7ab Erasmus+ trip to Slovenia - Škocjanske jame
7ab Erasmus+ trip to Slovenia
Škocjanske jame: a dripstone cave and the largest underground canyon of Europe
On Sunday, a visit to one of the most famous caves of Slovenia was on the agenda - the Škocjan Caves.
The day started as usual. We got up at around 7.30 a.m. and had a delicious breakfast that filled our stomachs well and gave us energy for the long journey to the caves. We left our hostel at around 8.00 a.m. to catch our train that left at Ljubljana station at 8.30 a.m. During the one-and-a-half-hour ride to Divača, a small village, our class had a lot of fun chatting about our favourite sights in Slovenia so far.
As soon as we arrived at the train station of Divača, we walked for approximately one hour through a beautiful forest to the entrance of the caves. In the middle of the tour, we had lunch at a small kiosk.
When we finally arrived at the caves, our guide presented us the rules that had to be followed during the visit. Sadly, one of the rules was that we were not allowed to take pictures inside the caves. Our tour guide showed us around the cave. He explained the difference between stalactites, stalagmites and stalagnates (columns). One stalagmite was called “the Giant”. It was 15m high and about 250.000 years old. But this was not the most impressive sight of the cave at all. When we entered the area of the underground canyon, we had the feeling of walking through a Hollywood scenery: As if we had been hobbits or dwarves walking through a cave inhabited by orcs in the movie “The Hobbit”. As the weather was foggy during the morning, it was foggy in the cave as well. Consequently, the guide’s flashlight was visible as a light beam through the canyon. He showed us old climbing routes and steps of former cave explorers. During our visit, the water level of the underground river was only shallow and formed little, inviting pools. Well, at least they looked inviting. The cave’s temperature is 12°C all year round and so is the water temperature. But other creatures live in the water: not Golumn but the so called “Human Fish”, an amphibic creature called “Grottenolm” in German language. Hollywood film teams are not allowed in the cave, which is protected as a World Heritage of the United Nations. Therefore, they might be very jealous that we were allowed to take pictures at the exit of the cave at last and follow the canyon open air. Neither our classmates nor our teachers had expected such an enormous and breath-taking adventure.
After the visit of these massive caves, we went back to Ljubljana to finish off the day by having dinner. It was a wonderful and exciting day for all of us.
(continue to Ljubljana city tour)
Text: Finn Salcer, Alexander Zweckberger, 7b
Fotos: Prof. Ingrid Lechner, Prof. Ilka Prowatke
