By Peter Swart

Introduction

Many children from all over the Cape Peninsula have visited the Kalk Bay caves at one time or another. “Going caving” is something that they do, and then they grow up and move on to other, less grubby, activities. A few wonder how the caves were formed, or who painted the names at the cave entrances, but few realise just how privileged they are to have such exciting places right on their doorstep — and fewer still realise how much history is hidden behind those painted names. This article attempts to show that the caves above Kalk Bay are significant, by explaining how they were formed, and giving a brief outline of the recent history of human interaction with them.

Geology

One of the most significant things about the Kalk Bay caves is that they exist at all. Older textbooks tell us that most caves form in rock that is easily dissolved in water — limestone, dolomite and other carbonate rocks dissolve relatively easily, while the quartzitic sandstone that makes up the Kalk Bay mountains does not. It is for this reason that the very existence of the caves above Kalk Bay is of scientific interest.

The type of landscape that evolves where water erodes limestone is called Karst. Karst forms when water filters into massive beds of rock through tiny cracks and capillaries. Over many thousands of years, the water enlarges these cracks into tubes, then tunnels, and eventually large passages and chambers. For this process to work, a rock must dissolve in water, cracks must allow water in and out, and there must be sufficient time.

The Table Mountain Sandstone forming the top layer of the Cape Peninsula rocks is a metamorphic rock. At some time in the distant past, beds of sand were thrust deep beneath the earth’s surface and subjected to immense heat and pressure, which fused them into quartzite. As the rocks later flexed and shifted, joints and cracks formed — entry points for water.

Geological evidence indicates that the whole of what is now southern Africa was once much hotter and wetter. At temperatures approaching 100°C, quartzite is actually more soluble than limestone; and if the water is also slightly acidic — as it easily could be, running off fynbos vegetation — dissolution is even faster. Given a long, hot, wet period with the quartzite near the surface, all the conditions for cave formation were present. (Ford and Williams, 1989; Marker and Swart, 1995)

Early history

Stone tools and shell middens found on Trappieskop and at Clovelly Cave indicate that humans have used these mountain caves for many thousands of years. In the early twentieth century, a number of articles about the caves began appearing in Cape Town’s newspapers.

A Cape Argus article of 19 October 1923 describes Aladdin’s Cave (now known as Boomslang Cave), and includes a geologist’s impression of the cave formation. Another, published on 2 February 1924, gives a vivid — and to modern eyes somewhat alarming — insight into the cave visiting customs of the time, describing how the party guide “expertly showed them how to smash an empty bottle against a rock in order to manufacture a candle holder.”

J.C.W. Moore

One of the first authors to document the caves in print was J.C.W. Moore. His earliest memory of the caves was of a visit to Muizenberg Cave with his father around 1890, when Moore was about twelve years old. He was most impressed by the pit to the south of the entrance chamber — local legend told of a dog that had fallen in and whose body had washed up on Muizenberg beach. Moore also recorded that a local municipality had asked the Mountain Club of South Africa to investigate opening the caves to tourists, though no development followed.

Moore’s most extensive published work was his guide to the caves of the Muizenberg Range, which appeared in the Journal of the Mountain Club of South Africa in 1944 (Vol. 47, pp. 7–22). Written in conjunction with Phil Hitchcock (later one of the Moles), the article described most of the caves then known and included their locations. Revised editions were later published across several issues of the SASA Bulletin.

Johan Meyer and the era of discovery

The person who has had the greatest influence on the caves of Kalk Bay was undoubtedly Johan Meyer, a retired schoolteacher who moved to Kalk Bay in 1924. Between his arrival and 1950, he walked on the mountains 1,433 times, recording every outing in meticulous diaries: the date, the route, his companions, the weather, and each cave he visited or discovered. He painted cave names above their entrances, numbered passages, and placed named markers at rest-stops and junctions throughout the mountain.

Meyer’s greatest single discovery was Oread Halls in 1941. He and a small party found a hole in the ground near the southern entrance of Boomslang Cave. Feeling a breeze rising from it, they rigged a rope ladder and descended ten metres into a large chamber. Three passages led from the chamber: one to a low, sandy-floored room that became Annie’s Hall; one to a boulder-strewn chamber, the Grand Hall; and one ending in a very narrow passage. On a subsequent visit, Phil Hitchcock and Basil Harris opened a narrow crack in Annie’s Hall to create a second entrance. It was the last major discovery of the Meyer era.

“By chance I met an old mountaineer who has been climbing and exploring the Kalk Bay mountains for years. His tales fascinated me, especially when he informed me there were 67 caves in all, many of which he had discovered in his rambles across the mountains… He confesses that in the last 13 years he has averaged over 90 ascents a year. Three years ago when 70 years old, he climbed the mountains in the vicinity of Kalk Bay 102 times.”

