Kutaisi, or I should say the Imereti region that it presides over, is not only home to a lot of cool old architecture, or ancient monasteries, or some Soviet legacy. It is also one of the more popular destinations within Georgia for more natural wonders. Caves and ravines top this list, though I preferred to explore the former in all their glory during this trip since I have a harder time finding caves to visit during my travels, and also because it had been some time since I last played Minecraft. The two of the most well-known caves in the area are Sataplia and Prometheus, and in these next two articles I will be going over both one by one so that you can figure out whether you should visit them both, or if one or the other alone will work better for you.
Sataplia Nature Reserve have a few things going for it, but the main reason why anyone really goes there is to see these fossilized dinosaur tracks. Now I have seen my fair share of fossils to date, but to see the actual “footsteps” of these lovely yet extinct reptiles, that I did not. There is a walkway on these fossilized remains and you can actually see a respectable number of different varieties as you walk on top of it.
Suffice to say that between those fossils and these plastic dinosaur models, Sataplia is a wonderful place to visit for families. With that being said, I was extremely relieved to see that our tour group was without a single child in it, that certainly would have made things harder (and louder) than it was.
After these “reptilian” encounters, you will be greeted with some fascinating views of the nature that surrounds the hill on which Sataplia cave is found. This was certainly not expected, but we loved every single step of it.
Eventually you will go into the cave itself, which was quite lacklustre for me. It was okay, but not mind blowing in any way, especially because for some reason I assumed we would see the dinosaur footsteps here but that was not the case. Nevertheless, it was a good diversion, and an excellent shelter from the hot and humid weather outside.
Most of the halls were illuminated with led lightning that kept changing its colours as the time went on. This makes photography exceptionally challenging, but actually being there and soaking it all in was quite enjoyable to say the least. At this point we were pretty ahead of the tour group that was forced upon us at the entry as well, and that seclusion helped up enjoy the cavern in more detail.
Once you get out of the cave proper, you will be greeted by even more greenery. These paths were all a joy to walk on, though unfortunately by the time we visited this natural reserve, the museum as well as the glass walkway on which we could see the ravine below were both closed for renovations. This all sounded so peculiar to me. Why renovate so many important sights during the peak summer holidays? It is as if they did not want tourists to enjoy these locations…
You may have noticed that so far, I did not even tell you how we got to Sataplia from Kutaisi, well there is a reason for that. We took a taxi to get here first thing in the morning, and it was a rather cheap affair at only 7.5 GEL. However, we decided to take the long way back, by walking home using this one sign we saw on the side of the road. What a mistake that was, a happy mistake that is, once we survived the whole “ordeal.”
So, I will cut to the chase since I could not take many photos during this part of our journey. I can easily walk 5 kms an hour, and 6 if need be. It took me a good two hours to walk these 6.5 kms though and the reason was the state that path was in. We did not see a single other soul all along this route until we reached Kutaisi, and I understood why. What you are looking at in this photo is not any solid terrain, it is bog. I never encountered an actual swamp or quicksand in my life, at least not like this, so I did not think anything of it. When I walked on top of it and immediately sank to my knee, well I will not lie about it, I assumed it may be over for me. Now that I look back, it sounds a bit too dramatic but at the time it felt like the ground I step on literally tried to gobble me up in one go. After the initial shock I launched myself to the air using the nearby solid ground, leaving a sneaker behind that I saved later on. Later on, I found out that it is actually pretty difficult to die in a swamp, but still… It was a particularly rainy week when we arrived at Kutaisi, so I suppose it was a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
There is some good in all evil it seems, because even that encounter also turned out to be a blessing in disguise when we decided to rest by this creek for a while. We cleaned our shoes, and socks, and then soaked our weary feet into the water. It was cold, the weather was nice, trees created a nice shade, and bugs were not around to bother us. It almost felt like we were in a different dimension for a while. Eventually though, we put on our wet socks, and wet sneakers, to continue marching on.
I have to admit that despite the difficulties of this trek, the views we got as well as the adventure we had sort of made up for all of it. It was green all around us, there were not any dangerous animals to speak of, and the weather was cooler and drier than the one in the city, which is always welcome.
Despite those positives, I think I speak both for myself and my mother when I say that when we saw the Bagrati Cathedral, we were both pretty relieved. Civilization, at last! Though my love for nature is not hidden in any of my writings, and though I love walking more than anything else, I must say that walking in an urban setting is more up my speed, especially since the latter does not have any boggy areas in it and can even provide you with an odd Soviet mosaic or two if you look hard enough for one! Nevertheless, this was an exceptional day trip to Sataplia, and though I have my reservations about recommending the whole trekking part of it as well, I would suggest you consider doing this whole thing in this manner as well if you have the time in a drier season. You will, hopefully, not regret it.