Oromia 2013

Oromia 2013
Caving Expedition to Oromia, Ethiopia

29th October to 10th November 2013

Cavers from Ethiopia

Nasir Ahmed Mumed (Nasir) Bureau of Culture & Tourism, Oromia & First Ethiopian
Oromian Speleological Group

Cavers from Britain

Andy Clark (Andy) Royal Forest of Dean Caving Club

Mark Tringham (Mark) Gloucester Speleological Society

Robin Weare (Robin) Hades Caving Club

Support

Tegegn Bihonegn Cheru (Tegegn) Driver

Abasdu Nasr (Abas) Cameraman, Bureau of Culture & Tourism, Oromia

Photographs

Mark Tringham (MT) Andy Clark (AC) Robin Weare (RW)

Surveys

Drawn by Mark Tringham

Expedition Report

Compiled by Robin Weare with contributions from Andy Clark and Mark Tringham

We are grateful to the Welsh Sports Association for financial support, to Gloucester Cave
Rescue Group, Royal Forest of Dean Caving Club and Hades Caving Club for the use of
equipment, and to the Oromia Bureau of Culture and Tourism, the administration of
Habro woreda and the people of Hunde Dhaba, Lelisa and Wene Gudo for their help whilst
in Ethiopia.

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 Oromia 2013
Background to the Expedition
Robin and Mark visited the Eastern part of
Oromia in 2011 as part of a team of cavers
from the UK, France, Switzerland, Italy and
Ethiopia. This expedition explored 23 caves
in the regions of Gurawa, Gursum and
Bedeno. The longest cave explored was
Rako Barzala at 437m and the deepest
Enkuftu Mitata at 66m.
Robin had planned to stay in Ethiopia for an
extra week as a tourist but happily accepted
an offer from Nasir to spend a few days in
the Gelemso area to explore a cave which
Nasir had entered and partly explored a few
weeks earlier.
Nasir returned to Addis Ababa to obtain the
necessary permits and additional leave of
absence whilst Robin stayed in the ancient
walled city of Harar. There proved to be
much of interest in Harar including the
opportunity to feed the local spotted hyenas
but this was the weekend of Prince
William’s wedding and, as probably the
only native English speaker in town,
everyone wanted to talk to Robin about it
whenever he visited a coffee shop and he
was even regularly stopped whilst walking
down the street. Personal experience
suggested that Harar’s claim to produce the
best coffee in the world may well be
justified.
Nasir returned to Harar and with Robin left
at 6am by local bus and after a 213km
journey reached Chiro, the administrative
centre of Western Oromia, in time for a
meeting with the Head of Tourism and a late
lunch.
Another bus took us to Bedesa and after a
further change we reached Gelemso as
darkness fell.
After spending the next morning meeting the
regional head of Tourism and other officials
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we were provided with transport by the local
administration and were dropped off at the
nearest point to Holqa Warabesa early in the
afternoon with instructions that we should
be ready to be picked up at 6pm as the roads
did not allow travel during the hours of
darkness.
Realistically, that allowed no more than 4
hours to explore the cave.
The cave had been known for some time
and, although just outside the area they
visited, was mentioned in the report by Asrat
et al on the environmental monitoring of
caves in the Mechara area between 2005 and
2007.
We properly surveyed the first 100m or so
before realising that this was taking too long
and I decided to continue by taking compass
bearings aligned with legs mostly the whole
length of the 30m tape. At about 1.2 km we
were nearly out of time so continued by
pacing a further 300m or so before turning
around with wide open passage ahead and
several open leads passed.
Rushing out of the cave we found that we
had missed our transport and started to walk
back to the main road in the hope of
catching the last bus. Arriving too late, we
were allowed to sleep on the floor of a
village house, in a room we shared with
about 10 others.
A few months later Nasir took the head of
Habro woreda and other officials to the
entrance series; their visit was filmed and
shown on Ethiopian television.
The cave was more fully explored by our
French friends in April 2012. They found a
further 1600m of passage making the
surveyed length 3102m but were unable to
descend 2 pitches due to bad air.
 Oromia 2013

After the 2012 extensions a two day Habro District” was held by the Ministry of
conference “Exploring the Limestone Tourism & Culture.
Landscapes of the West Hararghe Zone

To publicise the event 3400 posters and 500 printed T-shirts were produced in English and Oroma.

