Day 20 - May 29 - Carlsbad Caverns

To describe our experience at Carlsbad is like describing a movie with a great plot and a disappointing ending. We spent the afternoon touring the caves and being amazed at the cave formations. However, in the evening, our expectations for an amazing bat flight (based on our 2007 experience) were not met. Unfortunately, only about 1,000 (my guess) bats exited the cave during the dusk visibility. In September 2007, I would guess there was 300,000 that we viewed (based on what the rangers said). I guess I didn't do my homework. and the bat flight. I'd recommend the late summer months. By the way, you probably should consider the flight return from 4 am to 6 am. The rangers say that this is much more impressive than the exit. The gates are always open so anyone can come in any morning to view the return. We opted not to because the ranger said the numbers would be so small we would probably be disappointed.

We learned that the bat flights in May are about 1/100th of the volume in July, August, and September. The reason for this is that the mother bats are giving birth during May and their flight patterns are not the same. The baby bats hang from the ceiling for 5 to 6 weeks before they exit the cave for their first hunt, which is why the flights in the late summer are spectacular. For those of you wanting to experience the caves, I would highly recommend the late summer and the early morning return viewing.