Encounters With Place: Makauwahi Cave

Beneath my home in Texas, a subterranean world exists, one that was carved from limestone over millions of years. It is filled with rivers, spectacular geological features, salamanders, spiders, and fish. This past year I have been drawn to that mysterious world. I have spent time learning about geology and subterranean ecology and exploring local caves. In fact, much of my writing has been inspired by these underground places.

Over spring break, just before the quarantine, my family and I returned to another special place—the southern shore of Kauai. We wanted to spend a day sea kayaking and, while I scrolled through the possibilities on my phone, I stumbled across something that made me stop and stare at the screen: “Visit Makauwahi cave the largest limestone cave in Hawaii.” What was a limestone cave doing on an island made of lava rock? The descriptions that followed were equally intriguing: “ancient archeological site”, “archeological gem”, “extinct species”. I had to go and see it for myself; there was no question.

The next day we piled into our rental van and set off down a paved road that quickly turned to dirt. The potholes reminded me of dinosaur footprints. The directions were vague, and roosters darted out of the vegetation at every turn. As we neared the edge of the island, tropical trees and shrubs hung over the road, scraping the side of the van.

We parked next to the horse stables, and because our GPS was sketchy, we took a vote and headed to the right down a path hidden by grasses that towered over my head. We hiked for nearly an hour before we asked an older Australian couple if they had seen the cave. Their expressions convinced us to turn around and head back in the other direction.

Finally my husband found a knee-high metal sign nailed to a wooden post in the sand. We were on the right track. As we hiked uphill, the vegetation began to change, as if we had entered a garden. I knelt close to the ground to read plaques that were tucked in between the plants. Each one identified a plant native to the island, plants with both ecological and cultural significance. Getting to know local plants and animals is something that has been important to me and my understanding of new places, and so I slowed down to take it all in. But why were the plants there, carefully placed along the edges of a remote trail?

What emerged that day, in a place that felt like we were far from the rest of the world, was a powerful story of threatened species, a seed bank, a living laboratory, tortoises, and the unique and unpredictable geology of a small island.

Books About Nature : If the subterranean is something that captures your imagination, too, I recommend reading Underland by Robert Macfarlane. It is a beautifully written book about Macfarlane’s adventures exploring the caves of Europe. While lost in his lyrical prose, you will learn a tremendous amount about history, geology, and ecology.

Back to the Future in the Caves of Kaua'i: A Scientist's Adventures in the Dark by David A. Burney