Deer Cave.
Although I had many pleasant experiences on this trip to Borneo there was only one place I truly found to be amazing and that was Deer Cave.
The cave entrance is about 150 metres in diameter. From a distance it is an impressive hole in the limestone cliff so large only the bottom of it is hidden by the dense lush jungle.
As we approach our guide points out some stick insects, well camouflaged by their mimicry of the twigs they call home.
As we get closer we skirt along the side of the cliff under a rocky overhang. Out of the sun, the rocks and damp musty soil are covered with cloudy spider webs. The spiders here spin their webs on the surfaces rather than on the vertical plane between vegetation. There is a small stream beside us clear and still. In the past deer came here attracted by the salt from the bat urine which pollutes the stream.
The bright sunlight is pleasantly filtered through the jungle trees and shaded as the path winds behind large rocks. I already feel like I am in a large voluminous cavern. It reminds me of scenes from "Journey to the Center of the Earth".
(The 1959 version with Perry Mason - not the more recent Brendan Frasier film)
Scene from "Journey to the Center of the Earth" - 1959, 20th Century Fox
Creatures flitter near the entrance of the cave. Bats about the size of swallows. The stench of bat guano gets stronger. As we enter the cave there is an acrid chlorine smell creating a mild burning sensation in my nostrils.
The cave is home to an estimated three million bats. It's estimated that they consume 15 tons of insects each night most of which adds to the detritus on the cave floor.
A grand as the entrance is the cane is even larger on the inside.
Our guide points out the huge patches of black high on the roof above. That is where the bats are roosting - waiting for their nightly sojourn.
There are huge carpets of ruddy brown excrement. Upon close examination the carpet moves as an abundance of small cockroaches, centipedes and assorted creepy-crawlies, all the same hue, burrow through the muck and the remains of previous generations of insects that lived and died in this unique ecosystem.
We follow the path into twilight deep inside the cave. The light follows us a good distance from the large entrance. We move behind a large rock that blocks out three sunlight. From here we can see hundreds of fine threads off water dripping down from the the porous ceiling, back lit and sparkling "It's actually all bat pee," I say, feigning expertise.
We walk on about a kilometre inside the cave as the light fades away behind us.
It is dark now. We climb stairs by dim electric lights and torchlight, careful to avoid touching the grimy railing. Now we see light again. There is another entrance to the cave from the other side of the hills. Mostly I see green trees and grass as the land slopes upwards from the cave. A river flows into this entrance and tumbles over a waterfall into the dark.
We return the way we came, exit the cave and head back into the jungle. It is late afternoon and already the bats have begun to exit the cave. We go to three official viewing area and join a crowd of about fifty.
The bats stream out of the cave like a thick wisp of smoke. They fly high above our heads and over the tree tops. There's a kind of a low distant humming noise from the flutter of their wings.
It's a fascinating sight. I could watch it for minutes. I stay for about fifteen minutes and the show doesn't vary. It looks like they'll just keep on coming out for a few hours so I head back to the lodge keeping an eye out for any more stick insects.
Wildlife of Borneo
Stick insect
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