Sotano de Golondrinas is a huge hole in the ground. It's 512 meters (1,612') deep. It's the sixth deepest abyss in the world.
It's popular to visit this hole in the ground at dawn and at dusk because of the thousands of white collared swifts and green parakeets who live in the hole. They swarm out of the cave at dawn, and return at dusk.
The birds were originally thought to be swallows, which is how the cave got it's name. However it was later learned that they are white collared swifts.
There's not a lot of suitable parking for motorhomes, and the road up is curvy and steep. However Igor did just fine. We found a level spot to park at the side of the road that was suitable for the night.
Around 5pm, we paid the 100 pesos ($7 CAD, $5 USD) per person entrance fee. We had read you can use the same ticket to enter again early in the morning, however when we asked about that the ticket booth told us that was not possible, which is too bad because the dawn spectacle is supposed to be better. We decided to go in anyhow, and set off heading down the 684 steps to the hole.
Ruth, heading down the steps.
We got to the first viewpoint, but it's really difficult to get a vantage point looking down the hole. So they have a couple of employees who tie a rope on you so that you can get right up to the edge. Then you give them a small tip as payment.
These two have ropes tied to them.
I decided to let them tie me to the rope and have a peek over the edge...
Me, on the right, having a look over the edge.
Yep, that's definitely a big hole in the ground!
We went to the second vantage point to watch the birds.
They will tie you off here too, so you can have a look over the edge.
Lots of birds arriving!
The parakeets arriving were really interesting to watch, but it's almost impossible to get a decent photo.
More parakeets.
Interesting enough, but we wish we could have seen the morning event. Problem is, we woke up this morning to pouring rain and the birds don't cooperate when it's raining. Most of them just stay in the hole and then meander out at their leisure when it clears later in the day. On clear days, they all depart at the same time at dawn, and it's like a hurricane of thousands of birds. Oh well.
The next few days are going to be spent making our way back to Valle de Bravo. We've got to do 544 kms (338 miles) and some of it is through some very mountainous terrain on one of the most beautiful drives in Mexico. We've done much of this route before, so there's not really anything special we want to see along the way. We'll break it down and do it over four or five days.
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Nice deal on the LEVOIT Cordless Stick Vac.
And in Canada...
That is so cool! I am a bird lover so would really enjoy seeing this. Too bad the morning viewing didn't work out.
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