10 Sep First week at Mammoth Cave National Park
I arrived last week and from the airplane view you could see the lush greenery that is Kentucky. The drive to the park was full of beautiful agriculture scenery. Once there, I was met with very warm welcoming people. Mammoth cave National park is home to the longest cave in the world at 426 miles long so, it attracts a lot of nature aficionados from everywhere. The cave is incredibly diverse in its features, every tour offered is unique in its own way. Some parts of the cave are filled with gypsum which appears as a very pretty sparkly white mineral, while others have stalactites emerging from the ceiling. The cave itself is almost entirely made up of limestone.
The cave was first discovered by pre contact indigenous people. There presence is shown in the artifact they left behind like cane twigs used as torches and baskets made out of river cane. After that arrived cave explorers that would set up tours to the caves. This caused a cave war, as various caves were being found all around the area. Floyd Collins which was a cave explorer, was exploring a cave nearby called Sand Cave when he go his foot stuck and tragically died. This marked the end of the cave wars.
However there is also a diverse ecosystem above the cave. The park itself spans over 52,00 acres. Filled with animals ranging from pollinators like bees and butterflies to bigger wildlife like deer and coyotes. The endless greenery is so relaxing and amazing to look at, specially on my walk to work. There are many trails that include ponds and rivers that are also accessible to visitors. Overall Mammoth Cave National Park has it all and is an amazing place to not just visit but have the amazing opportunity to be living at. 
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