Today was learning day. First we went on an educational tour at the Living Desert Zoo and Garden and familiarized ourselves with the local plants and animals.

We had seen quite a bit of the vegetation already but knew most of the animals only by name, and for some of them, this was a good thing. We aren’t particularly eager to see mountain lions, bobcats, rattlesnakes up close and personal in the wild.

The cutest animals were definitely the prairie dogs – curious and affectionate.

Once back in our air-conditioned van, we joined Pepsi for rice salad lunch and lots of water before we began our second learning experience at the Carlsbad Caverns.

We very much enjoyed the drive up into the Guadalupe Mountains. The cavern is located at 3599 feet above sea level. Pepsi spent a relatively quiet time at the kennel provided at the information centre and we decided to hike the Natural Entrance into the cavern, walking down 800 feet over the course of a mile.

A walk that should have taken 1.5 hours, took us quite a bit longer because at every turn there was a new amazing view that just needed to be photographed.

Once down 800 feet, there is the Big Room which is a magical place with a feast for the eyes.

We spent quite a lot of time there taking pictures and left only because we were totally exhausted and had to pick up Pepsi before the kennel closed.

The evening program was still to follow. The caverns are home to between 24,000 and 1.5 million bats (depending on the year and season) and they go hunting each night. The National Park Service has a free evening bat watching program where a ranger gives a half-hour interactive presentation about myths and truths about bats and then the audience gets to watch, in silence, as the bats exit the cavern and fly over their heads. Cameras, alas, were not permitted.

Totally beat, we drove back to our campground and arrived at 10PM.