Discovering the Secret Caves of Cape Town

Few people know that in the sandstone mountains behind Kalk Bay and Muizenberg in Cape Town there are hundreds of hidden caves. Some of them are quite dangerous as they contain sudden drops. However, Boomslang Cave above Kalk Bay is considered fairly safe to visit. My young nephew and his family were visiting from Johannesburg and he was extremely keen to tackle this cave again (we'd done it once before).

Here he is poised to enter the low, hidden entrance.

It was a gorgeous day in Cape Town when we started the hike, here we are above at the start of the steep ascent off Boyes Drive in Kalk Bay. Cape Point can be seen in the distance.

The route is a relatively short, but very steep climb up Echo Valley towards the cliffs where the caves are found.

Despite the drought, there are still some gorgeous flowers to be seen. Pink Ericas and startlingly blue Aristeas.

The entrance to the cave is very unassuming, it is a small hole that leads to a sandy passage where you have to crawl on your hands and knees for about 5 metres before the cave opens up to a large cavern. Here's a picture of us in the first main cavern.

From there one has to clamber through several narrow passages.

Until you spot daylight again! After about 200 metres, we were through to the other side of the mountain.

To be greeted with a magnificent view of False Bay, with Fish Hoek beach and Simon's Town visible in the distance.

Another fabulous walk in the magnificent mountains above Cape Town.