ShowCaveBlog

The Gunns Plains Cave is located south of Ulverstone in north-west Tasmania. It is the oldest show cave on the island and was opened to the public 100 years ago. For the centenary the Parks and Wildlife Service, which manages the cave, completed the installation of a new lighting and electrical system.

The new light system needs less electricity, produces less heat, and therefore has a smaller environmental impact. This was made by using 24 V LEDs. Light emitting diodes are more durable and will be able to resist better against the intermittent floods in the cave. And after all they have a much longer life span than other light sources.

Kalabera Cave is a popular destination on Saipan island, which belongs to the Northern Mariana Islands. The semi-wild cave has now been closed to the public for the development as a show cave. This will include the construction of an elevated path and electric lighting. We do not list this cave at the moment, but will add a new show cave page with the next update.

 Saipan Tribune

Okay, this might not be an option for tourists in the next decades: visiting a show cave on Mars. Nevertheless its a fascinating thing. Many scientists now believe in the existence of caves on Mars, some years ago this was a new idea, first postulated by the great Herbert W. Franke.

After some years the NASA has officially accepted the idea and lately they created a 10-member team spending one month in Chile’s Atacama desert to develop techniques for discovering and studying caves on Mars. They will visit lava tubes and salt caves similar to those expected on Mars. The caves will be mapped and sensors planted, to develop techniques for discovering and studying caves on Mars. (Probably they should ask a caver…)
 Planetarium official to take part in NASA cave project | www.rgj.com | Reno Gazette-Journal

For several decades the German cavers offer an international training camp for young cavers, called JuHöFoLa. The camp has been very popular among German and east European cavers. The first attended because of its good value (250 € for two weeks including meals and all materials and transportation), the latter for the possibility to escape the iron courtain for two weeks and the chance to find someone to marry.

But like many traditional leisure activities caving has nowadays problems in finding interested youths. Most are pretty busy using their cell phone and working to pay the cell phone fee. And the eastern countries are now part of the EU and borders are open. So last time the camp was skipped the first time after 20 years because of too few applications, and this year the camp is much smaller. It is pretty sobering if you learn that many attendants were not really interested in the topic.
However, there is still the possibility to attend the camp. Some courses are booked but others still have vacancies. The camp is international, the only requirement is to understand English (or German of course) and if you are not of age a signature of your parents.

The geology course has still some vacancies. It will include an introduction into the geology of caves, of southern Germany and its escarpments, volcanism, the biggest meteor crater in Europe (25km in diameter) and fossils of the Mesozoic including some world famous fossil collecting opportunities. It will include a little practice in using maps and GPS, surveying, work with geologic compasses, preparation of fossils and work with cave sediments. There will be a little caving, but nothing difficult. Of course there are so called free days, where you may choose to visit a cave.
For more info look at the official website.

Ah, and by the way: I will be one of the course instructors for geology.