A long and winding gravel road became a
wrong turn and finally we managed to get on the right track. The start
basically set the trend for our early morning scouting to find Serunecjar. After
paying the Queen for the privilege, we set off on our endeavour which eventually
had the thick, thorny bushes echoing our laughter and high spirits.
Climbing towards an idea of a destination
became a real eventful adventure. Irene had a stare-off with a few of the cows
we regularly encountered. We were in their world and the thought did arise that
they were not used to seeing creatures like us. A cow came across Irene and
after a few seconds of staring, Irene told this cow Stop staring at me... I’m human! Belly laughs could be heard from all over the
side of the mountain. Selena just moved on. Cows or no cows. One was bobbing
its head in an attempt to scare her away, but she met the beast head on. He
scurried away.
Selena and I eventually decided to sit on a
rock and do a deep meditation which will float her over the side of the
mountain in order for us to find the cave entrance. It was round about this
point where a local eventually came up the mountain to show the way. He must
have watched the spectacle of brightly clothed cavers scrambling about on
narrow cattle tracks.
Triumphantly, Selena and I were the first at
the cave. The group soon after were all gathered on the rocky slopes and one
final orientation was given. Steven and Irene were on a mission. There are no
known surveys of this cave and they would be spending the day getting vital
information in order for a map to be produced. The rest of the group found
their way down to the basin of this really magnificent first chamber.
A steep slope awaited us and loose rocks
made for careful stepping. It was evident not much caving is done in this
section and it soon became apparent as to why. Every crawl through or climb
down were dead ends or ended in sheer drop offs with little hope of getting
down without some rigging. John went ahead and after a very slow climb down we
found a really slippery chamber. To the left it steeply sloped down. John made
it up a mud wall which were shimmering a glow of an almost impossible gradient
at which we were to ascent. He had a hand line down and Pedro decided to go
first. Three steps up; he slipped and met the muddy floor with little grace. We
decided to find another way.
There were no definite route and it stirred
a lot of excitement. John disappeared a lot and we kind of followed suit. We
got to a small chamber with lots of tree roots dangling from the roof. Pedro
was really excited about the formations in this particular room. There was
evidence of huge volcanic eruptions followed by a river time. In other parts we
visited huge Stromatolites decorated the ceiling in all its splendour. What
makes this finding so significant is that a river time did exist. Shallow seas
became rivers as volcanoes erupted forming land. After the river band in the
rock, more volcanic ash was noted in the next band.
Pedro is an encyclopaedia of knowledge and
although I can’t remember the names of everything, the process of the evolution
we witnessed within the library of layers was humbling and mind blowing. You
can’t look at Geology and not feel a tug somewhere in your being. I think this
is what is meant by looking, but not seeing.
We made it up a smooth rock to where we
found Irene and Steven getting on with the survey. We decided to get back to
the entrance and see if there was not another way in. Regrouped, we found
corridor on the left side. This corridor led to a magnificent chamber. A huge
snow white speleothem in the middle imitated the image of a dragon holding his
head high. The floor was covered in soft mud, but not as slippery as the ones
found in the other chambers. The chamber stretched out as far as your light
allowed you to see. Enormous stomatolites decorated the roof. I’ve never seen
them that big. We found a few crawls, but way too small and seemingly going
nowhere. A few promising climbs ended in places we were before. It felt like we
were going in circles. The right hand side of this chamber had a very slippery
mud slide going down and after inspecting and considering options it was
decided that we will have to bring some gear down.
We returned after a refreshing lunch break,
armed with rope, ladders and a few other necessities. John was down first.
Irene and Steven were down below the mud slide and it turned out to be the
chamber where Pedro slid off the mud wall. John rigged a ladder for Steven and
Irene. Selena and I turned left to see if we could find something indicating a
route leading somewhere. We found a drop off. John climbed down and while
trying to figure how to unroll the ladder, not without some humour, Pedro gave
us a hand and the pitch was rigged. While going down, it actually seemed like
the ladder was more in the way than anything else, but so we learn. Soon we were all down on the slippery down
slide and moving down on your bum, we made it to yet another 2 metre drop. It
does not sound like much, but we don’t have Wolverine claws and the mud covered
floor was slippery as hell... not just when wet.
I sat on the edge and got more rope down to
John who was busy rigging a pitch around the corner. Looking down I could see
holes in the floor to the right side of the narrow, muddy route we have to
negotiate. Bright white stalactites can be seen from here. Instinctively, you
just know there is something down there that will blow your mind. Being late,
we decided we would only rig the route and then return the next day. Steven
needs time for the survey and we will be taking advantage of the opportunity to
explore this cave.
Day two started with a huge anticipation of
what we might find around the corner after John’s comment You ain’t seen nothing yet the previous day. John and Selena had to
turn back to camp to fetch some much needed gear forgotten. The rest of the
group, with Steven leading, headed out to attempt the arduous task of finding
the cave entrance again. Luckily it did not take too long and did not require
any leopard crawling through thorny bushes this time around. Don’t ask… That’s
a story that will require a few pages. Just let it be known that some members
of this group had absolutely no navigation skills when out in the land of sun
and wind.
Steven wanted to get on with the survey and
I decided to join him. Sharron, Leon and Pedro decided to wait at the cave
entrance for John and Selena. The spacious corridor leading to the Dragon
Chamber makes you feel right at home. It’s like an instant switch that floods
your body with tranquillity and a sense of belonging. Steven was asking where
the Dragon was that was the epicentre of this chamber, but his words faded into
an acknowledgement when his light fell on the enormous speleothem. He found his
last marker quickly and the work started.
