The
Gchwihaba Hills (Drotsky's Caves)
the "Hyaena's Hole"
They're not much in the
way of hills but for this topography they weren't difficult to find. To the
locals
they are the Gchwihaba Hills, which in the Bush tongue means the Hyaena's
Hole. But of course once
a European finds something (that has always been there) it becomes necessary
to rename it after someone.
In this case it was Martin Drotsky a Brit. (See also Mosi-oa-tunya
later named after Queen Victoria)
We had never explored
a wild cave system before and this was probably as wild as we were going to
get.
Any other caves we had been in had walkways, lights and a guide. These caves
were alledged to have had
a nylon string running it's length and although we found remnants of it, it
was by no means connected to
much. There was however a small sign post off to the right of the entrance
that indicated what it was.
The descent wasn't bad
and when we landed in the 1st large cavern we noticed we were standing in
up to
one foot of a gray talcum powder kind of substance. We were informed by our
guide that we were in fact
standing in 2 million year vintage Bat Dung. The skeletal remains of some
of the older inhabitants were
evident as was the presence of the still alive inhabitants.
It took a bit for our
eyes to adjust but once they did it was apparent that we were in the sleeping
quarters of literally 1000's of small bats. They were clinging to the ceiling
everywhere. (see upper right)
As seen above right, the
bat dung liked to fill the air from time to time and Maura wasn't crazy about
that ! Not a good place to be if you suffer from any respiratory ailments
During the tour, Giles,
one of our guides asked if anyone was up for an additional adventure. To which
I and
Rob Cliford (one of our other guides were the only ones who answered yes.
I was instructed that
because of the narrow passages I would be unable to bring my camera (which
I later realized I should have)
We descended a 4' diameter 12' deep verticle shaft fingering ledges on the
way down. The bottom was
barely large enough for.2 people at a time, so Giles and I arrived 1st with
Rob left hanging on the ledges
above. Giles cautioned me not to panic if I were hit in the head or face by
an awakened bat. Oh-oh!.
He showed me a small hole at the bottom of the verticle shaft and began to
crawl into it. When it was my
turn I reluctantly entered to find myself in a horizontal shaft that was no
more than 30" in diameter and at
least 25' long. The floor was covered in the same 12" deep bat dung only
now it was apparent that it was
home to many many insects, all just inches from my face. Gloves would have
been a good call as well here.
After crawling over all of this plus a couple of awakened bats staring me
in the eyes, we entered the
lower cavern where the temperature had to exceed 120F. Once we were able to
adjust our flashlights
we saw before us a room as large as your average theater. A 40' ceiling covered
with what appeared to be
white bats. One hit me in the back of the head and fell to the ground over
my shoulder. Aside from
screaming a common 4 letter word just once. I was able to hold my composure.
We explored for maybe
15 minutes and returned the way we came. It was a bit tense, but a great experience
just the same.
Next time I'll be sure to bring the camera.
After a needed shower
Maura relaxes with Giles (R) and Charles Norwood (L). Giles worked for
Jack's Camp and Charles is the owner of Safari
Drive . After showers we settled down for some
dinner and after dinner drinks around the African television to discuss the
Bush village Xai-Xai
we would be visiting next.