Located in the southern foothills of the Swartberg mountain range just 29km from the town of Oudtshoorn, the Cango Caves is considered to be South Africa’s oldest tourist attraction, with increasing visitor numbers and resultant damage to the formations requiring special regulations to be gazetted as early as 1820 to protect the caves from damage by indiscriminate collection of souvenirs. The caves, formed about 20 million years ago as a result of a geological fault, were rediscovered in 1780, but evidence suggests that parts of the cave system was inhabited by humans since the middle stone age. The caves have been explored to a distance of 4km underground, of which about a quarter is accessible to visitors on guided tours (the adventure tour takes in some challenging, narrow tunnels requiring visitors to crawl, climb and slide and takes longer than the standard tour, which is much easier going)
Facilities at the caves are rounded off with an interesting interpretive centre, curio shop and restaurant. The Cango Caves is a national monument and administered by the municipality of Oudtshoorn. DeWetsWild will be glad to include the Cango Caves on a bespoke guided tour of the South Africa arranged specifically to your requirements.
DeWetsWild 
Pragtig! Jou foto’s neem my terug na ons eie besoek in 2021. Dit bly ‘n wonderlike plek om te besoek.
Ek stem heelhartig met jou saam, Corna. Kango is defnitief n plek wat mens minstens een maal by besoek moet gaan afle.
A great place to visit. I have been three times but don’t think I will cope with a visit now. My first visit was when we took our kids – the older two loved it but the youngest was too small to remember. I accompanied her on a later trip when she went with her school. Then years later we took our grandsons who absolutely love the whole experience.
Thankfully the standard tour is really easy going, Helen, but I don’t think I’d be up for the adventure tour – even if I was able to fit into those narrow spaces.
People are the same the world over. Lynn and I have visited a few caves in our lifetime and have found varying degrees of rules and regulations meant to protect the fragile environments.
It’s a shame that a rule exists because someone decided to do something destructive.
I am always dumbfounded by the levels people will stoop to. I know I shouldn’t be, but I am!
I have enjoyed visiting these caves in the past – fascinating all the way through. Sadly, the last time we went there I realised that I was about to panic at the thought of going in – an odd feeling – and so remained outside. I am glad to have been there before though 🙂
Caves can be scary places, Anne, and I don’t think that – even if my frame allowed it – I would be able to take part in the adventure trail with the narrow passages. The standard tour taking in the enormous “halls” was great and a real highlight.