Namaingo N°3
-8.542583,38.908833
Location
Namaingo Caves and nearby locations of interest The Namaingo caves represent the most southern known occurrence of caves in the Matumbi Hills. Besides Namaingo Wet Cave (2.390 m long), Namaingo Dry Cave (495 m long), Namaingo Cave No. 3 (44 m long) the ensemble comprises Kimambo (195 m long), Upper Chingya (100 m long), Lower Chingya (50 m long), Kibule (14 m long) and Lupondo (42 m long). The whole local area is drained via an impressive vauclusian spring called Kihangambenbe (8°33'33,3’ S - 038°55'17.3" E). Kihangambenbe can be reached by a 10 min. walk to the south from Mtondo Wa Kimwaga. Namaingo Caves are located at 8°32'51,4" S - 038°54′51,4" E about 1 km NW of Mtondo Wa Kimwaga village, which can be reached by 4WD from Kipatimu. The caves open at the NE end of a blind valley where a resurgence can be found. This unnamed resurgence is suspected to be the outlet of another big karst conduit as it emerges large quantities of water during the wet season. In 1997, the whole Namaingo blind valley was flooded and the new entrance of Namaingo Cave No. 3 collapsed just in front of Namaingo Dry Cave. However, the locals use the resurgence for water supply and their reluctance to allow access to the waterfilled resurgence has to be respected. The water coming out of the resurgence disappears after approximately 100 metres into the entrance of Namaingo Wet Cave. An estimated water charge of 3,5 l/sec flows trough a well proportioned river cave to Sump at a distance of about 450 m from the entrance. Adjacent to the main river passage are labyrinths of rift passages and chambers, which significantly contribute to the total length of 2.390 m. There are two other dry entrances to the cave further down the valley that connects to the labyrinthine series of the cave. One of the entrances, located between the sinkhole and the dry entrance mapped in 1995, became accessible just after the 1997 flood and is not indicated on the survey hereunder.
Description
The Namaingo Caves are situated in the white oolitic Jurassic limestone of the Matumbi beds. This limestone is overlain in Namaingo Wet Cave by a dark coloured siltstone, which is capped by sandstones of the Kipatimu beds. The thickness of the siltstone layer increases from 0,5 m near the entrance of Namaingo Wet Cave to about 3 m at its sump, Corrosion of limestone and subsequent breakdown of the caprock caused some chambers to extend into the overlaying siltstones and sandstones. At the contact of limestone and siltstone an extremely interesting palaeokarst surface occurs. Even in the overlaying sandstone karst features (e.g. small tubes) are present. Thus, Namaingo Wet Cave is a good example to illustrate the impact of the interbedded layers of rocks on the speleogenesis of the Matumbi
Namaingo Cave No. 3 has a very small entrance in a shallow doline that is normally covered by a dense thicket just in front of the entrance to Namaingo Dry Cave. The small 44 m long cave has been discovered in 1997 by A.Mweyo after the heavy flood in the Namaingo valley. The small entrance crawl Soon opens into a chamber with narrow extensions to the N and NW. A boulder in the entrance chamber leads down (climbable) to a blocked level of active water drainage in wet conditions. The drainage is directed to Namaingo Wet Cave. The small cave appears to be part of the water capture system of Namaingo Wet Cave.
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.0 | Namaingo Wet | 2390 | |
| 0.0 | Namaingo Dry | 495 | |
| 0.8 | Upper Chingya | 100 | |
| 0.8 | Lower Chingya | 50 | |
| 4.5 | Kiongoro | ||
| 4.5 | Nangoma Cave (Upper entrance) | 7510 | -114 |
| 4.7 | Kilindima | 36 | |
| 5.5 | Mpatawa | 1160 | |
| 7.2 | Mtumbukiae Cave | 13 |