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Congress Bridge in the cool city of Austin, Texas, is home to the world’s largest urban bat colony. Every summer evening, around 8pm, some 1.5 MILLION Mexican free-tailed bats emerge before crowds of people, in search of their favourite food, the bugs that plague nearby farmers. You’ll enjoy the best seats in the house for this spectacular event, as you’ll be kayaking up Lady Bird Lake (named after the former First Lady and wife of President Lyndon B Johnson), pausing just in front of the bridge minutes before the bats stream out into the sky above.
The bats moved into this haunt in 1980 when the bridge was first renovated, and it’s estimated that every night they can eat up to 30,000lbs of insects - that’s the equivalent of 2 adult African elephants! Watching these friendly, harmless creatures flood out from their hideaway is one of the most popular activities in Austin - even the locals will frequently make a point of stopping by. And with your position in a kayak, you’ll have a superb view.
