Spelunking in Sinkholes

After seeing some friends post a picture of a relatively well-known sinkhole I knew I had to visit it. A couple months ago, before the heat had gotten too bad, we headed to adventure there with some friends. The sinkhole had a big, cavernous opening, and was very easy to maneuver down and play at the bottom and explore a bit with the kids. 

We were hooked. It got me wondering and thinking if there were possibly others around Doha that we could go explore. I found an old PDF that listed a handful of ones in Qatar. Unfortunately most aren't big enough to be able to go inside, but one looked promising. I shared the article with a friend and her family graciously took on exploring the cave first on their own. 

Once restrictions started to ease up a bit in Qatar and we could go visit together we made plans to head there.  This sinkhole was definitely more narrow, technically challenging, and required headlamps because it was pitch black at the bottom. It also had a fun surprise at the bottom that our girls loved... bats! 🦇 The kids sat for a long time watching and listening to them (and also counting the cockroaches scurrying one level below them - this sinkhole is not for the faint of heart - ha!)

Due to the heat we explored the sinkhole in the late afternoon and then sat outside to see if any of the bats would come flying out at sunset. Only handful did, but we enjoyed watching the sunset and letting the kids run around and explore some more. It was nice to get back in nature and see more of Qatar's hidden beauty.