While surveying the wall slightly to our
back, he found a gaping hole above a boulder approximately one and a half
metres high. I decided to climb up. A pile of wood was bunched together on the
left side of the opening. Not far from the pile a few rocks were arranged in a
circle holding the ashes of a recent fire. Dark burn scars on the roof was
evident that this must be a regular spot for prayers or something in that
direction. To the right a few small carpets were left on a big boulder. The
walls and roof had the texture of elephant skin and seem lighter in color than
the chamber just below us. Steven joined me to survey this section as well.
Keeping to the left a small and narrow crawl led to sunlight. We found another
entrance to the cave. Steven was sure it was the entrance noted in a previous
exploration. Snakes were found at this entrance, but we decided that this fact
doesn’t need confirmation. We headed back to the Dragon Chamber.
A small gap on the far left stirred
Steven’s curiosity. We headed over and I told him that Selena and I tried the
two crawls yesterday. The one to the left was just too small and the one on the
right was a dead end about 3 metres in. He tried the first one, but even without
a helmet it was impossible. He disappeared into the one on the right while I
was building a marker. Steven was heading back out of the crawl after he also
came to the dead end. I knew he could move fast, but he cleared that crawl in
no time. He basically came running out of there on anything that would touch
the floor. Hands, knees, feet, head… Apparently there was a spider in there the
size of the cows outside that were lazily grazing in the early morning sun.
Obviously I kind of giggled. Truth be told, I cried with laughter. He was long
gone, up the hill of guano and just kept running, knees up, mumbling something about
the spider while wiping some imaginary stuff from his overall.
At this point the group from outside came
strolling into the Dragon Chamber. Leon went to see what the fuss was about and
identified the spider as a Sac Spider. John and Selena also joined and we
decided to get a move on to the part that was around the corner. That part we
were all waiting for. The ropes were muddy from being there overnight and
required some careful handling and footing while climbing down the slippery
slopes. The group moved slowly. The first ladder followed, then the bum slide
to the next slope. John rigged a ladder on this one as well on his way down. We
were finally around the corner.
Sugar Balls Slide demands respect. The rope
down had white patches and John warned that those spots were very slippery.
With a few rope twists around my arm for extra friction, I carefully started
walking backwards. Fine, greyish clay accumulated in my hand as I went down.
Indeed a slippery affair. We all made it down safely. The chamber was
impressive. Rimmed pools stretched out in front of us and huge speleothems
reaching from the floor to the roof. Moments like this leaves you wordless and
makes the journey to this point seem trivial.
The cave built a wall stretching all the
way to the other side with small gaps in between. The greatest surprise of this
section was the bats. I have never seen so many bats in one place. Attempts not
to bother them with our lights seemed futile because wherever you looked they
fluttered around. The strong smell of guano was overwhelming. We decided to
walk on the left side of the wall because of all the rim pools on the other
side. There was another section further left and water could be seen through
the gaps. We ventured closer. The pool on this side was about five by three
metres and very shallow. The water was very dirty because of bat activity.
We moved towards the back of the chamber. A
narrow corridor with a few boulders and slight down curve took us to another
chamber where some of the group already gathered. I found a crawl and Steven
joined me in exploring some more. A rather big, flat section with a very low
roof followed. We crawled to the other side and found some more places to squeeze
through, but mostly it ended abruptly. One section seemed like someone pushed a
few boulders into a corridor. Even the roof looked warped. I climbed to the
other side hoping to find something. This cave is slowly earning the reputation
of inviting you in, more like enticing you, and then just closes the door on
you. A narrow slit on the right gave way to another crawl and we decided to see
where that went to. We ended up in the chamber where the group were gathered.
There are lots of circle routes in here as well.
This was also the turnaround time. We
slowly made our way back to Sugar Ball Slope taking in the beauty of this place
with every step. We lingered at the bottom for a few endless moments. Another
small gap was found and we made our way down. This small chamber slowly brings
you to your knees and a short crawl brings you to the end. This was indeed a
very interesting chamber with very unusual formations. It looked like huge
cauliflowers hanged from the roof. Some of the curtain formations had teeth
like edges and gave this section an eerie, but stunning vibe. As we crawled
out, a single snow white formation looked like a little poodle tip toeing
somewhere. This chamber is too small to have more than two people in and as one
pair left, the next went in.
Steven decided to continue the survey.
Pedro and I stayed behind to give a hand. The rest of the group decided to go
back to the upper chamber and explore a big drop that was found the previous
day. I built markers and Steven answered a lot of questions regarding surveys
and mapping while we meticulously moved towards the other end of the left side
of the bat chamber. Near the end of the chamber Pedro and I got in the way of
the laser and we moved to a big boulder towards the middle of the room. Surveys
are the best way to explore a cave. You get time to really look around and find
some amazing stuff. There was a slit next to the rock we waited on and after
telling Steven about it, we decided to go down and look if it goes anywhere.
Notoriously and almost anticipated, it went
nowhere. The survey didn’t take too long. Technology is an amazing thing as
long as you have battery power to drive it. Towards the end, or what we thought
were the end, we found another drop into a chamber that seems just as amazing
as the Bat Chamber. Sadly we were running out of all our resources. Time,
batteries, water… Nevertheless, it was a job well done. Steven surveyed almost
a kilometre of this cave with a depth of fifty two metres.
Steven took the last few readings,
downloaded it and we made our way to the entrance. While going up, we cleared
the cave of all our gear, rolling up cave ladders and ropes. It went rather
quickly and before we knew we were back in the Dragon Chamber. I daisy chained
the rope after Pedro showed me how. Then Steven took it apart, all seventy
metres of it and showed me how to do a mountaineer’s roll. We left the cave in
high spirits and it would just not feel right if we did not take a few wrong
turns on the cattle tracks. We eventually made it down where the rest of the
explorers were waiting for us.
Our laughter echoed endlessly in the final
rays of a nearing sunset and a cool breeze ushered us to the camp.
