This all looked straightforward and interesting, so we set off.  There was a big sign where the dirt track split off of the main road indicating that it was indeed the way to the petroglyphs.  So far so good.

Before too long, the road became muddier and muddier until Lauren was stopping every 50 feet or so to repair her flip-flop.  She put on her scuba booties, which we’d brought for walking in the creek and we began to move much quicker.  We continued plodding in through muddier and muddier conditions for about an hour.  We nearly turned around a couple of times, but after an hour of walking through a weedy and muddy road, you really want it to be worthwhile, so we kept going.  Finally, we came to the part of the road that crosses the river and with a clearing of coconut and banana trees on the other side.  This was exactly what the map had shown, which was pretty exciting.  There had been no signs since the one at the main road, and it was becoming clear that this was a very seldom used track into the interior, as the weeds were high in the middle of the road and the agricultural area didn’t seem to be actively worked anymore.  After the farm, our recollection of the map was fuzzy, and we initially followed a couple of dead ends.  Eventually, we started up the opposite side of the valley on a “path” that was overgrown with weeds and brush about 2-3ft high (just couldn’t get enough, I guess). 

Nice stroll down a country lane.

After following this for a while we came to what used to be a clearing but was now a thicket of weeds and brush, much of it 5-6ft tall.  At the edge of this area, however, was a tourist-type sign for the Petroglyphs of Tehuete, with a description in French and English!  We had a actually found it, but there was nothing to see except the sign.  We weren’t ready to give up so easily, and after looking around we eventually noticed that through the thicket and a stand of trees on the other side, a bit of a man-made wall could be seen.  Eventually we made our way over and did get to see some old ruins.  They were under a canopy of very large trees not too far from the base of a large steep cliff that rises from the valley floor almost vertically to the peak of a mountain above.  The ruins were a sort of terrace with made of about 3 levels.  The walls and “paved” area of the terrace were made of volcanic rocks of greatly varying sizes.  Some were less than a foot in diameter and some were large boulders 5 feet or more across.  They were fitted together to form the structure, but without any mortar or cement.  We didn’t find the two stone carvings that the sign indicated were present (my guess is they’re in a museum somewhere and nobody visits this site anymore), but we did find several large rocks that looked like they had been used as workbenches for many years.  They had smooth shapes ground into them that seemed to come from repeatedly rubbing or grinding something against them.

Lauren on the terrace ruins

 

Workbench rock.

It was less than a couple of hours from sunset, so we reversed our path, stopping at the stream to cool our muddy and itchy legs and have a drink of water.  When we arrived back at our anchorage, three more boats had come in.  There are now six of us here — 1 US, 1 Swedish, 1 Swiss, 1 French, 1 Brazilian, and one boat with a stalk of bananas instead of a flag and only a portion of the name and hailing port left on the stern. 

This morning we’re off to try to check in and then we’ll try out the “shower” for cruisers on the dock here.  It has unlimited water, but not hot and not exactly the Ritz.  Maybe more of a step sideways than a step up, but we’re looking forward to it (shower pic later today…).