Today we visited Slovenia. The tour began with us taking a small train into the extensive cave system of Postojna where we examined the stalagmites and stalactites which have formed over millions of years.
Our guide introduced us to the olms which are one of the few species which can live in the complete dark with little to no food for centuries on end.
The formation of vast underground tunnels was fascinating, in the dimly lit caverns the stalactites reminded me of curtains being pulled aside while stalagmites sat in disc like clumps while water steadily dripped from unseen points through solid stone.
After leaving the caves, we headed for a bowling centre and cheered each other on to score as many points as we could for our team. We then went for some light shopping before taking the coach back to the hotel on Krk.
Logan
Today we actually left Croatia to visit the Postojna Caves in Slovenia. This cave system is huge and filled with all sorts of interesting rock formations. To access the caves, we were put on a train, which proved to be far more dangerous for the taller members of the group who were constantly wary of hitting their heads on the rocks! In addition to the geological interest of the caves with the many stalactites and stalagmites, all of varying sizes, there was an interesting amount of history within the caves themselves, such as the area with a chandelier that was used as a dance hall! Walking around it was interesting to imagine the number of people who had visited the caves and seen slightly different things over time, as the caves have been open for 200 years!
I was inspired by the natural forms throughout the cave, as it not only feels like something from a fictional story—so many times I was reminded of settings from Star Wars!—it’s incredible to remember that there has been no influence on them other than time, which definitely increases the wonder that I took from the caves. The vast open chambers with a range of different interesting rock structures was wonderful to see in person. Additionally, I was fascinated by the adaptions of the olms—one of the resident animals in the caves—as they can survive without food for up to ten years, to account for the lack of food in the caves. The Postojna caves are also the location of the first successful breeding program for the olms, and seeing them towards the end of the cave tour was fascinating. Whilst the olms that we saw were really small, the species can actually grow to be between 25 and 30cm long!
Keira
