Sawubona adventurers! In this new blog entry I want to tell you about a place that causes some grief, but at the same time attracts curious looks. It is a place that can be very dangerous for us but that so many other animals visit to take advantage of it... Kitum cave. This enormous cave with approximately 200 meters deep is located on Mount Elgon (4,321m high), an ancient shield volcano (large volcano that is formed from the layers of successive fluid basaltic eruptions, for this reason it has a gentle slope) that rises above the dry plains between Kenya and Uganda and is currently extinct.
But what is so special about this cave that so many species of animals want to visit it at night, even travelling hundreds of kilometres to reach it? The location of the cave is a thick forest with a relatively cool climate, small streams of water flow through this ancient forest and cascade down the entrance of the cave, and it was probably the erosion of the water that started the formation of this cave.
The Kitum cave is formed by pyroclastic rocks (Pyroclastic rocks are fragmented volcanic material that has been thrown into the atmosphere by an explosion. Generally they are produced in volcanoes whose lava is of the viscous type), and in addition, there are several layers so there have probably been different accumulated eruptions. The upper, harder layer protects from water and the lower softer layer contains soluble salts. In fact, the salt crystals in this cave are some of the best that can be found, it not only has mirabilite but also other salt crystals: halite, anhydrite, polyhalite, natron and others.
All living beings need salt to live, and Kitum is a source of life for many, but especially for those who had a lot to do with its creation... the elephants. Yes, I'm not fooling you, Kitum began by being eroded by the water that exposed the precious minerals but those who formed the cave were the elephants. For between 8,500 and 12,000 years they have been visiting this site and breaking the walls with their tusks they release pieces to chew on like candy. The steps of the elephants are followed by many other animals such as buffalo, antelopes, leopards and hyenas, but all of these have to make do with the remains left by the elephants unconsumed.
But the cave can be a very dangerous place. As the cave grew larger, animals in search of salt were left in complete darkness, something that leopards and hyenas took advantage of, stalking smaller animals, even some young elephants perished under their jaws. Another danger that elephants do not take into account when digging is structural resistance, causing landslides and sometimes death for some individuals.
But the worst happened in the 70s and 80s. Poachers discovered the habits of the local elephants, hiding at the entrance and ambushing all the elephants that approached the caves. The local elephant population decreased from 1200 to only 100. Some of the local elephants decided to abandon the habit of visiting Kitum and are avoiding the caves to this day. Other elephants learned to go quietly at night, and sometimes it is possible to see them if you are quiet and hidden.
With the development of tourism and nature conservation, poachers are less active, as tourism brings a stable income now. However, another danger comes from the growing number of people in Kenya and the encroachment of agriculture, leaving elephants without safe areas as the forest used to be.
But why this cave is a risk for us? The story goes back to the 1980's when two people, a French man and a Danish teenager visited the cave at different times and contracted the Marburg virus, a virus similar to Ebola but more deadly, they both died within days of visiting the cave. This opened an investigation by the American army and closed the access to Kitum to humans. Everything was sampled, air, walls, animals, insects, water... but nothing was found. Other researchers from nearby caves were able to shed light on these facts, concluding that the bats that live there are carriers of such a serious disease and that they can spread it by biting or through the guano (bat droppings), which is dry and accumulated for years and can become dust and be inhaled, and thus spread the disease.
I hope that this new post has discovered a new place for you and it´s phenomena, may you have a good life adventurous ones.
Impilo enh!
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