Belize cave tubing question

[crazytahitihygienist]

Does anyone know is there are bats in the caves in Belize. I'm thinking of taking the cave tubing excursion but not if there are bats in the caves.

Thanks

[Travel Angel]

Does anyone know is there are bats in the caves in Belize. I'm thinking of taking the cave tubing excursion but not if there are bats in the caves.

Thanks

The Bad News: Fruit Bats ARE VISIBLE in the caves as well as there nests bored into the limestone....

 

The Good News: Been on this tour on several occassions and NEVER had a problem or fear as they pretty much keep to themselves and not flying and dive bombing guests for their next meal.

 

Closing thoughts.....My wife too HAD A FEAR as you are contemplating, but now actually has a respect for their purpose in the scheme of things.

 

Go ahead.... go for the tour of the history of the Mayan culture... you will be glad you did !

[driftwood]

It has been our experience that there are bats everywhere--I have seen them in Ohio, Kentucky, Ontario, Virginia, Mexico, England, and Italy myself, and I feel sure there are a couple of bats I have not seen in countries I have not visited yet. If Travel Angel is correct--I have no reason to doubt him--that the bats in the Belize caves are fruit bats, they are even more innocuous than the bats I have seen myself. It would be more to the point to ask if there was oxygen in the air of the caves. If there is oxygen, we should be able to breathe. How would we feel if every homeowner quickly vacated the homes we choose to visit? Might it not be time to look in a mirror?

 

If we are concerned about guano and its effects on health and the environment, we may need to do a little more challenging research than the Cruise Critic boards ordinarily provide. But as the tour operators do not yet seem to have keeled over in the fashion of the archaeologists of ancient Egypt, there is a good chance that cave tubers will survive for a few hours.

 

Personally I would prefer bats whose entire diet is mosquitoes, particularly when I visit Belize--although they are welcome here in Swampland, VA, anytime--but certainly if I had a pathological fear of bats I would not be visiting caves, whether in Belize, Transylvania, or the United States.

[KandCsailing]

The bats will be sleeping during the day and not fly out to hunt until sundown. Don't be screaming while in the cave to disturb them and you will be fine.