Nguza Caves

Does anyone have information about Nguza cave for me please? Not the cave on the steep horizontal ledge before the final gully, I'm looking for info about the one close to the top of the pass, i.e. basically on escarpment level. There seems to be a distinct lack of information about this cave on the internet in general.

A pic or two would be super helpful.

Yes, I can do a write up with photos, just give me a few days please.

Just quickly, the upper cave is above the top of Nguza Pass, to the east and faces roughly west. There is only enough level space inside to sleep 2. In the wet season water is available a few paces away from the stream flowing down the pass.

Thanks for the info Tony.

Uhm, we are planning on going this weekend, is 2 days enough time?

Seriously though, if it can only sleep 2 it's not going to work for us as we will be 3 or 4 hikers on this hike. Please do the pics in any case when you have time, and I'll also take pics and can post them to this same thread.

Sorry I couldn’t post this in time for you Riaan, the timing was bad as I was just unusually busy this week. I have also known these caves for so long that I never realised there isn’t information on them on VE, otherwise I would have posted this long ago. 

In April 2015 Lorinda and tonymarshall overnighted in Nguza Cave upper, as part of a summit khulu traverse from Twins Top to Nceda Buttress, using Christmas Pass and Mnweni Pass. After leaving our packs at the cave, we went down the upper section of Nguza Pass to the grass ledge to have a look at the Nguza Cave lower. The photo below shows the lower cave on the grass ledge, just to right of centre of the photo, the overhang with the large boulders in front of it. The photo is taken from  the base of the upper section of Nguza Pass, and to the left the grass ledge traverse of the pass can be seen, going into the background.  

 

Nguza Cave lower is a long, thin or narrow overhang, and in the photo below Lorinda is next to the cave, which is to the left. The row of boulders in front of the cave can be clearly seen, and several sections have built up walls with smaller rocks.  

 

Another of the sleeping areas behind a built up rock wall.  

 

Nguza Cave Lower can sleep four people, and is at S28° 55.049' E29° 03.513', 2860 m, my gps co ordinates. Water is usually available in the summit gully of Nguza Pass next to the cave. 

We went back up to the Nguza Cave  upper, and the photo below shows the view to the cave in the rock band.  

 

Lorinda at the entrance to Nguza Cave upper which is long and narrow into the rock.  

 

We slept right at the front of the cave, which was the only level floor area of the cave.  

 
 

The cave is also damp, and because of this and the restricted level floor space it can only sleep two people. The cave is at S28° 55.087' E29° 03.532', 2925 m, my gps coordinates. Water is available not far from the cave in a stream that flows into Nguza Pass. The cave is about 70 m from the top of Nguza Pass, to the northeast of the pass, and there is a direct route from the cave into the top gully of the pass. My gps co ordinates for the top of Nguza Pass are S28° 55.115' E29° 03.501' at 2920 m. The photo below shows the view from outside the cave across Nguza Pass, with Nguza Pass Peak at the left and the Mnweni Needles at the right in the background.  

On my double DGT I used the escarpment Nguza Cave both ways. I've also used it on other hikes. I have had 3 people in it before, but its very crowded with that many.

Advantages:
- it isn't a huge slog from the river, so getting water is easy. I once stayed in it with a stream flowing right by the top of the pass, and was able to get water less than 100m from the cave (early January)
- it isn't a massive detour from a traverse hike, so it isn't the painful end-of-day slog of a Easter Cave or next-morning slog of a Twins Cave
- its rarely used, so its probably available, and if it isn't the one down the pass is a usable backup
- there's phone signal from the ledge just outside it (plus a really cool view)
- it is deep, so you can get out of bad weather, although the back isn't great for sleeping in

Disadvantages:
- Its small with a sloping floor
- It is often wet