Caves Kovava Cave Physical Characteristics of the Rotokas Area

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2.2.3 Caves Kovava Cave

The following is a caver’s description of the cave called Kovaya by the Rotokas people. A group of us had explored this cave several years before, but had not taken any notes. The cave is located in a small area of coralline limestone that exists approximately fifteen kilometers south southwest of Wakunai. The closest village is Ibu, which is located within thirty minutes’ walk of the cave. Kovava Cave near Ibu Village The entrance is at the foot of a low cliff where a small stream emerges. The dimensions of the entrance are 2 meters wide and 3 meters high. About fifteen meters into the cave a point is reached where the stream emerges from a low passage on the right. Nearby, the cave also divides into a number of passages which recombine 20 meters further on… In this area, the main passage is 6 meters wide. At 2 meters from the floor, it abruptly narrows to 1.5 meters. A narrowing chimney rises vertically for at least another 10 meters…The total length of the passages was calculated at 220 meters. The difference in height between the stream entrance and efflux was estimated at 20 meters. The cave is very easy going throughout. It is possible to walk practically all of its length. The floor consists of small boulders, gravel and sand with the odd spot of mud. The flow in the small stream was guessed at 50 litresec. 0.05 cumecs. This flow would increase considerably during times of heavy rain, but it is not expected to present any danger to cavers… Eels and many small bats live within the cave. Three kinds of bats can be found. They are found throughout the cave but are more numerous in parts of the side passages Meier 1973:128. 39 Utoko Mountain Caves Other caves located in the Rotokas area behind Sisivi village were described by Hans Meier. They are located in an area called Utoko mountain by the local people. The area is difficult to walk through and required nearly five hours of hard work with a bush knife to get to the river below the caves. The river originates from a lake that is located between the Keriaka Plateau and Mt. Balbi. The lake occurs in some of the Rotokas stories. A small tributary of the main river runs through a valley which ends in an amphitheatre with cliffs rising vertically for one hundred meters on three sides. The river emerges from a cave eighty meters up the cliff and tumbles to the valley floor in a magnificent waterfall. A second small river falls as a curtain of individual droplets. A considerable detour would be necessary to reach the top, due to the vertical cliffs. A number of quite large bats were seen near a cliff about one hundred fifty meters downstream from the waterfall. Three other caves are located on the south side of this same river. At the foot of the cliffs in which the caves are located an efflux flows about one cumec. It sumps after thirty meters. The other two caves are reached after climbing a muddy, slippery cliff. The upper cave contains a very small stream that flows toward the entrance near where it sinks into the middle of the cave. Progressing into the cave, the floor consists first of rock and then of mud and bat guano. Height is up to fifteen meters in places with width generally four meters. Exploration was abandoned approximately seventy meters in at a small hole passable which leads to a continuation of the passage. The continuation is approximately three meters high and three to six meters wide with much mud. No draught was felt. Some bats and a small crab were collected. Some larger crabs were also caught, but they were of cooking size. Cave in area behind Sisivi Village 1 Another cave in this area was located and entered. The cave passage is completely filled by the river flowing through it. The river passage is approximately six meters high and four meters wide. There is a three meter vertical pitch into the river. This river sumps approximately thirty meters downstream. The passage can be followed upstream for approximately seventy meters, where a sump is reached. 1 Cave photos taken by Hans Meier. 40 The caves, although not very large, show that the area has good potential. Some other caves were also mentioned by the guides Meier 1980:3–4.

2.2.4 Mineral springs