But when the chill months come and insects disappear, torpor comes over them and with it a longing for their own cave, the same spot where they have spent previous winters. Bats sometimes fly 100 ...

Several years ago, on assignment for National Geographic, I ventured inside a cave in Uganda to photograph a roost of roughly 100,000 Egyptian fruit bats ... three of our kids were there ...

We had spent the morning combing the hills of Biche for a cave system long forgotten by children, now grown men ... it’s just a big hole with bats and everybody don’t like bats.

Why it's awesome: Deep inside one of Gabon's cave systems lives an unusual population of orange dwarf crocodiles. They live in complete darkness, feast on bats and swim in liquid guano (aka bat poop.) ...