Mallorca - part I: Cuevas del Drach

First of a series about Mallorca and I am not going to make it chronologically as I will begin with the 3rd of our 7 day stay.

My brother and I have this buff for manageable islands, especially if there is some nature to stroll in and when he suggested to go for a week (more or less last minute) I jumped at the opportunity. I had never been to Mallorca so I wasn't sure what to expect but I figured as long as there were trails to walk away from the tourists I would be alright. My ex-wife was in praise, but I also remembered her horrendous stories of tourist-loaded beaches and boats. It was off season so that would help (although going to a touristic place in low-season also has it disadvantages as I will tell in one of these series.)

I remembered reading about the Cuevas del Drach in Porto Cristo a while ago and suggested it to my brother. Playin' hard to impress I had my doubts about the visit, but I have to confess that it was worthwhile. As a matter of fact, it was one of the highlights of the week.

First mentioned in 1338 and probably discovered only a little earlier the cave exists of 4 sub caves which connect to each other and stretch 4 km long stretch and extend to 25 meter underground. It's one of the biggest caves in the European continent and feature's the biggest underground lake in the world (forgot how long - 125 meters?) I had entered some caves before, but this was really beautiful...

The visit takes a little hour, and while I can't say I was particularly thrilled to hear that a lot of the stalagmites and stalactites all had their name (a fistlike formed stalagmite goes with the name of 'la Mano') and would have loved to do the walk on my own (guided tour is obligatory), the main impression is one of awe at so much beauty. Nature at its' best!

The caves have formed by water being forced through the entrance from the Mediterranean Sea, and some researchers think the formation may date back to the Miocene Epoch.

The stalactites and stalagmites form at a rate of 1 centimeter (1/2.5 inch) every 100 years. Some of them are 5 meters high so go figure how old hey are.

Having said all this, I can't imagine what this place may be in high season. We were there at the first tour of the day and it was already crowded (although manageable.)

Special mentions to my Pentax K-5 who handled the challenging light conditions marvelously. (all photo's ISO 6400!)

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• This is a series about my one week trip to Mallorca. If you want to find out more about this beautiful island just follow this series...
• Unless otherwise noted, all photo's are made by myself! Don't duplicate without prior notice.
• If you liked this post and the photo's, then you might also probably like other posts I made like this one here and anothere one here.
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