A Gap-Year of Adventures: Santa Fe & Carlsbad National Park (New Mexico)

Photo Album:

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Santa Fe & Carlsbad National Park are more overnight stops on the way to Austin, Texas and New Orleans as opposed to destinations in their own right. This being said, Santa Fe is a pretty nice, if smallish town. All the buildings can be painted only one of 24 shades of brown which gives the place a slightly brownish looking colour. Makes it interesting though, I suppose.

Bored stiff after 2 hours. The park had two pic nic benches and the river had no water in it. hmm.

Thankfully, went straight off to the camp/RV ground. Too dark to go for a run, so killed some time talking with the other then got thrown out of the TV room at 19.29, by the 101 year old camp ground owner who informed me that "it shuts at 19:30, not a second before, or a second after". Fair dos.

Shame to see a girl from the other group (there are two groups doing out route) leave, obviously she wasn't enjoying it, still guess it was the right decision for her.

Only picture from Santa Fe, a New Mexican sunset from the van. Nice.

Onto Carlsbad Caverns (Caves) National Park next day, far better than I thought it was going to be. Eagerly informed by the typically over-eager park ranger to ensure that we could manage the three quater mile DOWNHILL hike to the bottom of the cave. Only to then be told that there are elevators (yes, in a cave!) to bring us back up! Exhaused we all reached the bottom, love this shot, over exposed for 4 seconds with the backdrop of the caves which have taken millenia to form:

Afterwards, sat down at 5pm in the ampitheatre to await the nightly (we hoped) bat flight where 1.2 million bats screamed out of the cave and off into the dusky sunset to hunt for their nightly feast of insects, often eating over their entire bodyweight in insects. After an hour and fifteen, with the park ranger scratching his head as to why they hadn't come out he informed us that by adopting a bat (5 bucks) you could help pay for more accurate equipment designed to help provide advance warning of their flight out the cave! Clearly concerned that it wasn't going to happen tonight, he decided to kill some time with a Q and A session - too many bat questions for my liking so asked him "who his favourite superhero was" - I'll give you two guesses?

Though, would have loved to have asked this one:

"A bat is flying Easterly at 10 mph. Travelling west at 678mpshis a US Air Force Stealth Bomber. They collide. Did the bat know that the bomber was there?" Apparently this is the best question he's ever been asked - wish it had been me!

Anyway, bats eventually showed their faces at 6.40pm, flew out, wern't allowed to use cameras, so you'll have to take my word for it - was kinda cool.

While waiting for them to emerge, couldn't help but notice this husband and wife dressed identical. Kinda, oddly works I think: