Indonesia/Flores: Istana Ular Cave
Istana Ular Cave! After seeing a TV special on this cave on the island of Flores where giant pythons and a large number of bats live, I was determined to get there. After an hour-long hike, you finally approach the entrance of the cave, and this is where an absolutely insane adventure begins. The cave is filled knee-deep with bat guano and cockroaches crawl on all walls (and on you!). As you get deeper in this stinky endeavor, you finally get into the narrow passages absolute swarming with bats – they fly right in front of you and one even hang from my hat’s visor for a little. One wrong step, and you can dive deep into the guano! No pythons on this visit but the bat experience was beyond insane…
