($ 3.5 per person, 2 hours)
Located 20Km from the city of Tena in the community of Mondayacu. These caverns are in a private property, possess a natural charm of the ancient cultures of the area. The owners have medicinal plants and together with the caverns and the natural labyrinth makes this place a highly recommended tourist place to visit
The guide is a journey through a natural labyrinth and one of the two caverns that the place has. Generally the guide is one of the owners and lasts approximately 1 hour where they will take you along several trails where you will appreciate medicinal plants such as the blood tree of drago, tiger leaf, guayusa, yagé and innumerable plants that use them to manufacture medicine natural and ayahuasca. There are also petroglyphs: the guagrahuma (head of capir) and another possibly representing an insect. The tour includes one of the two caverns (Cavern ceremonial temple or Cavern Elephant) where they will be assigned lanterns or candles.
The cavern temple of ceremony is a cavern of approximately one kilometer has a part where there is a "temple" where the locals perform the rituals of ayahuasca. The tour of the cavern continues and you can see stalactites and stalagmites. There are also spiders, bats and small animals in the cave. To travel the cave you need to climb stairs, climb rocks, pass small waterfalls and water springs. So it is advisable to have a medium physical level, bring rain boots and a flashlight for water.
The Elephant cavern requires skill and a good physique since you must go through water, crawl and climb rocks. The cavern descends to about 15 meters underground and has an underground river that does not reach more than the knee. However, it is necessary to pass through very narrow places and it is inevitable to get wet and dirty with mud and sand. It is also advisable to wear old clothes, water shoes and a water torch preferably at the head to free the hands that are used constantly.
BY BUS:
The closest city is Tena, from where you can take a bus to Quito and ask the driver to drop you off at the place ($ 1, 30 min).
IN TAXI:
By taxi from the Tena it costs around ($ 10, 15 min) and can go up to 4 people. From Archidona you can take a taxi ($ 5, 10 min). However, request that the taxi pick you up at the end or wait for you since this place is in the middle of the road to Quito and you will not be able to take taxis back.
ON TOUR:
Today some daily tours from the Tena include this activity in your itinerary. The daily tour costs around $ 30 and they take you for about 3 tourist spots.