Back in 2001-2002, Jay and I lived at Carlsbad Caverns National Park for 8 months while working a seasonal position on an exotic plant removal team. I always recommend this park to my friends and family as a must-see because it is so unique and special. During certain times of the year, you can see ocotillo and other cacti blooming on the surface. You can see pretty desert birds and lots of interesting wildlife, like the ringtail and tarantula. As seasonal employees, we were able to live in the employee housing at the park, seen in this photo above the big parking lot next to the cave entrance. I had a corner apartment, the one on the far left (I had the BEST sunset views, out over the Guadalupe Mountains), and Jay's was right next door. The best thing though, was being able to sit on my porch and watch the nightly outflight of Mexican free-tailed bats during those first couple of months.
As employees, we were given opportunities to take some the paid (and the behind-the-sceens) tours for free. In one, we went out to Slaughter Canyon Cave, where we saw CLIFFS of historic bat guano, and in another we went down to Lower Cave, where we saw lots of water features and cool formations. I know it looks tiny in this photo, but this is the Great Wall of China:
This one is called the Indian:
Here is a bat skull:
And a bat skeleton:
These are cave pearls:
And here is my favorite photo from the Big Room:
And yes, Jay took some of these photos (I'm sure you can tell which ones!)
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