then checked his app and found that the coast road was a dead end! The phone rang and Brendan’s little voice said “Could you come and find us? We’re lost…”
Back down the pot-hole track we went and managed to find them. Back over the pot-holes again – thank goodness for hire cars! Finally we were all ready to find the cave. “I thought you had a map?” I asked Brendan. “I did” he said “Mark borrowed it!”

Parked ready for the walk to the cave - Photo by Mark

Climbing down the cliff to the cave - Photo by Mark

A pleasant path through a forest soon turned into a steep cliff path which led to an obvious entrance by the sea – the cave of Sa Tancada. Inside the cave, we were in for a surprise. Not only was the cave stunningly beautiful – as we were starting to expect in Mallorca – but had undergone some modifications in the past, in the form of steps everywhere.
The cave was a 3-D maze, so we all spread out to explore. At one point we were joined by a French couple who were hiking in the area. Looking at us all in our blue boiler suits, and Brendan and Mark with their cameras, they seemed to be under the impression we were undertaking some sort of work in the cave.

Sa Cova Tancada - Photo by Mark

Sa Cova Tancada - Photo by Mark

Sa Cova Tancada - Photo by Brendan

Sa Cova Tancada - Photo by Brendan

After a good explore we made our way back to the cars and set off to find our second cave of the day, Cal Pesso. Mark, Brendan and Helen had found the cave entrance the day we arrived, so it was decided that Loz, Chloe and I should try to find it. After a couple of false starts (the hillside is covered with small caves) Chloe found the right entrance and we went in to see what it was like.

The group at the cave entrance - Photo by Mark

Cova De Cal Pesso - Photo by Brendan

Cova De Cal Pesso - Photo by Mark

It was a lovely little cave! More like the ones we’re used to in the UK, with lots of squirrelling around and route-finding, but still full of beautiful formations – definitely my favourite cave so far. Finally as the sun started to set we made our way back to the villa.

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