The magical stalactite cave at TierraMitica

The magical cave behind TierraMitica’s waterfall- ancient gods patiently observe

Facing torrential rains, our road was cut off because a bridge had to be replaced wh en it started sinking into the mud. Under a cycle of 25-30 years, as people say, comes a year when the rain is so much that the earth can no longer absorb it. This is such a year and a lot of destruction has happened in Peru and the San Martin region.

Thus, we were forced to stay in Tarapoto and instead of getting frustrated we decided to become creative. We started work on the TierraMitica main gate and it’s welcoming sign, we experimented on home made breads so that the smell of fresh bread baking wakes us up every morning at TierraMitica, we expanded our vegetable planting and germination projects, we started building the center altar and much much more.

We also took a day for a treasure hunt- true Indiana Jones style. We drove and then crossed Rio Mayo on a canoe to reach San Fransisco de Rio Mayo, a lazy peaceful village where the discoverer of the prehistoric stalactite cave behind our middle waterfall – a very inaccessible place right now as it flows from El Ojo, the Eye, our temple in nature – lives and practices his art. The waterfall and the cave will be made accessible soon by the staircase Alberto is building.

Our Indiana Jones is called Demosthenes Rios and is an an artist and collector working with objects he finds in nature and in sacred places of the region. He heard of the cave and with the aid of the owners around the land, his cousin Jorge Torres on one side and Vidal Dias on the other side (the farmers who sold us TierraMitica they descended with ropes and photographed the cave, unfortunately cutting of and taking with them (with good intention but limited understanding of the destruction caused) several sculpted stalactite formations created by nature and used many years ago as natural canvasses of the dwellers.

Demosthenes drinking from the Angel’s spring

We managed to recover the head seen in the picture after buying several of his artifacts but had no wish to recover the sculpture changed into a madonna or the one changed into a church by his artistic fervor. Nonetheless he is a splendid good intentioned fellow who wishes to help us restore the cave as much as possible. We plan to return the head there, to clear the cave and offer flowers and our respect to this amazing, magical place that we have been blessed with being encharged to protect.

The cave at TierraMitica when it was explored