— Eric H. Little, Cape Argus, 10 January 1948

Meyer passed away in 1952. No one before him had so actively searched for caves, documented their findings, and promoted caving on the Cape Peninsula. He must qualify as one of South Africa’s earliest spelaeologists.

The Moles

Meyer did not keep his knowledge of the mountain to himself. He eventually compiled a list of all the caves he knew and chose twelve as the most important. When a regular companion had visited all the important caves, they were awarded a certificate — signed by Meyer, with the date of each cave visit inked in by hand — that granted them the status of Mole, First Class. Over the years the number of important caves grew from twelve to twenty, and “The Moles” became an informal fellowship of Meyer’s most dedicated caving companions, rather than a formal club.

The first Mole Certificates were issued on 30 November 1935, to Colin McCracken, Edward McCracken and Kenneth Williams. Philip Hitchcock received certificate number 14 in December 1940. Although the Moles continued to visit the mountain after Meyer’s death in 1952, no further certificates were issued.

The twelve principal caves from the 1937 certificate of Alvin Meyer were: Clovelly Caves, Boomslang Cave, Devil’s Pit, Leap-Year Grottos, Picnic Cave, Ronan’s Well, Egyptian Cave, Johalvin Cave, View Grotte, Tartarus, Kliphuis (Muizenberg Cave), and The Labyrinth.

Cave names

Meyer was an enthusiastic cave namer. During his early years (1924–1933) he restricted himself to painting cave names near their entrances and creating what he called “visitor’s books” — patches of white paint on which he recorded the initials of companions who had visited. Later he named rest-stops and junctions — Hungry Harry’s Halfway Halt, Wandering Willie’s Weary Wait — and painted a numbered record of each significant climb.

Meyer took great care in his lettering. He would first paint an aluminium undercoat, then a white ground, then a black border, and finally add the name in the centre. Many of his painted names survive in excellent condition more than seventy years later.

South African Spelaeological Association

The South African Spelaeological Association (SASA) took up systematic exploration of the Kalk Bay caves in the 1950s. Their greatest discovery was recorded by Anthony Keen in the 1958 club bulletin: a member pushed through the narrow passage at the end of Ronan’s Well and found that the cave extended far beyond what was previously known — from about 75 yards to a mapped length of some 1,200 feet.

In 1967–1969, using a magnetic field generator and a surface detector, SASA members determined that Ronan’s Well was very close to Robin Hood’s Cavern. After digging through a boulder choke, the two cave systems were connected, providing Ronan’s Well with a much easier second entrance.

In the early 1980s, Peter Swart, Anthony Hitchcock and Christopher Larkin began a systematic survey of all the caves on the mountain. This project produced the surveys that form the core of the Darklife cave library.

Human impact

As the caves have become more popular, human traffic has had an inevitable effect. The path above Devil’s Pit has eroded into a donga, washing sand into the cave and blocking some passages. Cave walls throughout the mountain are covered in graffiti, and litter is found along all the major routes. The contrast between a lesser-known, undisturbed cave — with unmarked white walls and clean sandy floors — and the well-visited caves, with sooted writing and grey compacted floors, speaks for itself.

The Kalk Bay caves will continue to provide recreation and wonder for many years to come. But responsible visiting — carrying out all litter, not touching formations, and not marking walls — is essential if they are to remain worthwhile places to visit.

Bibliography

• Anon. “Aladdin’s Cave in Kalk Bay Mountain.” Cape Argus, 19 October 1923.
• Anon. “In Aladdin’s Cave — at Kalk Bay.” Cape Argus, 2 February 1924. (Author’s initials: W.E.)
• Coley, Frank. “It’s worse than pitons! MIDAC equipment in operation.” SASA Bulletin (Speleo), 1969.
• Ford, D.C. and Williams, P.W. Karst Geomorphology and Hydrology. Unwin Hyman, 1989.
• Keen, Anthony. “Ronan’s Well Extensions.” SASA Bulletin, Vol. 3, No. 2, 1958, pp. 25–30.
• Little, Eric H. “Exploring the Kalk Bay Caves.” Cape Argus, 10 January 1948.
• Marker, Margaret E. and Swart, Peter G. “Pseudokarst in the Western Cape, South Africa.” Cave and Karst Science, Vol. 22, No. 1, August 1995.
• Moore, J.C.W. “Caves of the Muizenberg Range.” Journal of the Mountain Club of South Africa, Vol. 47, 1944, pp. 7–22.
• Moore, J.C.W. “Caves of the Kalk Bay Mountains.” SASA Bulletin, Vol. 3, No. 4; Vol. 4, No. 1; Vol. 4, No. 3.
• Swart, P.G. “Broken Pot Grotto, Commemoration Hall, Johalvin Cave.” SASA Bulletin, 1985.