Cave Rave Trivia Quiz

Answer: Staffa

Staffa covers 33 hectares (82 acres) and is an uninhabited island, part of the Inner Hebrides, which also includes Skye, Islay and Mull.
Fingal's Cave is at the southern end of the island and is constructed of hexagonally jointed basalt columns, similar to the Giant's Causeway of Northern Ireland. It was named Fingal's Cave in a 1761 work by poet James Macpherson, and the name Fingal is believed to be derived from the Irish mythological character Fionn mac Cumhaill (Finn McCool).
The cave is well known for its acoustic qualities as well as its stunning beauty, and it is these qualities which inspired "The Hebrides, Op. 26" (1830), also known as "Fingal's Cave Overture" by Mendelssohn and "Fingal's Cave" (1999) from Wolfstone. Artist J. M. W. Turner painted the cave in 1832 and the result, "Staffa, Fingal's Cave" became the first painting by Turner to be sent to America when it was purchased by Colonel James Lenox in 1845, for the sum of £500.

Answer: Lascaux

Lascaux was discovered when Marcel Ravidat was out walking his dog, Robot. Robot fell into a hole and Ravidat, unable to rescue him alone, sought assistance from three friends. The boys entered through a 15-metre-deep (50-foot) shaft, and discovered the cave system, with many prehistoric cave paintings, over 17,000 years old, decorating its walls and ceilings.
Due to German forces occupying the area on Dordogne where the caves are located, they were kept something of a secret and not opened to the public until 1948, which gave local archaeologists and historians plenty of time to document every detail of the caves.
Unfortunately opening the caves to the public proved costly as over 1,000 people a day would visit and the changes in the heat and humidity of the caves caused by so many visitors led to fungi and lichen infesting the walls.
In 1963, in order to try and preserve as many of the paintings as possible, the caves were closed to the public, but thanks to the detailed work carried out by the early archaeologists, full scale replicas of Lascaux have been made.
The humidity of the caves now that they are uncovered is a constant problem, with outbreaks of mould occurring regularly. In 2003, an infestation of white mould was present and in 2007 the problem was grey mould. An outbreak of black mould in 2008 meant the cave was closed even to scientist for three months.
In 2018 a new species of fungus was discovered in the caves and was named Ochroconis lascauxensis, to mark the site of its discovery.
While I remember, if you were concerned about Marcel Ravidat's dog, it was reported that Robot was safely rescued and suffered no lasting harm.

Answer: Carlsbad Cavern

While many cave systems have an area called the Big Room, only Carlsbad Cavern, in Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico has the Talcum Passage and Chocolate High as well.
Carlsbad Cavern was first documented by teenager Jim White in 1898, who discovered the cavern entrance after seeing a huge number of bats, and realising that the cave they came from must be of an impressive size.
White named many of the rooms in the cavern while carrying out his initial explorations and these names are still used today, such as Green Lake Room, New Mexico Room, Queens Chamber, Papoose Room, and Big Room, which is the largest chamber in North America at 1,220 metres (4,000 feet) long, 191 metres (625 feet) wide, and 78 metres (255 feet) high at its highest point.
Carlsbad Cavern is one of the few cave systems with an elevator installed to transport visitors below ground, although the annual average visitor numbers of 410,000 is dwarfed by the bat population which is estimated to be almost 800,000.

Answer: Peak Cavern

Peak Cavern was known since at least 1585 as the Devil's Arse, with the name being changed only in 1880 so as not to offend the sensibilities of Queen Victoria, who was visiting. In recent times the older name is being used more, and it is believed that it was originally given this name due to draining flood water in the cavern sounding like severe flatulence.
The entrance to the cavern is the largest cave entrance in Britain and until 1915, was home to possibly the last troglodytes, or cave dwellers in Britain, who made their living by making rope.
Aside from Jarvis Cocker, the cavern has been used for several other concerts as well as movie screenings and in 1989, the BBC filmed some of "The Chronicles of Narnia" (1988-90) down here.

Answer: Grotta Azzurra

Grotta Azzurra, also known as the Blue Grotto, is one of the best known caves in the world for sheer beauty. I really don't think it is possible to take a bad photograph here.
Entrance to the grotto isn't easy, and involves laying on the floor of a small rowing boat, while the oarsman guides the boat by way of a metal chain attached to the cave walls, but once inside the view is simply stunning. as everything is bathed in an indescribable blue light.
In "The Innocents Abroad" (1869), Mark Twain described Grotta Azzurra as "the brightest, loveliest blue that can be imagined" and "No tint could be more ravishing, no lustre more superb".
Tiberius was one lucky guy.

