Spelunking ‘Round the World

I was in elementary school the first time I went spelunking. My class—comprised of 30 obnoxious, noisy and curious third graders—went on a field trip to the Lava River Caves at the Newberry National Volcanic Monument in Central Oregon. While I don’t remember too much about the experience, I recall that my classmates and I were still small enough to fit through the tiny tube at the end of the main area—a feat my teacher and the parent-chaperones were not capable of.

While I can no longer crawl into the tiny crevices in caves, curiosity continues to call me to them. As I searched the Creative Commons for photos of these natural underground tunnels, I found myself saying aloud (more than once), “Dude, I want to go there,”—a little embarrassing, considering I’m in a coffee shop right now.

Clearly, I’m not the only one captivated by caves around the world. Regardless of whether we’re talking ice, thermal or lava, as long as their are caves, there will be people spelunking. So sit back, relax and prepare to take a visual journey of Spelunking, Round the World.

If you like our ‘Round the World series, you might enjoy some of the previous themes: trekking, water skiing, mountain biking, sand, gliding, kayaking, climbing, buses, skateboarding, surfin’, doorways, hats, boating, gas stations, bicycles, windows, truckin’, glasses, mohawks, beer, authorities, fanny packs, Jesus, swimming, sweaters, mustaches, stairs, chess, foods, silhouettes, donkeys, outhouses, and cemeteries.

Click on the thumbnails to view the images. If you’d like to see more work by any of the photographers featured here then follow the link that appears below each photo.

Enjoy.