On Thursday morning, some of us slept in (LaDonna and Gee), one of us went to tour the Knesset (the Israeli seat of government, like the Capitol Building in DC) (Bradley), and the rest of us (Eva, Zee, Em, Hebs, Yummy, Keryn) went to the Stalactite Cave. This is the cave that Bradley took Zee, Hebs, and Yum to on the day I was sick, so they were super excited to show it to me and I was super excited to see it!
The cave was discovered about 50 years ago in the process of quarrying the limestone. You can see the active quarries in the middle distance–the quarries near the cave are not active anymore, for obvious reasons. Shadow picture on the way down to the Stalactite Cave. I look very tall and pioneer-ish here. There are 160 steps down to the cave entrance, and another 180+ steps in the cave itself. Yummy and Momma, shadow picture.Zee and Eva, looking over the valley on the way down to the cave. One of the things I loved the most about this park was how close it was–just 30 minutes from our apartment in Mevaseret Zion. The entire Jerusalem area is covered in the lovely creamy limestone that covers all the buildings–it should not be at all surprising that there should be stalactite caves.
After a short film about how the cave was found and how caves like these form, we got to go into it and start our walk around the circular path. We spent about 45 minutes in the cave.
I’ve been to Timpanogos Caves, Lehman Caves, Carlsbad–as well as many smaller around the US West–and this one measures up extremely well. It is only one room, and it’s not HUGE, but it is pretty big. And the speleothems are spectacular. We were in the only ones in the cave, except a park employee (another small family group entered as we were exiting). This made for a relaxing, very enjoyable exploration!Hebs, Yum, Zee, and Eva, with beautiful cave formations surrounding them. Hebs, Yum, Em, Zee, Eva.Such a beautiful place.You could follow the jointing in the limestone–just look for where the water will drip through! Em and a column speleothem. It really is chock full of gorgeous formations. And beautifully lit.Em and Yummy, near the end of the winding path through the cave. What a fun adventure!
