19.12.07
Caved in
Oudtshoorn 4/12/07
3 bits of wonderfulness today.
The first was a swift drive away from the town at a place called “Die Kango Grotte”. “The Cango Caves” in english.
There are about ooh loads of km of caves and they run 2 tours through them.
The first is “the standard” and involved about 3 caverns right near the entrance. K and Matthew did this one. The scariest bit is when they turn off the lights. Apparently Matthew clung on to K a bit during that.
Me and Ruth on the other hand plumped for the “adventure” tour. No cameras allowed so no pics yet. There were 2 more people on the tour and they sneaked a camera in so hopefully they’ll email the pics to Ruth soon ‘cos they’re probably good.
The adventure tour went about 1km into the complex and had a few bits of note, all of which were named. In order of meeting them:
- Lumbago Walk – A long chamber but not high enough to allow upright walking. In fact everyone else managed to get through with stooping but I was too tall so had to crouch somewhat.
- The Tunnel of Love (apparently it “squeezes on all sides”) – You sort of squeeze through sideways. We sent the man from the couple in first. He was stocky rather than fat but we’d just been told a story that appeared in SA news a few weeks earlier. There had been a large group of people doing the tour. 22 people got through and then a fattish woman had a go and got stuck. Not a bit stuck but PROPER stuck. They tried vaseline and pushing and pulling. No avail. So the 22 people are stuck as there’s no other way back. The woman’s going mental ‘cos she’s stuck. It took them 10 hours to get her out. It needed the mountain rescue folk to come in with winches and pulleys. Then she couldn’t walk herself out so she needed a stretcher. So this large lady needed pulling out through uneven chambers; up and down; through the Lumbago Walk etc… It took them 2 more hours to get her out. So we sent the biggest one through first. Needn’t have worried he was fine.
- The Chimney – about 3.5m straight up through a 40cm wide “pipe” of rock. Not smooth of course so bits stick out and poke and then there’s nowhere to get a proper foothold and my femur was too long to allow me to do what the others did (getting the hip past 90 degrees and using the knee to push). Only after I got up there did the guide tell me that taller people struggle more. I thought I was just a bad climber.
- The Post Box – A 20cm slot. Now that’s less than the guide’s torch (a 3 cell thing). Before it is a chamber that’s quite low anyway (perhaps 50cm) and you get through the post box by sliding face first, face down.
Was fantastic. The guide was Rwandan and utterly excellent. Loads of geology, loads of experience and some entertaining stories re previous jobs (he used to lead tours on one of the local ostrich farms) and previous tours and their escapades. Well worth the hefty tip we all gave him at the end.
After leaving the caves we drove back into town to a wildlife refuge. Some of my photos show some of the stuff we saw here. Loads of crocs, big cats and this is where I got to stroke baby tigers. Tigers! Real ones! Mad and not really very expensive to do. I’ll never get the chance again I’m sure, so well worth it. Did I mention that so far this holiday is bloody fantastic?
Back into town for the evening meal. We had to have ostrich. Oudtshoorn seems to be the world centre of ostrich farming for some reason. We ended up in quite a touristy restaurant but the food was pretty good even if the service wasn’t.
We’d ordered our steaks with pepper sauce (we could have had what they called “monkey gland sauce”) and assumed the stuff on the steaks was the pepper sauce. Turns out it wasn’t. The server remembered the sauces but only after I’d already finished my food. So he brought 2 lots rather than 5. We then discovered that we’d a: been charged for the sauces when it wasn’t obvious that they were extra. and b: we’d been charged for 5 of them. The parents were not likely to let that lie so argument ensued. Poor lad; he was alright just a bit crap.
Later on we had a small bbq (or “braai”) at the Kleinplaas which ended the day nicely. Bizarrely the locals were all covered and wrapped up to the nines. I was barefoot and wearing my t-shirt. Not cold at all. But sleepy and bedwards after my first SA beer.
Wow. This is going well.
Have fun.