Arnhem Cave

Useful Information

Location:	East of Windhoek, Gobabis. 130 km (90 min. drive) east of Windhoek off the Gobabis Road.
Open:
Fee:
Classification:	Karst Cave
Light:	none.
Dimension:	L=4,494 m, VR=113 m.
Guided tours:
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1930	discovered by farmer Bekker.
1994	opened to the public.

Description

Arnhem Cave is the longest cave of Namibia. The cave is on a farm with camping facilities. It has few cave formations, but it is the home of five species of bat:

Giant leaf-nosed bat (Hipposideros commersoni)
Long-fingered bat (Miniopterus schrelbersi)
Leaf-nosed bat (Hipposideros caffer)
Egyptian slit-faced bat (Nycteris thebalca)
Horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus denti)

The cave once contained very large deposits of bat guano, which has been mined on a large scale. At present it is the only tourist cave in Namibia. The visits are made using electric torches or headlamps, which are provided by the tour operator. This causes minimal disturbance of the extensive bat population. Visitors are recommended to wear industrial dust masks in the cave. Please respect the ecological importance of bats, and do not needlessly disturb bat colonies, particularly during the Namibian wet season (November to April) when bats are breeding.

The cave is visited on a trail on self guided tours. But there is also a tour operator organizing trips to the cave, including a guided tour inside the cave.