Cueva Honda - Cueva de los Burros (donkey cave) - Malpaís de Güímar - Tenerife

Cueva Honda or Cueva de los Burros (Donkey Cave), has a length of about 150 meters and a variable height of up to 5 meters , making it possible to explore them on foot. It is of course pitch dark, see the attached YouTube video of an exploration of the cave .

Depending on the fluidity of the lava, we find chaotic and difficult to traverse lava fields (malpaises) or heart-shaped lavas generally associated with networks of underground volcanic tubes : there are many of very variable sizes. They are structures formed by the cooling of the surface of the casting, while the inside remains liquid. When the lava emission stops, the formed tube is detached. If the roof of these pipes collapses, with a hole called jameo, you can access the interior. In these tubes we can see stalactite formations of lava dripping from the ceiling.

The Donkey Cave is several meters deep, and gets its name because people once took their dead or sick animals and threw them into the pit leading to the cave, where they died. Today, the bones of these decomposed animals can be seen very clearly.

Willem Vandenameele