VISIT THE REAL BAT CAVE AT CALAKMUL
© Johannes Vande Voorde
Have you seen David Attenborough's documentary with the bats leaving a cave in a giant swarm? Well, that one is in Malaysia, but El Volcan de los Murciélagos in Mexico is equally impressive. Translation: Bat Volcano. The name is not an exageration.
The home of Volcan de los Murciélagos is La Reserva Biosfera de Calakmul, declared by Unesco as one of the most biodiverse places in the world, with a healthy population of jaguars, pumas, monkeys, toucans and tapirs.
When the bats leave their daytime habitat just before sunset, they do so in a spectacular way, in a gigantic vortex of 2 (some sources say 4) million creatures. This demonstration of Mother Nature is quite magical, not only because of its size (millions of bats), or the number of species living together in one cave (7), but rather that the scene lasts for more than 1 hour. There seems to be no end to the hurricane of bats, and you are almost in the middle of it. Thanks to echolocation, none of the animals fly into the spectators, but they do skim right past your head.
Guacamole con chapulines
One bat can devour more than 1000 insects per hour, so they provide excellent insect pest control. (2 million bats eating 1000 insects in one hour: do the math!) Thanks guys, we did our fair share by eating guacamole con chapulines, but we couldn’t have done it alone.
The Reserva Biosfera de Calakmul combines nature and history. At the hart of the forest lies the archeological site of Calakmul, one of the largest cities of the Maya during the Classic Period, and the capital of the Kingdom of the Snake. (Another ‘fun’ fact: La Biosfera is the home of more than 30 species of snakes!)
Calakmul is the perfect detour for travelers who want to get away from he tourist masses at the famous archeological sites like Palenque, Uxmal or Tulum. This is because Calakmul is difficult to reach. The archaeological site is located in the middle of the jungle, not far from the Guatemalan border. You get there by a 20-kilometer asphalt road. It takes about 2 hours by car, not only because of the potholes, but also because of the current works for El Tren Maya. You are only allowed to drive 30 km per hour, to protect wildlife. Please respect the speed limit, because otherwise you are sure to hit some animals. We had to stop several times for crossing wild turkeys or a coati.
© Johannes Vande Voorde
View from the top of the pyramid
© Johannes Vande Voorde
Monkey at Calakmul
At the pyramids we saw only a few humanoids: a handful of tourists and three soldiers guarding the site. And lots of monkeys.
Some practical tips
Volcan de los Murciélagos:
You won’t find El Volcan de los Murciélagos on Google Maps. But you can’t miss it: it’s located a few kilometers past the Calakmul entrance on the road to Xpujil. (Kilometer 106 on la carretera Escárcega-Xpujil.)
Be at the parking area on time, so 20 minutes before sunset. (We arrived there at 5pm, in november.) The guide is only allowed to take 20 people at a time, although he will not stick to this maximum.
Bring a mouth mask or handkerchief to hold in front of your mouth. This is mandatory.
Don’t make noise. The guide got very frustrated by the loud group of Russians who paid more attention to their social media than to this wonderful phenomenon. Please be respectful.
Don’t try to take pictures or videos unless you’re a professional. It is too dark, flash is not allowed and the movement is too fast to capture in these lighting conditions.
Luckily we are professionals, watch the video at the top of the article.
Calakmul archeological site:
There’s no gas station close to the entrance of Calakmul, so make sure your fuel tank is full.
There’s no restaurant at the archeological site or in the forest, and it’s a long drive to the entrance. So pack a lunch box, or follow our example. We always have emergency water, fruit and cookies in the car.