The photograph in the top left of the poster is of Nasir & Robin exiting the cave in 2011. Then clockwise
follow The Main Passage and 4 photographs of the formations at the end of the 2012 extensions.

The prime objective of our expedition in reason that we decided to visit at a different
2013 would be to descend the two time of year in the hope that the air quality
undescended pitches and it was for that would allow this.

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 Oromia 2013
Overview of the Expedition
This expedition followed an expedition in
2011 by a multi national team and further
expeditions in 2012 and earlier in 2013 by
other elements of the 2011 team.
The UK contingent travelled to Heathrow in
time to catch a 10.50am flight to Istanbul on
29th October. From there a connecting flight
allowed the entire team to meet in Addis
Ababa early in the morning of 30th October
and we spent the day travelling to Gelemso
by a hired 4WD vehicle. We are particularly
grateful to our driver, Tegegn, for his ever
helpful and cheerful approach.
We met with Mr Mahmed Hadii the head of
Habro woreda in Gelemso the next morning
and then travelled to Warabesa cave. We
stayed overnight in Gelemso and then
visited the township of Hunde Dhaba where
we were shown the sites of several caves in
and around the village of Biyoo before
attending a town meeting at which it was
agreed that we could spend the next few
days exploring their caves with
accommodation in the local school. To
facilitate this Mr Hadii arranged that we
could have the use of a portable generator.
We spent the evening with members of
Nasir’s family.
Having been joined by Abasdu Nasr (Abas)
who was to film the expedition on behalf of
the Bureau of Culture & Tourism, we visited
the township of Lelisa the next morning and
were made equally welcome at another town
meeting. After moving on and settling into
the Hunde Dhaba school library we spent
the afternoon exploring Enkuftu Wene.
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We spent the next three days enjoying the
company and hospitality of the local people
whilst exploring 8 more caves in the area.
We then moved back to a hotel in Gelemso
for the remainder of our stay.
On the morning of November 7th we drove
to Lelisa and explored two caves before
visiting the clinic and the school, where we
were entertained by a display by the pupils
before enjoying a meal with the staff and
local dignitaries.
In the evening we were guided by the local
policeman when we visited the rock
paintings at Melka Belo.
November 8th & 9th were spent exploring 6
caves in and near the township of Wene
Gudo and on November 10th we drove back
to Addis Ababa, arriving in good time for
our homeward flight early in the morning of
November 11th.
In total the expedition had one attempt to
extend Holqa Warabesa, which was
thwarted by dangerously low levels of
Oxygen and explored 18 new largely
vertical caves in the Gelemso area which
were fully recorded, photographed and
surveyed.
These totalled a surveyed length of 874m
and a cumulative depth of 507m. One
further cave entrance and several large
doline areas were located which the
expedition had insufficient time to explore.
They remain open for future exploration.
 Oromia 2013
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic
Republic of Ethiopia, is the second largest
country in Africa by population (estimated
at 92 million in 2012) and has the ninth
largest area (1,127,127 km2). The country
has no access to the sea and shares borders
with Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Kenya,
Djibouti and Eritrea.
Since 1996 Ethiopia has been divided into
nine ethnically based and politically
autonomous regional states and two
chartered cities (Addis Ababa and Dire
Dawa). The states are subdivided into 68
zones which themselves are divided into 550
woredas. A woreda is equivalent to a unitary
authority in the UK.
Ethiopia is one of the oldest locations of
human life known to scientists and is widely
considered to be the region from which
Homo Sapiens emerged. Tracing its roots to
the 2nd millennium BC, Ethiopia was a
monarchy for most of its history until the
ending of Haile Selassie’s reign in 1974.
Within Ethiopia is a vast highland complex
of mountains and dissected plateaus divided
by the Great Rift Valley which runs
generally southwest to northeast and is
surrounded by lowlands, or semi-desert. The
great diversity of terrain determines wide
variations in climate, soils, natural
vegetation, and settlement patterns.
Oromia
Oromia is the most populous of the regional
states having an estimated population in
2012 of over 31 million, living in an area of
298,164 km2.
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It is an ecologically diverse country, ranging
from the deserts along the eastern border to
the tropical forests in the south to extensive
mountain ranges in the northern and
southwestern parts. Lake Tana in the north is
the source of the Blue Nile. It has a large
number of endemic species, notably the
Gelada Baboon, the Walia Ibex and the
Ethiopian Wolf (or Simien Fox). The wide
range of altitude has given the country a
variety of ecologically distinct areas; this
has helped to encourage the evolution of
endemic species in ecological isolation.
With fairly uniform year round
temperatures, the seasons are largely defined
by rainfall, with a dry season from October–
February, a light rainy season from March–
May, and a heavy rainy season from June–
September. The average annual rainfall is
around 1,200 mm (47.2 in). There are on
average 7 hours of sunshine per day,
meaning it is sunny for around 60% of the
available time. The dry season is the
sunniest time of the year, though even at the
height of the rainy season in July and
August there are still usually several hours
per day of bright sunshine. The average
annual temperature in Addis Ababa is 16 °C
(60.8 °F), with daily maximum temperatures
averaging 20–25 °C (68–77 °F) throughout
the year, and overnight lows averaging 5–
10 °C (41–50 °F).
It is divided into a total of 14 administrative
zones and 185 woredas. The expedition was
based in the Habro woreda of the West
Hararghe Zone.
 Oromia 2013

