Gcwihaba is a cave in

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

located in

Okavango Delta The Okavango Delta or Okavango Grassland is a vast inland delta in Botswana formed where the Okavango River reaches a tectonic trough at an elevation of in the central part of the endorheic basin of the Kalahari Desert. It is a UNESCO Wor ...

region. The Gcwihaba Caves were part of the Kalahari landscape around 2 million years ago, at least for the entire period of the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...

. The name of the cave is a San word and stands for "hyena's lair". The cave is situated 10 km away from the

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

n border. In 1932 it was first shown to a European, Ghanzi region farmer Martinus Drotsky, and the main cavern was named Drotsky's cavern after him. Gwchihaba is a Botswana National Monument under the Monuments, Relics and Antiquities Act, and has been put forward to become a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

in 1999. It is the type locality of the mineral

gwihabaite Gwihabaite is a rare ammonium potassium nitrate mineral (NH4,K)(NO3). It is orthorhombic in form, colorless with a vitreous luster. It has a Mohs hardness of 5 and a specific gravity of 1.77. It is deliquescent and water-soluble. The mineral is als ...

(IMA1994-011). Even though nothing was found in the first 50 cm of cave during the excavations to affirm that the cave was settled as a camp, 51 stone artefacts (33 of them made from

travertine Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and rusty varieties. It is formed by a process ...

) were released in the upper 50 cm of the cave. 50–80 cm of the cave is called The Terminal

charcoal layer. More cultural relics were observed in this layer. Bones of African bullfrogs and pieces of ostrich eggshell were among the findings. Due to the isolated nature of these caves, a special flora and fauna has developed. Some

Aloe ''Aloe'' (; also written ''Aloë'') is a genus containing over 650 species of flowering plant, flowering succulent plant, succulent plants.WFO (2022): Aloe L. Published on the Internet;http://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-4000001341. Acc ...

species and the Namaqua fig tree are only unique to these caves' surroundings. The roots of these fig trees are attracted to humid cave space and they have grown to create beautiful curtains inside the caves. The Namaqwa fig tree in its turn is home of Rueppell's parrot which is also restricted to this area of Botswana. The area has quite a variety of bird species and also big mammals such as elephant, but perhaps scientifically more important biodeversity-wise is the invertebrate fauna surrounding as well as inside the caves. The caves are also home to large colonies of Commerson's leaf-nosed bats (which have a wingspan of up to 60 cm) and common

slit-faced bat ''Nycteris'' comprises a genus of bats commonly called slit-faced or hollow-faced bats. They are grouped in the family Nycteridae. The bats are found in East Malaysia, Indonesia, and many parts of Africa. Description They are small bats, from i ...

s ( distinguished by their long ears). This tourism site was officially opened by the former President of Botswana, Lt Gen. Dr. Seretse Khama

Ian Khama Seretse Khama Ian Khama() (born 27 February 1953) is a Motswana politician and former military officer who was the fourth President of the Republic of Botswana from 1 April 2008 to 1 April 2018. After serving as Commander of the Botswana Defenc ...

, on 18 December 2014 and the facilities include the gatehouse, ablutions, boreholes, campsite and an airstrip.

References

{{coord, 20, 01.456, S, 021, 21.258, E, display=title, region:BW_type:landmark Caves of Botswana Geological type localities