Thursday the 15th, we went south to the coast of the Mediterranean Sea to the town of Nerja (NAIR-ha).  In Nerja, are caves that were only discovered in 1959 by some high school boys when they saw some bats flying out of a place in the ground.  There are cave paintings and other evidence of human activity in them.  Some of the chambers were used for burial and when the boys first came upon them, they thought they were the remains of previous explorers that got lost in the caves and couldn't find their way out!  They scrambled out right away and went to alert their teacher as to what they found.   Katie

This shot has some reflection and might not be the easiest to read.

The boys a little older.

The hole the boys descended to make the discovery.  Were they brave or crazy?  You decide!

Inside the cave.  One of the first "rooms".

The stairs give you a sense of how large it is inside the cave.  

See the piece of broken stalactite in the center of the picture?  There was a massive earth quake that shook the cave in this area and matches other geological "damage" in other areas near by.

Another shot at broken stalactites and earthquake evidence.

Notice the green color?  Rod saw this and knew right away what was happening.  This is a type of green algae that is invasive in the cave.  It cannot grow in the absence of light.  But since the cave has been opened to the public, it has to be lighted and even though it is artificial light, this stuff grows.  It deteriorates the surface of the cave.  We were not allowed in the area of the cave paintings because to illuminate them would cause this to grow over them and ruin them.  The cave is constantly being studied by scientists and I saw one working as we walked through the cave.

This might have been the formation they dubbed "The Organ".  Kind of looks like organ pipes, doesn't it?