Habro woreda
The 2007 national census reported a total
population of 190,455, of whom 98,593
were men and 91,862 were women; 25,233
or 13.25% of its population were urban
dwellers. The majority of the inhabitants
said they were Muslim, with 84.92% of the
population reporting they observed this
belief, while 14.52% of the population
practised Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity.
The main town in the woreda and the
administrative centre is Gelemso. At the
time of the 2007 census the total population
was recorded as 16,484. About 70% of the
residents are Muslims and about 25%
Orthodox Christians.
We were accompanied by an armed villager
on most excursions being told that hyenas
were common (we heard but did not see
them) and that lions and “tigers” (which we
took to be leopards) were occasional
visitors. We resisted an invitation to explore
a cave known to be the home of a family of
hyenas despite the suggestion that an armed
posse of villagers patrol outside to deter
their entry while we explored.
Map of Habro woreda

Gelemso is the origin of a variety of chat (as

khat is known in Ethiopia) called by the
same name (Gelemso) and this is an
important cash crop of this woreda, but
because it is a very perishable commodity
and must be cultivated not too far from
major markets or good roads, it is grown
along the main roads.

In 1980, the WHO classified the plant as a

drug of abuse that can produce mild to
moderate psychological dependence (less
than tobacco or alcohol), although the WHO
does not consider chat to be seriously
addictive. It is a controlled or illegal
substance in some countries, including the
UK where it was designated a class C
substance and banned in July 2013, but is
legal for sale and production in others. The first language of over 80% of the
population of the woreda is Oromiffa with
In the villages and townships we visited about 18% speaking Amharic. A large part
agriculture was the main industry and chat of the population also speaks English and
was a major product. We also observed large many of the lessons in the local school were
areas used for the cultivation of coffee. given in English. Certainly, once they
Other crops we noted included sorghum, overcame their shyness, the children were
maize, bananas, oranges, tomatoes, keen to practice the language. We observed
groundnuts, sugar cane, beans and wheat. that the Hunde Dhaba school library
We did remark that this was the most fertile contained many volumes in English.
karst area any of us had ever visited. Cattle,
goats and chickens were everywhere.

