Postojnska jama

Our first full day in Slovenia we spent on the road as we took a tour of several places outside the city. The first stop was Postojnska jama, a huge cave about half way between Ljubljana and the Slovenia coast.



To set the scale for the size of this cavern, we loaded onto a train with cars much like a roller coaster and rode for two kilometers into the mountain before we started our walking tour.

There are massive stalactites and stalagmites everywhere.

Contrary to what is seen in most caves that one gets to tour, this is not a dry, dead hole in the ground. This one is still growing and there is the presence of water, dripping and standing everywhere. Our walkway was wet all the way through from condensation from the humidity in the cave.

It is difficult to comprehend the millenia it has taken to grow these massive formations.

This one reminds me of an ice cream cone.

The next two images form an interesting sequence. In the one immediately below, you see in the center of the photo, in the upper half a bright streak resembling something like a spider hanging from its web. Well there are no spiders 2k underground...this is a water drop coming down from the ceiling.

In the next frame, you see that the water drop has hit the top of the stalagmite and create a splash in the small bit of water held there. Thus, we are watching the process by which all the formations in the cave are grown. One drip at a time.

This is the achingly slow way that such imposing formations as the one seen here are created.

When put in the proper context, this is all quite amazing.

I end here with an image that is not very good, but the best I could get. near the exit to the cave is a large aquarium with several salamanders inside. There are the so-called "human fish" olm or proteus salamander. These are found in this cave and some are placed in this aquarium for us tourists to see. they are small, flesh-colored, blind, amphibians that live their life underwater. They retain their external gills into adulthood.

Controlled experiments have shown that these creatures can go 10 years without food. While blind, they are light sensitive and will move away from light. the average adult lifespan is 68.5 year, but it is possible for them to live to perhaps 100 years.

Incredible animal.