Caves of the Cedarberg

Peter Swart

October 2001

Pictures

Although the Cedarberg is reasonably close to Cape Town, the CPSS has not done very much exploration in the area. It is well known for its fantastic sandstone formations, and numerous bushman cave painting, but these caves are usually no more than overhangs. Although some of the overhangs and grottos are quite large, such as at Stadsaal, these cannot really be classified as caves.

The Wolfberg Cracks are a series of vertical cracks, some of which are not open to the sky. Just over the ridge however are a number of true caves. The sandstone beds dip with an angle of about 30 degrees, and in some places shales and other fills have been washed out, leaving mazes of passages under these slabs.

At least one of these caves has been mined for bat guano. During our visit to these caves, we found evidence of bats living in the caves, but there were only one or two Rhinolophus to be found. As it was mid winter, the bats were probably more sensible than we were, and had moved to warmer climes.

Much more work needs to be done in this area, as there are local rumours of a large bat cave, although none of the locals that we questioned knew of the cave.

Closer to the farm Krom Rivier, we were directed to a cave on the hill. This turned out to be a warm, dry tunnel, about 15m long, and less than 1m high. The floor was almost powdery the dust was so fine. Tucked away in the cracks in the roof were a number of 10cm long Geckos. Their bodies were covered in large, sharp scales. The tunnel terminated in a rock wall, with no potential of any further passage.

This seemed to be the only cave in the area. A local had cut some dry brush wood, and left it in the entrance to keep it dry.