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 Oromia 2013
Habro has an estimated area of 730 km2 and
has all weather dirt roads connecting it to the
tarmac road at Arba Reketi near Chiro and
to the adjacent woredas. There are few
Health Hazards
All nine members of the 2011 expedition
suffered from histoplasmosis with varying
degrees of severity. Although everyone
recovered, three were hospitalised and all
were incapacitated for at least a short period.
The expeditions in 2011, 2012 and earlier in
2013 all encountered high levels of CO2.
Thanks to early recognition of the problems
followed by quick retreats there were no
serious repercussions.
Histoplasmosis had not previously been
encountered in East Africa so no precautions
were taken in 2011. Subsequent expeditions
have used respirators.
Histoplasmosis is common in some parts of
the USA and the US National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health has
published guidance in a booklet entitled
Histoplasmosis – Protecting Workers at
Risk. This booklet is freely available on the
internet.
It is explained in the booklet that
Histoplasmosis is an infectious disease
caused by inhaling the spores of a fungus
called Histoplasma capsulatum.
Histoplasmosis is not contagious; it cannot
be transmitted from an infected person or
animal to someone else.
H.capsulatum is a dimorphic fungus, which
means it has two forms. It is a mould in soil
at ambient temperatures, and after being
inhaled by humans or animals, it produces a
yeast phase when spores undergo genetic,
biochemical, and physical alterations.
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private motor vehicles (we observed none at
all) but there are regular bus services along
these roads.
Histoplasmosis primarily affects a person’s
lungs, and its symptoms vary greatly. The
vast majority of infected people are
asymptomatic (have no apparent ill effects),
or they experience symptoms so mild they
do not seek medical attention and may not
even realize that their illness was
histoplasmosis. If symptoms do occur, they
will usually start within 3 to 17 days after
exposure, with an average of 10 days.
Histoplasmosis can appear as a mild, flu-like
respiratory illness and has a combination of
symptoms, including malaise (a general ill
feeling), fever, chest pain, dry or
nonproductive cough, headache, loss of
appetite, shortness of breath, joint and
muscle pains, chills, and hoarseness.
Of all the preventative measures described
in the booklet the only realistic option in the
circumstances of a caving expedition is the
use of a respirator and after careful
consideration of the options and field trials
in local caves we decided to use disposable
half face respirators with inhalation valves
and selected respirators which complied
with the standards of EN149 of the class
FFP3 (ie filters at least 99% of airborne
particles with less than 2% inward leakage).
Low Oxygen or high CO2 levels have been
regularly encountered in Ethiopian caves
and we sought to counteract this by visiting
at a different time of year to earlier
expeditions.
Exposure to high levels of Carbon dioxide
(or to the resultant low levels of oxygen)
could have serious consequences in a cave
environment
 Oromia 2013
There is normally less than 1% of Carbon
dioxide in the air we breathe. When higher
levels are present the likely consequences
are
Above 3% - breathing rate doubles
Above 5% - breathing rate quadruples,
headaches
Above 7% - dizziness, raised heart rate,
visual and hearing dysfunction,
unconsciousness.
Above 10% - death likely due to Oxygen
deficiency
The normal level of Oxygen is 20.9%. At
lower levels the probable effect is
Below 17% - panting, possible impaired
judgment
Below 15% - dizziness, blurred vision
Below 12% - rapid breathing and pulse, poor
co-ordination
Below 9% - nausea, collapse,
unconsciousness
Below 7% - death likely
In both cases the onset of effects is more
rapid if effort is being expended. Most of the
caves explored are at around 1500m to
1900m altitude and it is likely that the
effects of low oxygen percentages are made
worse by the lower air pressure at that
altitude.
Our preventative action included a decision
to take a gas monitor and lower it down any
pitch before descending. Our additional
planning included practicing methods of
raising an unconscious person from a pitch
and establishing a procedure for use in such
an eventuality. We are particularly grateful
to Gloucester Cave Rescue Group for the
use of their facilities and to their Training
Officer, Steve Tomalin, for his assistance.
We are also grateful to Gloucester Cave
Rescue Group for the use of one of their gas
.
8
monitors (far better than anything we would
have purchased) during the expedition. This
monitor gave us readings of Methane,
Carbon Monoxide and Hydrogen Sulphide
as well as Carbon Dioxide and Oxygen. It
also had a facility which allowed us to see
the lowest oxygen reading recorded before
deciding whether to descend a pitch and an
automatic audible alarm when oxygen was
below 19.5%.
Other
Members of the expedition took advance
health precautions by pre trip vaccinations
against Hepatitis A, Typhoid, Influenza,
Meningococcal meningitis, Diphtheria,
Yellow Fever, Rabies, Hepatitis B
and Measles.
The more basic health hazards encountered
during an expedition such as this relate to
stomach disorders. We countered that by
drinking only bottled water and ensured that
the medicine chest was well stocked with
remedies for use if required. We each
carried hand sanitizer and used it whenever
appropriate and always immediately before
eating.
No serious stomach problems were
experienced during the expedition. One case
of severe nausea was experienced related to
taking the anti-malarial drug doxycyclin on
an insufficiently full stomach
Nasir contracted a chest infection which
eventually eased as he completed a course of
antibiotics.
Otherwise, the only problems encountered
were connected with our exposure to sun
and heat and each of us suffered a day of
mild discomfort. This did not unduly
inconvenience the expedition as on those
days we restricted the sufferer to surface
duties – generally crowd management
 Oromia 2013

