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Cango Caves (South Africa) Photo by Dariusz Jemielniak (“Pundit”) –

Top 10 Unknown Facts about Cango Caves, Oudtshoorn

The Cango Caves are in Western Cape Province, South Africa near the town of Oudtshoorn. They are located at the foothills of Swartberg Mountain Range (Black Mountain), a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Cango Caves have been a major tourist site in this arid region for over 20 decades!

The Cango Caves are divided into 3 major sections, Cango I, II & III. The cave has a 4 km system of tunnels and chambers but only 1 km of this is (Cango I) open to the public.    

The Cango Caves are open from 9 am to 4 pm all through the year except on Christmas. The tours are led by accredited cave guides. It takes about 60 – 90 minutes to complete the guided cave tours.

1. The Cango Caves Were Rediscovered in 1700s

A local farmer in Western Cape named Jacobus Van Zyl rediscovered the Cango Caves in 1780. Since he owned the land above the caves, he was curious to know what lay beneath the rock.

He was lowered into the rock formation on a mission of discovery. The cave was too enormous to a point his torchlight could not reach its walls. 12 years after the discovery of the first cave, the second chamber was discovered and made it a frequent tourist site.

The Van Zyl’s Hall of the Cango Caves is named in honour of Van’s exploration. It is the first hall on the 1 km guided cave tour and is almost the size of a soccer field with 107 m in length and 54 m in width.

2. The Formation of The Cango Caves is Described as One of The Great Natural Wonders of The World

Cango Caves, Oudtshoorn Photo By Andy Jou from Kirksville, Missouri, USA –

Cango Caves are seen as a great natural wonder because of how they were formed. The caverns at Cango Caves were created through erosion. Rainwater sipped through the porous Precambrian limestone fissures dissolving the rock and limestone.

The water then accumulated to form underground rivers and lakes. The caves were formed after these water bodies drained out and the mineral deposits left created colourful stalagmites and stalactites.

3. The Cango Caves are The Oldest Tourist Attraction in South Africa

The Cango Caves are approximately 20 million years old. The cave paintings and artifacts inside the caves are evidence that the cave had been home to early man in the Middle and Later Stone Ages (between 280,000 and 50,000 years ago).

The first tour was conducted in 1891 by Johnnie van Wassenarr who served as a guide until his retirement in 1934.

4. It Was A Source of Archaeological Findings

A test excavation carried out in the Cango Caves in 1930 led to the discovery of cultural materials and stone artifacts. This was done by the archaeologist from the University of Cape Town, A.J.H Goodwin.

5. The Cango Caves are The Biggest Cave System in Africa

The Cango Caves are the largest show cave system in Africa and the most visited caves in South Africa. It is one of its country’s landmarks.

 In 1897, the South African Speleological Association mapped the Cango Caves showing the length (775m) and height (16m) of Cango 1.

75 years later, explorers James Craig Smith, Luther Terblanche, and Dart Ruiter discovered Cango II after widening an obstructed passage beyond the end of the Devil’s Kitchen. In 1975, another exploration team drained water from the chambers and crawled through the underwater passage leading to the discovery of Cango III.

6. The Cango Caves Were The First Tourist Site to Be Protected by Environmental Law

The Lord Charles Henry Somerset – British governor of the Cape Colony, South Africa, from 1814 to 1826 Photo By Unknown Author – .

After the discovery of the caves by Jacobus, people from Cape came to see the incredible site. With this came destructiveness. They would carve their names on the cave walls; some would also break pieces of the stalagmites and stalactites and carry them as souvenirs.

This led to the 1820 publishment of regulations by Lord Charles Somerset, the Governor of Cape. The regulation fined persons found damaging cave formations and completely banned the collection of souvenirs. Tourism sites are now protected by the Tourism Act (2014).  

9. They are Managed by the Local Government

In 1971, the Cango Cave Ordinance handed over the legal powers over the caves to the Administrator of the Cape. The Administrator of Cape devolved the powers to the present-day local government. The current daily management of the Cango Caves is the duty of the Municipality of Oudtshoorn.

8. The Cango Caves Have 2 Major Cave Halls

The two halls in the Cango Caves are Van Zyl’s Hall and Botha’s Hall. Van Zyl’s Hall has a grey-blue ceiling made of dolomite. The Organ Pipes, Ballerina, Frozen Waterfall, and Cleopatra’s Needle all form part of this hall. Before activities were restricted, live musical concerts were performed occasionally inside Van Zyl’s Hall.

Botha’s Hall was named after the first conservator of the cave, Commandant Batha. It is one of the largest caverns that is accessible to the public. The Madonna and Child figure is the most outstanding feature of the hall. The figure bears a resemblance to a woman cradling a toddler in her arms

9. There are 2 Optional Tour Packages

Tourists on a guided tour through the Cango Caves Photo by Andrew Hall –

The Cango Cave is the only show cave that offers optional tour packages. The tour package comes in 2 choices i.e adventure tour and heritage tour.

The heritage tour is a walk through the largest halls of the cave to the African Drum Room. It also gives visitors valuable information on the early cave inhabitants, explorers, culture, and heritage.

In the adventure package, one gets to combine the heritage tour with exploring the narrow tunnels and deepest sections of the Cango 1.  This includes the Lumbago Alley, Devil’s Post Box, Coffin, Devil’s Kitchen, and the Devil’s Chimney.

It is advised that children under the age of 6 and those suffering from blood pressure or claustrophobia participate in the heritage tour as it is less of a life risk to them.

10. The Cango Caves Offer Other Services to Tourists

Curio Shop Photo By rajaraman sundaram –

Visiting the Cango Caves does not only involve cave tours. The facility has a restaurant, interpretive center, and curio shop. The Spekboom restaurant offers delicacies of distinctive flavors of the Klein (Little) Karoo. 

The Interpretive Centre seeks to elaborate on the process of how the Cango Caves came to be. The auditorium within the centre showcases a 19-minute film on the expedition into the restricted Cango II.

The curio shop sells originally handcrafted artifacts, fine art, music pieces, and African gifts. A variety of books based on Southern Africa Literature and travel can also be purchased from this shop.