Answer: Glowworms

Maori chief Tane Tinorau and his wife Huti first opened Waitomo Caves to the public in 1889, charging a small sum for guided tours. In the first two years, they led about 500 visitors and the popularity of the caves has continued to grow ever since, required a hotel to be built in 1910 to house the influx of tourists.
Guided tours of the caves conclude with a boat trip, underneath the thousands of glowworms who provide the only light on this portion of the tour, making this an unforgettable experience.
The glowworms and their welfare is closely monitored by a scientific advisory group, who run regular checks on air and rock temperature, humidity and carbon dioxide levels, and, depending on these levels, also have the final say on how many visitors are allowed into the caves each day.
What has also put Waitomo Caves on the map is their Black Water Rafting experiences, where visitors can book adventure excursions lasting between three and seven hours. These adventures involve an inner tube for rafting and, depending on the tour, can also involve swimming, abseiling, waterfall climbs and jumps as well as tight squeezes.

Answer: Train

Postojna Cave, which opened to the public in 1819, certainly can't be accused of lagging behind when it comes to technology as the caves had electric lighting in 1884, before even the city of Ljubljana. A further claim to fame happened in 1899 when the caves became the site of the world's first underground post office.
In 1872, rails were laid in the caves and visitors in their train carriages were pushed along by the guides before a gasoline powered train was added to pull the carriages in the early part of the 20th century.
In 1956, these gas locomotives were replaced with electric ones, and Postojna became the first cave in the world to operate a double-track cave railway in 1964.
Postojna Cave is home to an amazing five metre high bright white stalagmite, quite aptly called Brilliant, as well as a healthy population of the largest troglodytic amphibian in the world, the olm, which were once thought to be baby dragons as they look so unusual.

Answer: Vietnam

Hang Son Doong is located near the Vietnamese border with Laos and amazingly, considering the size of it, wasn't discovered until 1991 and wasn't fully explored until 2009.
The cave is an incredible 5 kilometres (3.1 miles) long, 200 metres (660 feet) high and 150 metres (490 feet) wide, large enough for a Boeing 747 "Jumbo Jet" to comfortably pass through.
Highlights once inside the cave include a fast flowing river, some of the tallest known stalagmites ever discovered, with some reaching a height of 70 metres (230 feet), and an abundance of calcite "cave pearls". These "cave pearls" are usually quite small, being less than a centimetre (0.39 in) wide, but in Hang Son Doong, there are "cave pearls" the size of baseballs.
2013 saw the first tourists allowed into the cave and visitor numbers are strictly controlled by a permit system in order to prevent damage to the cave.

Answer: Chile and Argentina

The lake which separates the two countries is known as Lake Buenos Aires on the Argentine side and General Carrera Lake on the Chilean side, which is the side from which the Marble Caves are accessible. The only way to reach the caves is by boat, but the journey is more than worth it when you reach these stunning caves.

They have been carved out by water melting from the nearby glaciers which has created intricate tunnel systems and caverns in a variety of colours. Due to the mineral content of the glacial water swirling patterns of blues, greens, blacks, and yellows can be seen, with no two formations being the same.

Answer: Tham Luang Nang Non

I tried to make this slightly easier by only including one Thai cave in the answers. Phnom Aural is the highest peak in Cambodia, Nam Ngum is a river in Laos and Nay Pyi Taw is the capital city of Myanmar, leaving Tham Luang as the infamous cave.
Tham Luang is a 10.3 kilometre (6.4 mile) long cave system, reaching a depth of 446 metres (1,463 feet) and the football team were discovered in darkness over 4 kilometres (2.5 miles) from the cave entrance after nine days of searching. Their exit had been cut off by monsoon rains, and the threat of further rain hampered the rescue attempts, but finally after 18 days underground, all of the boys were evacuated unharmed.
The rescue effort comprised a global task force of over 10,000 people, ten helicopters, seven ambulances, over 700 diving cylinders and the pumping of over a billion litres of water from the caves.
This incredibly brave rescue mission involved specialists and volunteers from 25 different countries and sadly was responsible for two deaths. Saman Kunan, a volunteer and ex Thai navy diver was placing diving cylinders along the exit route and lost consciousness and died due to oxygen levels falling to 15% and Thai Navy SEAL Beirut Pakbara contracted a blood infection during the rescue. Unfortunately this blood infection resulted in his death in December 2019, almost a year and a half after the rescue.
Both men should be remembered as heroes.