Žan Kafol Aerial & cave photographer SL
Journal

Photo story

Flamingo Invasion

CavesNightWater
A large pink inflatable flamingo floats alone in the still dark water of a low limestone cave chamber.

When news began to spread that real, genuine flamingos had appeared at Lake Cerknica—or Flamingoti, as we prefer to call them—we decided to reveal our closely guarded secret.

We had been hiding the flamingos in Zelške Caves all summer! Apparently they escaped!

In the summer, Matej's flamingo, my very patient model Ana and I held a "photo sesh" in the cave system at Rakov Škocjan. We made some lovely photographs, both in front of and behind the scenes.

Children, don't try this at home! We're experts! Caves can be deadly, and they are also extremely sensitive to human activity!
We treated the cave with care while photographing and carried out more plastic than we brought in. We left only the odd boot print and killed only time.

Joking aside, let us be serious about caves: these photographs should not encourage fooling around underground. We are trained cavers who merely had a little fun at the end of a cave visit made for scientific purposes—sampling for hydrogeological measurements.

A person paddles a large pink flamingo float through a low cave chamber lit in red and green.
A smiling person sits inside a giant pink inflatable flamingo floating in the dark water of a cave.
A bright pink flamingo float carries a rider through a warmly illuminated chamber filled with stalactites.
Two small pink flamingo floats glow in a dark cave pool beneath red-lit stalactites.
A caver sits inside a bright pink inflatable flamingo beneath dense stalactites on a green-lit cave pool.
A person in colourful caving clothes sits inside a bright pink flamingo float on an illuminated underground pool.
Two small pink flamingo floats glow on black cave water beneath a low, brightly illuminated limestone ceiling.
A bright pink inflatable flamingo drifts alone across a still cave pool surrounded by rough limestone walls.
A person wearing a white sunhat rides a pink flamingo float among golden cave formations.

Behind the scenes…

A person paddles a large illuminated pink flamingo float through still black water in a low cave passage.
Giant pink flamingo float glows on a dark cave lake while a helmeted caver stands beside it in the water.
Two people ride a pink flamingo float through a dark cave pool while another caver photographs them from the water.
A pink flamingo float carrying cave explorers emerges from darkness, reflected in still underground water.
A helmeted caver steadies a giant pink inflatable flamingo while wading through deep, dark cave water.
A flamingo float and two people move through a dark cave pool beneath low rock walls.
Two explorers ride a pink flamingo float through reflective underground water beneath a low limestone ceiling.
Inflatable flamingo fills the foreground of a cave pool while two cavers steady it among illuminated rock walls.
Four cavers pose with a pink flamingo float beneath a ceiling crowded with delicate stalactites.