The expedition – day by day

Monday 28th October
Andy and Mark arrived at Robin’s house
during the evening. After refreshments we
spent the next hour or two repacking and
balancing the loads before checking in
online, sorting out the paperwork and going
to bed.
Tuesday 29th October
even he managed to talk his way in fairly
quickly.
After collecting our bags we contacted Nasir
by telephone; but only eventually as none of
ours could get a signal and we had to borrow
one from a local. A few coffees later Nasir
arrived and we went outside to meet the
driver and load the car.

We were up at 5am and on the road after a

quick breakfast. Happily there were no
holdups on the way to Gatwick airport and
we arrived in good time to return the hire car
and drop our bags at the Turkish airlines
desk. With some time to spare we used it to
enjoy a second breakfast and Mark
purchased a laptop charging adaptor.

The flight was called on time and departed

only a few minutes late. The flight time to
Loading car at Addis Ababa airport (RW, 30/10/2013)
Istanbul was a little less than expected and
the only downside was that the vegetarian
By the time we were loaded it was about
meal was moussaka (ugh). The transfer
6.30am and we then called at Nasir’s home
through the transit system went smoothly.
to collect his kit with the result that we had
to navigate fairly heavy traffic as we left
Frequent traveler Mark then left for his
Addis Ababa.
upmarket lounge whilst Andy & Robin
roughed it in the normal waiting area. We
The road emptied as we left the urban areas
met up in the queue for the connecting
and we reached Adama in time for a late
plane.
breakfast of scrambled eggs, coffee and then
more coffee.
The second flight was smooth and on time
and the only downside was that the
We were joined by one of Nasir’s sisters
vegetarian meal was moussaka (again)
who lives in Adama and she walked us
(ugh).
around the local banks until we found one
which wasn’t put off by our brand new
Wednesday 30th October
dollar bills and agreed to change some of
them for birra.
Our seat selection was so good that on
landing in Addis Ababa we found ourselves
From Adama we could have taken a dirt
at the front of the visa queue and into the
road through the mountains but, although
country within a few minutes. Well, Robin
this was mentioned, it was not mentioned as
and Mark were into the country within a few
a viable option and we continued by the
minutes. Andy clearly looked dodgy but

