No deer in Deer cave

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After 2 days of jungle trekking along the headhunter trail we got to Mulu national park, and the infamous Deer cave, both the 2nd largest cave in the world and home to millions of bats.

When we walked into the cave we could see small black patches on the ceiling which were actually thousands of bats. The cave is very impressive in itself aside from the bats, but the bats add a new dimension of awe. Deep in the cave were areas where the floor was deep in bat poo, an amazing fertiliser apparently but it can't be removed due to the cave's heritage status. This leads to a smelly cockroach infested floor. Luckily a raised pathway has been installed. The cave is also very fragrant the further you go in, due to the high volume of bats residing there.

After exploring the cave I sat outside waiting for the bats to depart for a night of munching on Mosquitos. It was only around a 30 minute wait for the bats to depart, slowly at first, with the groups steadily increasing in size and frequency for around an hour. The bats made huge swirling swarms as they departed for the night, concluding with a group over 1km long and very highly concentrated. It was an amazing sight to see, laying back watching the bats, and a once in a lifetime opportunity. I'm very glad I stayed to watch them, even if I did have to hurry back the 4km to the shuttle bus to get to the hotel in time for dinner! It was well worth it though. An utterly awe inspiring experience.

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