Saturday Daily Dynamics/Photography – The Cango Caves

When I was as small as you my parents found huge pleasure in driving us around our country South Africa. They wanted for the three of us, me, my brother and my sister not only to get to know our country but to discover our heritage, re-live our history and experience the various cultures.

One of the highlights for me and a visit I can remember so clearly was a visit to the Cango Caves. I just had to share it with my children and today I want to share it with you, the kids of Steemit.

You will find the Cango Caves at the foot of the Swartberg mountain range near the town Oudtshoorn in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. I'm sure you can remember the name Oudtshoorn... YES, the town I told you about where you we find ostriches!

As one of the seven wonders of South Africa this cave is known by most South Africans and a must visit for tourists and school groups.

It is estimated that the cave is more than 5 km long and over 20 million years old. Only +/- 1km is open to the public, for us, to explore.

The well-hidden caves and the main building

The entrance of the cave is well hidden between the rocks of the mountain and consist of numerous hidden chambers carved out of the limestone rock layers. Today we will be visiting some of the formations in these chambers.

Before we enter just a few things to remember;

• The tour takes about 60 minutes
• No food or drinks are allowed in the cave
• You are not allowed to walk in the cave on your own
• You are not allowed to touch nor climb on any of the formations
• You may not play with any of the light switches and
• tell daddy that no smoking is allowed

The entrance to the cave

Once we enter you will feel your adrenaline kicking in as the temperature is immediately warmer and the humidity higher. The ambiance or the "excitement" is also set by soft lighting and the first views of the formations are going to be absolutely breath taking.

Our stop is in the “Van Zyl’s Hall”. This chamber is the largest of the chambers and is 107 meters long, 54 meters wide and 17 meters high.

It is said that the caves were discovered by a herder who lost one of the cattle and thereafter it was explored by one of the local farmers, Jacobus van Zyl. This chamber is then also named after him.

Van Zyl’s Hall

The cave and chambers were formed over a long long long period of time as result of underground water flowing and gradually dissolving or breaking down the limestone rock.

The beautiful formations is formed when Calcium Bicarbonate (the active ingredient in agricultural lime) gives off Carbon Dioxide (a colourless gas) and then reverts back to Calcium Carbonate. When this solution crystallize it forms a formation. We call these formations stalactites and stalagmites.

Stalactites – these formations grows from the ceiling down to the ground
Stalagmites – these formations grows up from the ground to the ceiling

Let's see what type of formation you can find in the next photo.

Some of the formations in the Cango Caves were given names like;

• Cleopatra’s Needle
• Organ Pipes,
• The Ballerina
• Frozen Waterfall
• The bridal couple
• Hanging shawl

My favourite formation is the angel wings with the open Bible.
Can you see it?

For those who are brave enough a visit to the “Devil’s Chimney”, "Tunnel of love" and “Lumbago Alley” is a must. Getting there includes a steep ladder climb, some serious crawling and going through small holes.
The word “lumbago” is used when you have a pain in the lower back. With all the bending and crawling your back will for sure feel lumbago.

The actual size of one of the holes.

I tell you what, I’ll go and have a cup of tea in the restaurant while you go and explore these three sections with your mom and dad.

See you later!

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