Thursday, April 22, 2010

Matka Canyon & The Vrelo Cave

We spent most of today at Matka. Matka (the Macedonian word for "womb") is a canyon and lake just outside of Skopje, Macedonia. We have been to Matka several times, but today was extra special because we went for a boat ride to the cave, and also ate lunch inside a cave! What a fun, adventurous day! Sawyer had a blast!


This shows the inside of the cave restaurant.


Our family inside the cave restaurant at Matka.


This shows the fish holding/growing area. These fish are caught and used for the outdoor Matka restaurant.


Here is someone's summer home on Matka lake.


There are many stalactites in Vrelo Cave at Matka.


According to Wikipedia, Vrelo Cave has many stalactites including a large one in the middle of the cave is known as the "Pine Cone" due to its shape. I think this picture I took must be the large one they are describing on Wikipedia. Do you see the pine cone one on the lower left side?


Look close and you might can see the bats. Besides hearing the awful sound the bats make, it wasn't too creepy. Before we went inside the cave, I asked Sawyer what he thought would be inside. He replied, "Giants!" Also, when we were entering the cave he said, "Mommy be very careful so you don't fall in the water." Isn't he sweet?


This picture shows the light inside the cave that is ran by a generator.



We traveled to the cave in this boat. Eric had already taken this boat ride to the cave before, so he stayed on shore with Olivia while Sawyer and I went.






This huge climber's spike was put at Matka as a memorial for a mountain climber that died while climbing at Matka. Many climbers go to Matka, and we met two today.

We were thankful to get to visit Matka again before leaving Macedonia.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow! Very nice pictures of Vrelo cave. I have a Macedonian background and have visited there many times, but I have not yet visited Vrelo cave or Matka canyon. Thank you for sharing your experience with me, and I plan to visit these places next time I visit Macedonia.

Blagodaram!

Jill said...

That is really neat that you have a Macedonian background. We lived there for almost 2 years and thoroughly enjoyed our time. Yes please visit the cave and canyon when you go back to Macedonia!!