Location:
Cobham Wilderness Area, lower southern Drakensberg. This cave may be difficult for inexperienced hikers to find. It can be approached from the Cobham campsite via one of two main routes. The first is to follow the Giant’s Cup Trail to the Mzimkhulwana Hut and river, then to follow the river upstream. Unless you are familiar with the paths along the river, this route can become very long and involve some bundu-bashing. It is deceptively more difficult than it looks on a map, and the river crossings can slow you down a lot in summer.
The second and easier route is via Lakes Cave. Climb up to the tarns above Lakes Cave, then follow the upper contour path back up the Mzimkhulwana Valley towards Glade Cave and Venice Cave for a distance of about 100 metres, before veering off left on the first spur you encounter. There are signs of a vague path in this area, which you can follow until the spur splits in two. Follow the right split, then descend onto the plateau below. Weaver Cave lies in the small valley on the right of this plateau. This route takes only 30 minutes from Lakes Cave and is by far the best option.
GPS Coordinates: WGS 84
S29 40.533 E29 18.056 at 1880 metres (Landlubbers)
Description:
Weaver Cave can accommodate about 6 hikers comfortably, but you can squeeze more in, especially in winter.
Comfort: 3/5
The floor of the cave is nearly level, and consists of soft sand interspersed with some bedrock. In summer a few slow drips, spread by the overhanging foliage, can be irritating but are never enough to make one wet. Stringing a groundsheet underneath the foliage to make a small roof can solve this problem quite easily. Animals – eland, vaalribbok and baboons – love to shelter in this cave so it can become quite messy and smelly at times. Also beware of thorns which can easily puncture inflatable sleeping mattresses.
Water: 5/5
The cave is bordered on its open side, less than 5 metres from the sleeping area, by a small stream which often flows powerfully in summer. In winter it may become a mere trickle, but water can still be drawn from one of the small pools further downstream, or even the Mzimkhulwana River, which is an easy distance away.
Pools: 4/5
There is a little plunge pool with some bedrock immediately downstream from the cave, conveniently close but nice and private. There is another wonderful spot less than 100 metres upstream that has a waterfall that plunges onto a bedrock shelf with a hole in it, allowing you to sit in the stream with your legs dangling in the hole jacuzzi-style. However, the best pools are to be found in the Mzimkhulwana River, with a really nice one at the confluence of the stream and the river.
Shelter: 3/5
Except for the drips in summer, the cave is surprisingly sheltered, helped partially by the bamboo which grows in front of it and also by the fact that the valley wherein it lies does not channel wind through it. However, it only receives sun for a short while in the morning so it is an unexpectedly cold cave.
Outlook: 2/5
The cave overlooks a grassy hillside, and the only view to be had is obtained by climbing all the way to the top of this, from where one gets a magnificent panorama of the southern Drakensberg range from the Amakehla Amabili south towards Bushman’s Nek. In summer the bamboo seems to attract a multitude of noisy insects, and lightning beetles are often seen as well.
Overall Rating: 17/25
History:
Unknown, but the bamboo may once have invited the weaver birds which may still be seen there occasionally.