Sudwala Caves

The Sudwala Caves are a cave system in South Africa, Mpumalanga Province, in the northern foothills of the Drakensberg Mountains at the junction of the African highlands ( Highveld ) in the Lowveld.

The caves surrounded rock consists of about three billion years old, Precambrian dolomite. Today's Africa was still part of the supercontinent Gondwana. The Sudwala Caves itself came into being about 240 million years and are one of the oldest cave systems in the world.

From the extensive cave system 600 meters as part of a normal tour can be walked, 2,000 meters are available as part of special guided tours. The largest cave has a ceiling height of 18 meters and a diameter of 66 meters and is used for concerts.

The first recorded discovery of the caves should be done by the Swazi prince Somquba. At the beginning of the colonization of the area by the Boers left by bats meter-thick layers of guano was mined as fertilizer in the caves.

Location

The Sudwala Caves are approximately 35 kilometers west of Mbombela - north of the N4 highway at R539.

Others

The name derives from the word SSidwaba ( Swazi = The grass skirt of a married woman).