The owner of the Campanario Biological Station, Nancy Aitken, decided that since we had the cave entrance rigged it would be an opportunity for her to check on her bats personally. Nancy is amazing in a lot of ways, truly one of the best of the best, but most of her visits to the cave are for taking students and other visitors to the station to see the bat flight in the evening from benches above the entrance, not going down to the cave.
The cave itself is, for the most part, a place very few should visit. The wildlife watching opportunity outside the entrance, is something not to be missed. The cave is obviously an important breeding site for Pteronotus in Costa Rica, and for the most part they will continue to do just fine without anyone entering the cave. While watching the bat flight is really fun and doesn't bother the bats at all. It's a win-win.
So we went out one afternoon at low tide, and after finishing up with our work and pulling out Guy's ammonia sampler, Nancy got to check on her bats. Now I am not going to tell you her age, but let's just say most with that many candles on their cake would not be dropping down a rope to visit a hot, stinky cave with the surf pounding away on the rocks just a few feet away. Actually most anyone, of any age, race, gender, country of origin, or shoe size would not visit this place voluntarily. But here is Nancy climbing out after getting a look at the cave and the bats. Truly remarkable lady in every way.
The cave itself is, for the most part, a place very few should visit. The wildlife watching opportunity outside the entrance, is something not to be missed. The cave is obviously an important breeding site for Pteronotus in Costa Rica, and for the most part they will continue to do just fine without anyone entering the cave. While watching the bat flight is really fun and doesn't bother the bats at all. It's a win-win.
So we went out one afternoon at low tide, and after finishing up with our work and pulling out Guy's ammonia sampler, Nancy got to check on her bats. Now I am not going to tell you her age, but let's just say most with that many candles on their cake would not be dropping down a rope to visit a hot, stinky cave with the surf pounding away on the rocks just a few feet away. Actually most anyone, of any age, race, gender, country of origin, or shoe size would not visit this place voluntarily. But here is Nancy climbing out after getting a look at the cave and the bats. Truly remarkable lady in every way.
Nancy Aitken climbing up from the entrance to the Campanario Bat Cave with top belay by Guy van Rentergem (Don McFarlane supervising from below)
And, just really want to thank Nancy here for all her wonderful hospitality. She made this part of our trip work super smoothly and was just wonderful to hang out with and hear her stories. Hope to return and spend more time out there at some point as Campanario was a real treat to visit.
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