Amboni Cave 8

Michael Laumanns - 23/11/2015

The 755 m long cave was the most important finding during the 2000 speleological project. It has been explored already by a team of guides of the show cave led by Kasimu Litonya, who even prepared an excellent sketch map of Amboni Cave 8. The main entrance closes down after a few metres. An offering place can be found here. A series of impressively large N-S directed rift passages can be reached via a parallel smaller rift left of the main entrance. Adjacent to the left there is an area of labyrinthine passages on an upper level. This part of the cave is characterised by much breakdown, some nice calcitic formations, two additional entrances to the karst plateau and one daylight pitch. Following the main passage into the cave the spacious rift controlled chambers of the middle section of Amboni Cave 8 can be reached. These chambers where created by a number of parallel N-S rifts that have been widened by phreatic solutional processes and subsequent breakdown in a way that they were joined to a wide gallery with remnants of the original clefts left in the roof. Where these chambers commence a smaller rift to the right leads back to entrances on an upper lever over the main entrance. 6 m deep shafts in the floor connect back to the entrance series. From the chambers several offleadings continue. To the N the main gallery gets successively smaller and ends in a squeeze with air current. To the W an extensive section of mainly N-S directed rifts and interconnecting passages with keyhole crosssections is reached. The character is labyrinthic. An 11 m deep daylight pitch is present. Two main continuations to the N end in impenetrably small fissures. These phreatic maze reconnects to the entrance series of Amboni Cave 8 via a low bedding plane chamber filled with fine calcite formations. Especially the large chambers in the middle part of the cave contain a considerable amount of nice draperies, stalagmites and stalactites. Due to the low visitors frequency the whole cave is in a very good state of protection that should be maintained. During the wet season a stream of water uses the cave to drain towards the entrance and into the Mukulumuzi River. There are no noteworthy bat colonies that inhabits Amboni Cave 8. Thus, the cave offers fine and sportive caving to the speleologist.