- The Skocjan Caves

Column formations

Before leaving Slovenia we stopped for a tour of the Skocjan caves. Wow! Not to compare everything to American landscape, but these caves were on the magnitude of seeing Yosemite or the Grand Canyon for the first time. No photos were allowed because of the potential for harming the stalagmites and/or stalactites. Therefore, I have included some downloaded photos to give context to this post. These caves were immense. The tour lasted nearly two hours and
started out in the "dry" section of caverns including enormous columns where the stalagmites and stalagmites had joined over time. During this part of the hike the narrow path would suddenly open into large rooms of rock columns and ribbon formations. The guide informed us that a centimeter of growth could take up to 200 years for the ribbons formations. We also learned how pollution from above seeps through the permeable ground into the caves, and how they are working to protect the formations inside these Karst caves. The tour was given in three languages (Italian, Slovenian and English), and I was again impressed with the multilingual locals.

The bridge we crossed as we
entered the "wet" portion of the cave

The second half of the tour changed significantly as it took us down, down, down toward the Seka River that helped create these caves. As it dropped, the quiet narrow passage opened up into a huge stadium-sized area with impressive cliffs and stunning views. We were now traversing the cliffs above the blue/green Seka River, which was much bigger than I expected. The tour guide explained how during certain flood years the entire cavern itself was engulfed in water tearing out the rock formations with debris, sometimes the debris would cause huge dams. The sound of the river at this point was so loud the tour guide could not be heard. We all walked along stunned by the beauty of this place. We crossed a bridge and walked along the sheer 300 meter cliffs looking straight down at the river, and learned of the history of the caves, and saw examples of the old trails used by early explorers - trails that I would never have the courage to use.

Excellent formations along the "dry" portion of the hike

We asked about the fauna inside the caves. Bats live there, but also several specially adapted animals that feed on batceria and fungi. Atrophied body parts, such as eyes and pigmentation are characteristic of these animals. Sensory organs that do not require light, such as organs of smell are often enlarged.

The Olm

It was fascinating to see this place in Southern Slovenia. We all enjoyed the tour. I could only imagine what the other portions of these caves (not open to the public) must look like. The surrounding area outside the caves is also nice.

Cave entrance

Cave pool

There was an extended hike we chose not to take since we needed to move on to the Dolomite Mountains of Northern Italy.