After an almost six-month-long lockdown due to COVID-19, the popular attraction, the Cango Caves, which is a major contributor to the economy of the Klein Karoo and Garden Route, will once again be open for business.
Strict crowd management protocols at Cango Caves
The caves will open with several safety protocols in place to contain and prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Electronic temperature screening and sanitising will take place at the entrance and sanitising stations are available throughout the complex. All visitors and staff are required to wear masks.
There will only be one guided tour of the caves instead of two. The Heritage Tour, which traditionally catered for up to 100 people per tour, will now be limited to 20 people and tours will depart every 15 minutes to ensure sufficient spacing.
The Adventure Tour which visits the deepest sections of the caves through narrow passageways and tunnels is suspended until further notice.
Alison Moos, acting manager of the Oudtshoorn attraction, said they were looking forward to welcoming tourists again.
“As far as we know this is the first time since opening in the late 1900s that the Cango Caves has closed for such a long period. We are well aware of the importance of protecting the safety of both the Cango Caves employees as well as our visitors.”
She said they were very aware of the negative impact of COVID-19 on the economy, locally, nationally as well as internationally and were prepared for the fact that the attraction was unlikely to experience as strong a flow of visitors as seen before the pandemic.
One of the great Natural Wonders of the world
Frequently described as one of the great Natural Wonders of The World, the Cango Caves in Oudtshoorn is one of South Africa’s top cultural and natural landmarks.
Situated in the Swartberg Mountains, 30 kilometres north of Oudtshoorn, the 20-million-year-old Cango Caves system features a series of chambers, caverns, and caves carved into a thick layer of limestone rock and is the biggest show cave system in Africa.
The cave’s incredible dripstone caverns, towering halls, and stalagmite and stalactite formations are unique as they have formed as a result of faulting. Archaeological evidence shows that the caves were inhabited since the Early Stone Age.
The Cango Caves became a popular attraction during the 1800s and are one of South Africa’s top tourist attractions today.
The underground wonderworld draws visitors from around the world who marvel at the fascinating limestone formations sculptured by nature through the ages and skilfully illuminated for the benefit of visitors.
Read the original article on The South African
