Xonondo N°1

(Buzi - MZ)
-19.922444,34.126000
Length 45m Depth 12m
Grottocenter / carte

Location

Mutanda zone, Buzi district, Sofala province. GPS (WGS84) S 19°55’208" / E 34°07:33,6". ca. 120 m a.s.l. Surveyed on I. Sept. 1999 by Artur Fernandes, Michael Laumanns and Jens Römer (BCRA-Grade 2a). Length: 45,00 m. Vertical range: -12,00m, jr The Xonondo caves are situated about 500 m S of the Mutanda Francisco caves (see map). The entrance of Xonondo No.1 is marked by an artificial heap of rocks near a small daylight opening of the cave. The nearby entrance doline is hidden by bushes and trees. Michael Laumanns - 28/11/2015

Description

Michael Laumanns - 28/11/2015

At the S side of the doline a 3 m deep step leads into the first hall of the cave. To the right and the left stones are piled up by man. Despite the intensive bat guano exploitation in the years between 1930-1939 the ground is still covered by a thick guano layer. The quantity of guano is in no relation to the number of bats found in the cave - only two smaller colonies of perhaps 500 unspecified Rhinolophides. The cave consists actually of two big rooms interconnected via a spacious conduit. The entrance hall drops northward, up to a depth of 5 m. In the roof there are 2 small daylight openings in a marvellously developed cover channel, one of which was used to take out the guano. At the N side of the entrance hall a 5 x 5 m wide passage leads into the second room of the cave, which accommodates the bat colonies in ceiling pockets. Tree roots from the ceiling reach the bottom of the second room. The cave does not show any conglomerate filling. The typical fauna occurring in bat guano but no further animals could be observed. - An air temperature of 18.9°C was measured.

Caves nearby

Distance (km)NameLength (m)Depth (m)
0.0Xonondo N°22313
0.0Xonondo N°3124
0.2Pequena Xonondo N°12717
0.2Pequena Xonondo N°22315
0.2Pequena Xonondo N°32013
0.2Pequena Xonondo N°41710
0.2Pequena Xonondo N°53220
0.2Pequena Xonondo N°61912
0.2Pequena Xonondo N°753