Sondonzima Ridge - Garden Castle

Yes, that looks like the one as I don't recall going through the rough looking terrain immediately behind it to the second rock that is visible further on.  There is a rough animal track that leads up the slope just after the rock and this comes and goes as you climb higher.  Either way, you will eventually end up at the cave.

Viking wrote: I am led to believe that the zig zag path that Merv refers to was cut out specifically for approaches to climb the Monk..

That may be true, but I can confirm that the zigzag becomes an established path along the right-hand side of the Cod's Eye Cave valley up until the first big rock. The path might have once continued beyond that point, but I looked quite carefully and backtracked and was unable to see any definite traces. We did not try to go as far as the second big rock either: you're forced into the river-course where the bush gets thick. There is another established path, now somewhat overgrown, higher up the valley above the river-bush, which leads up to the cave.

Ah right - sorry, I thought the Monk was up on the right-hand ridge.

A brief note on accessing Hidden Valley, which might be of use to others. The Sondonzima Ridge is very much in the way, and the Giant’s Cup Trail is quite a long way round. PapaDragon and I have never been inclined to take the long way, so this past weekend, walking out from the Tsepeng valley with Smurfatefrog and co., we did a little experiment to see whether up-and-over was any quicker than round-and-out.
 
On my way in, I had followed faint trails up the Swayiman slope which become a clear path near the top (aim for the two squarish rocks to the left of the saddle). Whether this was ever an official route is anyone's guess, but considering that one gains an immense panoramic view of the Garden Castle and Cobham areas from the ridge, this might have been a day-hike at some point. There is no path heading down the slopes on the other side of the ridge, but if you keep to the left-most gully you will soon pick up a clear path that runs straight across the flats and contours into the meeting point of the Mzimude and Tsepeng valleys. Starting from that point, on the way out, it took Papa Dragon and I about 1h30 to return to the office at a normal pace. JonWells, racing round the headland, arrived about fifteen minutes later. And the rest of the group, who had also taken Giant’s Cup but at a normal pace, arrived about half an hour after that. So up-and-over is faster by about 45 minutes, though of course more strenuous.