Catriona Downer writes about the 2023 trip to Matienzo attended by several club members.

6th April 2023: Cueva Reñada

This cave deserves a prize for actually being muddier than Pridhamsleigh Cavern - I
admit that there were many moments of wellies getting suctioned into the mud and we came
out truly looking like mud monsters. Luckily for us, after we exited, we were able to find a lovely clean
streamway in which to wash our muddy kit in.

Given that none of us had ever visited Reñada before, we received some directions prior to entering the
cave. However, unbeknownst to us we went wrong straight away, as we unfortunately entered a different
entrance than we had originally planned to. This led to a lot of backtracking and investigation, trying to
find the way on, whilst also allowing us to explore the cave more thoroughly. Eventually, we were able
to find the lake where we sent Henry across as our guinea-Gibb to test the waters - much to his (rather
loudly vocalised) dismay. After a short walk across the lake, we found ourselves by the top entrance
to the cave - where we had originally planned to enter. So, after two hours underground, our trip
could finally begin! We headed down and left - as instructed - and managed to find our way through
via some traverse lines, muddy passages and wet crawls. It was definitely worth it all though, to see
the beautiful formations of black limestone (a far cry from the Welsh caves I have grown accustomed
to). All in all, a very successful trip!

9th April 2023: Cueva de Vallina

We returned to Vallina today, after our trip yesterday yielded new passage at
the top of an 18m pitch (courtesy of Dan and John’s hours of dedicated bolting). We pushed
forward through this passage and discovered 580m of new passage, with many potential leads for
further exploration. I was sent down a side shoot, which uncovered a beautiful short crawl through
some very, very sparkly rock, which we have dubbed the ‘Witch’s Grotto’. This crawl eventually narrowed
to a very small hole, which was too tiny for me to fit more than my head through, but that did appear to

widen again after about a metre. Further exploration of the new passage then led to a beautiful new
chamber, filled with incredible stals. As a newcomer to Matienzo, I was astounded by the sheer, rugged
beauty of the chamber - nothing like I have ever seen here in the UK. There were multiple pitches from
this chamber which require further comparison to the current survey, in order to reveal if they link
to new or existing passage. However, excitingly, we managed to discover another passage to the right,
covered in glittering white gypsum, which bore a remarkable resemblance to snow or ice. It truly
felt like a winter wonderland, leading Henry to christen the passage ‘Arctic Passage’. Andrey was our
dedicated surveyor throughout, and the preliminary survey seems to suggest that Arctic Passage links to
Witch’s Grotto. Suffice to say, it was undoubtedly the most incredible trip I have ever been on: filled with
SRT pitches, new discoveries, and lots of fun! I know we are all so excited to see the completed survey, and
we hope the names Witch’s Grotto and Arctic Passage will stick! I just want to say a personal thank you to
everyone on this trip: firstly to Carl and Henry for inviting me out to Matienzo and taking care of me all
week; to Andrey for his dedicated survey work, and unrelenting patience with me as I (an SRT novice)
have undertaken my first ever SRT trips; and finally to Dan and John, for allowing us all to tag along with
them on their expedition and discover the wonders of cave exploration!