Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico

Though his travelling companion K dislikes caves, B. Hippo managed to make a visit to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico

Outside the natural entrance to the cave. We later saw a flight of some 250,000 bats leave this entrance at dusk, though no photography is allowed lest it harm the bats

The walk from the natural entrance reveals a number of gigantic and amazing cave formations, and we had an opportunity to learn about some exciting research on extremophiles going on at the secret and nearby Lechuguilla cave system. The bat flight was also quite outstanding, despite the reduced number of winged mammals in residence this year. Oddly enough, the cave has an elevator for those less inclined to walk in, and there is also a gift shop and cafeteria inside the cavern. As an older National Park, the ecological precautions now in place were somewhat different at the time of it's founding.