This Friday the 28th is my birthday. I'm turning 30! I've decided to give myself a little present. I'm going caving on Saturday! I'm in Austin, Texas right now visiting my cousins and I just discovered this little gem...er, BIG jem! Look how beautiful that is!
Inner Space Caverns!
I'll be going on the wild cavern tour which involves wearing a head-lamp and crawling around in tiny spaces, getting dirty, grimy, and gross. I actually have to find a thrift store to buy some shoes, jeans, and a t-shirt. They say you'll want to throw them out when you're done with the 4 hour excursion. I'll be with a group of 8 people and 2 guides. Don't worry though, I've done this once before. I went to Crystal Caves in Sequoia National Park 2 years ago. It was amazing. I saw bats, blind centipedes, crickets, and spiders. These blind critters are very unique and you're really lucky to find just one.
Oh look, I guess there's a name for them.
"Troglobites
Troglobites are true cave-adapted animals: those that have acquired characteristics, through natural selection, that favor their survival in a particular cave environment. Typically these adaptations include an absence of visual organs (i.e., they are blind) and loss of pigmentation (they tend to be white, pink, or translucent). Troglobites tend to be small aquatic animals or insects or their kin; there are no known troglobitic mammals--not even bats."