9
 Oromia 2013
longer but quicker route along the tarmac
road.
We were now driving through a part of the
Great Rift Valley where scrubland is all that
can be seen on either side of the road and
where camels are widely used as beasts of
burden. After driving through Lake Basaka
(where the road and the now disused railway
line run parallel along a causeway) we
stopped again for drinks and our next stop
was when we decided to be tourists as we
drove past a huge expanse of lava in the
crater of an extinct volcano.
Lava filled crater (MT, 30/10/2013)
Shortly afterwards, approaching the
outskirts of the Awash National Park, we
saw a family of baboons at rest in the rocky
ravine beside the road
Baboon Family (MT, 30/10/2013)
and it was at about this point that Nasir
indicated a mountain to the south and told us
that Gelemso was just to the other side. It
10
would be about 5 more hours before we saw
the southern aspect.
We continued along the tarmac road as far
as Arba Reketi, just past Chiro, where we
turned out of the Great Rift Valley, crossed
the bordering mountains and drove through
a quite different landscape, with a series of
long ridges dividing obviously very fertile
agricultural land, more or less parallel to our
outward route but this time along a dirt
based and surprisingly good all weather
road.
Despite a general absence of traffic the
28km from the tarmac road to Bedesa took
us over an hour and it was to be another 2
hours (albeit after a delay to change a
punctured tyre) before we reached Gelemso,
Changing the tyre (AC, 30/10/2013)
some 25km further on, just in time to unload
before darkness fell.
In 2011 the hotel in Gelemso was as good as
anything outside the main towns. There was
electricity, running water, showers and
properly plumbed toilets; the rooms still
have private bathrooms but only one of the
three rooms occupied had a working shower,
all the toilets had buckets of water alongside
and the only sink with a working tap proved
to have a crack in it.
 Oromia 2013
Thursday 31st October
After a good start to the morning with a fine
breakfast and two cups of coffee we packed
the car and went first to the government
compound in the hope of making a courtesy
call on the woreda’s head Mr Hadii. He was
in a meeting when we called so we made his
Secretary aware of our presence and asked if
we could return on another occasion. Mr
Hadii’s meeting ended as we were walking
back to the car and his Secretary caught us
before we departed.
Mr Hadii made us most welcome and as we
discussed our plans kindly offered us
whatever assistance he could provide.
Mr Hadii welcomes Robin (MT 31/10/2013)
The plan for the remainder of the day was to
make an initial visit to Holqa Warabesa. The
location of the cave is to the south towards
Mechara along the all weather road and we
turned off at the village where Nasir and
Robin spent the night in 2011 and then
continued down the rutted track along the
top of the ridge to reach the point at which
we could easily walk to the cave.
Shortly before this point it was noticed that a
sign indicating the proximity of Holqa
Warabesa had appeared since the 2011 visit.
The relatively short journey took well over
an hour and after a short negotiation with the
village head we were accompanied to the
cave entrance by the local teacher and a
group of his older pupils.
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Robin at the entrance to Warabesa (MT 30/11/2013)
On exiting the cave several hours later we
found the audience had swollen and now
included many villagers several of whom
took Nasir and Robin to see the locations of
other nearby cave entrances. Thanks to the
generosity of a farmer we returned laden
with oranges.
To the great concern of our driver, Tegegn,
we were late back to the car and it was after
dark before we got back to Gelemso.
Realising the difficulty of driving along
these roads in poor light we promised to
finish earlier in the future.
Gelemso is an essentially Moslem town so
there are few places which serve alcohol.
One of them proved to be located opposite
our hotel and we took the opportunity to
relax there before our evening meal. Those
members of the party who understand these
things were able to certify that Ethiopian
beer is pretty good. The local population
normally eats at home in the evenings and so
it had been necessary for Nasir to arrange
for a local restaurant to open for us and
prepare a special meal. This very
satisfactory arrangement continued for every
night we stayed in Gelemso.
Friday 1st November
After another good breakfast we travelled
about 25km to the township of Hunde
Dhaba from where we were taken on a tour
 Oromia 2013

of the area’s cave entrances by the headman meeting closed Robin stood up and said in
Shamshu. his best Oromiffa “akum nagarr”(hello) and
was drowned out by the applause before he
could add “gelatoma” (thank you).

