Colin, Antoine, Laurent, Thomas and Richard went on a discovery trip into the underground world, exploring the Haquin hole in Lustin.
Arriving at 10:30 in the municipality of Lustin near Namur, it was in a car park in the middle of the countryside that we met our guides Serge and Sophie along with our support team. After getting acquainted, getting dressed and collecting our equipment, Sophie and Marc were already on their way to rig the sector. We arrived at the entrance to the hole around 11:30, and it was time to plunge into the bowels of the earth. Within a few minutes we were immersed in the darkness of the so-called "Haquin hole". The door was closed behind us to prevent curious visitors from entering the cave during our visit.
The descent into the bowels of the earth
With our headlamps switched on and secured to our helmets, we began our descent following the course of the stream through the trumpet gallery and the skylight gallery. A series of abseils followed, leading us to the waterfall chamber, with the continuous and powerful sound of the stream carving its way through the Frasnian limestone in which we were travelling as a constant backdrop. This first stage already gave us a wonderful glimpse of the hidden beauty beneath our feet, but the visit was far from over. After admiring the last cavers descending the waterfall and counting a few bats hanging from the ceiling, we continued on our way. We passed close to "the sentinel", an impressive stalagmite in a corner of the chamber. A fixed hand line installed by our route setters allowed us to reach the "waiting room", where we left our descenders and lanyards in order to continue lighter and, above all, to avoid being hindered in the narrow passages ahead. Speaking of narrow corridors, it was indeed through the famous "letterbox" passage that we had to make our way at that point.
The joys of caving
Standing before a hole of a rather unusual shape, our guide told us: "You'll have to go in head first. Crawl and wriggle as far as you can, passing over a vertical step, then turn yourself around as best you can to get your feet in front and let your legs drop into this vertical crack, holding on as best you can to avoid falling. And then you'll have to let yourself slide down like on a toboggan." Of course, it was only once we found ourselves alone in this passage that we could truly understand what he meant. Breathe, relax and move like an earthworm — that is the key to navigating tight passages. We took a little time in the large midnight chamber to nibble on a biscuit, take a group photo, explore the surroundings a little, and simply enjoy being around 50 metres underground, cut off from the rest of the world. On the way back, we followed the block gallery in order to complete a figure-of-eight exploration and avoid retracing our steps. It would have been a shame to miss the clay formations, the calcite bridge, other chambers of every imaginable shape, waterfalls, and even a spotted salamander. Back at the waiting room, we collected the equipment we had left there earlier. We then made our way to the tunnel chamber to reach the "grand éboulis". A staircase-like climb through large boulders led us back to the entrance of the cave.
A brilliant experience
It took us roughly 4 hours to explore a large part of the Fond d'Hestroy cave. This visit was an introduction to the practice of caving for some members of the team, a geological discovery of our region, an encounter with darkness and the limits of our bodies' contortion, an opportunity to crawl through mud, take a few photos, or an adventure to the ends of the Earth with a great group of people. In short, this day was filled with discoveries and gave us some wonderful moments, all while it was grey and overcast outside.
Exploration of the trou d'Haquin in Lustin