Koelenhof Cave - South Africa Underground

April 2019 -  Koelenhof Cave in the Cradle of Humanity

There are adventures and then there are experiences that totally take your breath away.  I’m exhausted, my hands are still etched with earth after a long shower and scrubbing and I still can’t describe what I saw today, but I’m going to try. 

I’ve been caving in South Africa before, but the word on the street is that the Koelenhof Cave was an epic challenge with high reward.  Contacting my caving coordinator from the last trip (see blog here), I was thrilled that they were able to take Johan and I out since we had proven our capability three years ago.  It is also worth noting that finding a friend that isn't claustrophobic, isn't too large and doesn't mind getting extremely dirty can be quite a challenge.  You have to keep you potential caving partners list close in hand!

It is funny that in three years my environment has changed significantly at home.  This is welcome change, but makes me laugh thinking that it's never occurred to me that it's odd to meet a guy I barely know at a gas station, cross load gear, go somewhere you have no idea about, go underground for 6 hours and all without thinking about it.  To my amazing partner’s gentle credit, she politely asked for their website and the name of the cave (completely reasonable). (Thank you dear for your patience!)

Back to the cave, we met Fredrick and Neil at the gas station and loaded into a bakkie (little pick up truck) for the ride to the cave.  We went through fields, past cows and generally into the beyond and then stopped in the middle of nowhere.  He pointed at a clump of trees and we headed in.  There was a stunning steep decent covered with all the debris that flows during a rain storm.  We saw a frog at the entrance making his way along and I took this as a very solid start.  Wedging ourselves past the first gate, it wasn’t long before we saw a large opening to the sky.  Beneath the framed opening was a little cluster of mushrooms and more ambiance than seemed reasonable.  The glow filtering in the cave was ethereal and incredibly calming.  Proceeding forward we varied between rough walks, tight twists up or down, long and tall cracks and large rooms.  One of the early rooms featured a haven for bats.  As we sat still they grew curious and swooped, scoped and generally brought us a lot of joy.  It wasn’t the mass chaos of the last visit, but they were squeaking and carrying on and the smiles on our faces couldn’t have gotten bigger as bats took their dives just inches from our faces. 

Frog friends!

Does it get better than mushrooms in a cave? Not for me!

Bat cuddles

Hole full of crystals.

The apparently dangerous fungus that was everywhere, but we weren't to disturb it for fear of extreme illness...

Cave monster Johan.

Loved the color of this rock.

Baboon Skull

The cave grew more challenging as we proceeded.  We stopped and stared at a crystalline formation for at least 30 minutes slack jawed and in awe.  The complexity, depth, variation and evidence of continued growth was a marvel.  We continued on knowing there was a cold swim in our future.  Before the swim we encountered an unexpected challenge, a jump across a small draw over a 20+ foot jagged drop.  Something in my soul panicked quietly.  After much stuffing about, it was time to jump.  Scared the dickens out of me. Not going to lie.  Making it past, we saw the brilliant blue waters of our crossing.  The water was so clear, so pure looking and as we would discover, so very very cold.  Shedding clothes and boots to the minimum I had my first experience of being nearly naked swimming through a cave.  Somehow this primal moment with a dear friend, laughing in the cold, smiling because we couldn’t believe our fortune was a truly blissful moment.  We emerged on the other side happy to be free of water we were quickly getting used to. 

Going up?

My butt is not stuck...ok, maybe a tiny bit...

The complexity of these formations is impossible to capture.  The more you look, the more features are to be found.

Neil and Fredrick

Swimming Hole

The swimmers return!

Out next move was to spiral up through a rock fall.  Somehow being unencumbered made everything feel smooth and capable.  We twisted, crawled and emerged in a room nothing short of divine.  Not using this word lightly, I will try to explain.  The room was full of white crystal features. Imagine huge stalactites covered in glittering white crystals.  A few of these formed columns and a formation of about 12 feet looked distinctly angelic with two large wings and imposing shoulders.  The angel is not however what made it so divine.  There was a peace in the air, a stillness, a sacredness that caused me to lay in a pile of soft dirt on the slope, take off my helmet, shut down my headlamp and just be there.  There are few times in my life that I felt like the greater power was tangible, but today was one of those days.  The feeling of being in the presence of  something much greater than myself hit me with colossal force.  Thinking I was the only one in rapture, I noticed Johan had gone silent and stood fixed, turning his head this way and that trying to process what we were seeing.  

Finally it was time to return to the surface.  We left the glorious terminus of the cave and following our corkscrew down, we returned for the second swim.  Much more prepared for it, we still all whooped and hollered as we went neck deep.  Of course returning we had to recross the big jump.  It was more of a team straddle and pull across from the other direction and I was so thankful for that!

It is naturally faster on the way out, but I was in a trance and unable to stimey curiosity, while being utterly exhausted at the same time.  Our last crawls and climbs felt bigger than they were and I was admittedly grateful once sunlight touched my face again.  We pulled off soaking coveralls and helmets and silently took in the view and value of what we’d just experienced.  Fredrick and I went for a rock hunt in the weeds and uncovered loads of crystals.  This was a perfect way to complete the trip.  Sacred stones from a sacred place.