Robin & friends in Hunde Dhaba (AC, 01/11/2013)

Nasir & Shamshu (AC, 01/11/2013)

We started from the village of Biyoo where
we were shown the locations of several large
and interesting pots and continued along the
ridge for about 5km to not quite reach the
entrance to the cave he had visited earlier
that year with Nasir. This cave, we were
told, started horizontal with good
formations. They had been unable to
proceed further because of a pitch.
It was the distance to this cave and the
length of the drive from Gelemso which
caused us to sit down and discuss the
possibility of staying in the village for a few
nights. Shamshu offered accommodation in
the local school (which had the area’s only
proper toilet facilities) and a quick phone
call between Nasir and Mr Hadii resulted in
the offer of a generator for use throughout
our stay.
Following the meeting we were invited to
join the council members for coffee and
groundnuts.
We drove back to Gelemso and spent the
early part of the evening with members of
Nasir’s family including his brother in law,
Abas, who had accompanied Nasir and
Robin during the first section of their 2011
visit to Holqa Warabesa and was to
accompany the remainder of this expedition
in order to film it for the Bureau of Culture
and tourism.
Saturday 2nd November
After breakfast we paid the bill, loaded up
and vacated the hotel.

On returning to Hunde Dhaba we found that

the inhabitants of the town had gathered to
meet us. We first met the town council and
then Nasir addressed the meeting, telling
them why we were there and what we
wanted to do and answering questions –
several concerning the mercury which, as
local legend has it, is to be found in the
caves. The legend refers, of course, to the The first hotel (AC, 01/11/2013)
water droplets common to all caves; Nasir
assured the meeting that they are not Having now been joined by Abas our next
mercury but water and have no value. As the job was to purchase all the items we’d need

12
 Oromia 2013
to make life comfortable in Hunde Dhaba;
cable, plugs, light fittings, light bulbs, pasta
and beer……… later we were to send
Tegegn, the driver, back to Gelemso to
purchase plates, cutlery and a bucket.
After collecting the generator and stocking
up with fuel we travelled first to Lelisa
where we met with the head man, addressed
another town meeting, and arranged for
accommodation there in a few days time
should it be needed.
On arrival at Hunde Dhaba we deposited our
non caving kit in a locked room at the
school and then drove to Biyoo and walked
to Enkuftu Wene, the first of the locations
we’d been shown on Friday.
It was 4.45pm by the time our exploration of
that cave was complete and we had returned
to the car. We stopped at the town market
place, where we purchased bananas, and
Hunde Dhaba market (MT, 02/11/2013)
back at the school we transferred our
belongings to the rooms allocated to us and
started to set up the generator. While this
was happening children arrived carrying
mattresses and pillows for our use and by
the time we had settled in darkness had
fallen and a welcome party had started –
mostly the teachers at the school and the
senior people from the town were there,
partly, we suspected, because of the
availability of electric lighting (there is no
electricity in Hunde Dhaba) and partly
because of their natural curiosity and
hospitality.
13
Coffee, groundnuts and good conversation
occupied the next few hours (when we
learned a lot about Ethiopia, the area and the
education system) until our visitors began to
excuse themselves (one had to walk back to
Gelemso – the drive in daylight had taken us
about an hour). Food arrived and was
consumed; we found some water and
washed, then crawled into our sleeping bags
for the night.
Sunday 3rd November
Breakfast came from the town, a flask of tea
and an omelette over a pancake for each of
us (sufficiently nutritious to keep us going
for the whole day) and after eating and
clearing up we spent a 9 hour day,
accompanied by a team of guards and
helpers, exploring surveying and
photographing four of the caves we had
been shown on Friday.
Helpers walking between caves (MT, 03/11/2013)
The generous attitude of our companions
was evident throughout but not more so than
at lunchtime when without a moment’s
hesitation they shared their meal of
groundnuts with us. That we all refused the
offer to also share their chat was a source of
considerable merriment.
We’d failed to turn off the oxygen detector
overnight and when the battery failed we
tried to resort to use of the back up
equipment – a cigarette lighter.
Tried because the attempt failed
spectacularly when – thrown down the pitch
 Oromia 2013
and not caught – it exploded on impact with
the ground.
We returned to the school via the town
market where we purchased more bananas
and drank tea in the local café whilst
watching the rain fall under the observation
of a large crowd of townspeople. Later the
rain set in for the evening with the result that
the area surrounding our accommodation
became very muddy.
The evening was pretty much as before
although the poor weather caused it to close
down a little earlier. By then we were more
than ready for an early night. It had been a
busy day.
th
Monday 4 November
After breakfast we drove to the village of
Ancher where we were greeted by a large
and enthusiastic group of porters who led us
to a pair of pots after a 25 minute walk.
When these had been descended and
explored we were taken to a cave in the
valley – a further 4km on and 300m lower.
On the way back we were treated to coffee
and popcorn by the farmer whose land we
crossed.
Relaxing with coffee & popcorn (AC, 04/11/2013)
He appeared to be in his sixties and we were
greatly impressed by the fact that he
managed to accommodate no fewer than five
wives by moving from one to another every
14
few days. Each of the wives had her own
house in the compound and there were 13
children still at home.
Our host, a son & some helpers (MT, 04/11/2013)
This was another nine hour day and Nasir
was quite poorly, struggling to complete the
return walk due to his chest infection.
There was a shower of rain as we walked
back to the car, which was parked by the
village shop where we treated the porters to
soft drinks and replaced the exploded
lighter.
The rain had started again by the time we
reached the school and continued for some
hours to leave the ground muddy and
unpleasant once more. It was still raining –
hard – when we turned in.
Tuesday 5th November
After the heavy overnight rain the roads
were impassable even to a 4WD vehicle so
we had to walk an extra 3km to reach
yesterday’s drop off point. We started out
with a group of temporary porters who
passed our packs to others as we walked.
This was our visit to the last of the caves we
were shown on Friday. With the route so
muddy it was an awkward walk as well as a
long one and we were relieved to find that
the entrance wasn’t as far away as we’d
understood. This, of course, begged the
question of what was in the area on the other
 Oromia 2013

