Cango Caves

Stalactites on the ceiling of Cango 1

The Cango Caves are a cave system in the South African province of Western Cape and are counted among the most beautiful cave systems in the world.

The cave system is located in the Swartberg Mountains (in the Little Karoo north of Oudtshoorn ) and consists of three sections (Cango 1, 2 and 3) with a total length of over four kilometers.

The first and largest chamber is about 90 meters long, 50 meters wide and up to 18 meters high. The narrowest section (called “letterbox”) has a distance of 60 cm from the ceiling to the floor and is approx. 5 meters long.

All caves contain extensive stalactite formations of impressive size. Sections Cango 2 and 3 are protected and not open to the public.

history

The finds made in the entrance area of the cave prove a long human use of the cave for about 10,000 years.

In 1780 the cave was (re-) discovered by a shepherd. In the same year the farmer van Zyl explored the beginning of the first chamber of the cave system directly behind the entrance.

In 1792 the cave was further explored and a second chamber was discovered.

In 1972 the 270-meter-long cave "Cango 2" was discovered, the continuation of the cave - now known as "Cango 1" - that was first discovered.

In 1975 the 1600 meter long cave "Cango 3" was discovered.

sightseeing

Cango 1 is open to visitors - about 600 m is accessible as part of a normal tour and about 1200 m is accessible as part of an extended tour. The formerly difficult to access path over stones and crevices was leveled with the mud that originally blocked the cave entrance.

location

The Cango Caves are located around 29 kilometers north of Oudtshoorn on the R 328 and are an attraction on the Garden Route .

concert

The German choir director Günter Kallmann gave a concert in the Cango Caves on February 26, 1966. The recordings were released in the same year on the LP In the Cango Caves with the Günter Kallman Choir in South Africa.