EuroSpeleo 2016

Namibia Kaokoland 2015

Oral|Dr Mark Tringham

Abstract

This presentation will summarise results from the 2015 expedition when a small team from UK & France visited Kaokoland in Kunene Province NW Namibia. The expedition found and evaluated 7 new caves of moderate length.The longest and most impressive of these was Ondimba ja Omungongo 358m long and 59m deep. Two further new caves found were each nearly 100m long and the remaining 4 caves were each around 25m.
The caves are formed in Neoproterozoic dolomite and limestone and located on faults or other fractures. The caves are likely to be of hypogenic origin with no obvious relation to present day surface drainage or topography. The caves contain significant bat populations for future study with lots of dried bat guano in some places. Other fauna of interest included mummified antelope and an oryx skeleton. All the new caves explored had entrance locations shown to the expedition by local villagers. The entrances are mostly quite small and require local knowledge to find. It can be expected that many more hypogenic caves of similar character will be found and another expedition is likely to take place in 2017.