side of the valley where we’d presumed the

entrance to be.

Despite this respite we had still descended

370m during our 7km 2 hour walk.

Parking spot & team of helpers (AC, 06/11/2013)

From there our bags were collected by a host

of willing carriers who transported them and
led us to a totally overgrown entrance which
was sorted out and completely cleared after
only a few minutes work by the machete
team.
The party flops outside Hafursa (AC, 05/11/2012)

After a pretty tough and very muddy caving

trip the return (uphill) was tougher and we
were more than relieved to find that the road
had dried out sufficiently to allow the car to
reach the village shop once more.

When we reached the school the pupils were

lining up for the end of day flag lowering
ceremony, an occasion we observed with
considerable interest.
Above the Diblo entrance pitch (RW, 06/11/2013)
After a short rest we set to cleaning every
piece of equipment which had descended the On returning to the school we packed to
pitch – by the time we’d finished the leave and after saying farewell and thank
overnight rain had set in and the task was you we drove back to Gelemso where we
completed whilst huddling beneath the eaves moved into a different hotel as the other was
of the building. As time passed the rain full.
became heavier and hadn’t stopped when we
turned in. Although this lacked private bathrooms it
did have a locked courtyard and was in a
Wednesday 6th November quieter location. It proved to be much more
convenient and certainly made it easier to
We were relieved to find that the rain had sort kit.
stopped and, with a plan to move on today,
we spent the pre breakfast time packing and
after breakfast drove to a new drop off point
about 500m beyond Hunde Dhaba.

15
 Oromia 2013
Outside our new hotel (AC, 06/11/2013)
The coffee was just as good which left at
least one member of the party more than
content with the new arrangement. We
decided to stay here for the duration of our
time in Gelemso.
Thursday 7th November
After breakfast we drove to the township of
Lelisa, on the same ridge as Hunde Dhaba
but much nearer to Gelemso.
We quickly collected an audience of about
250 most of whom stayed with us
throughout the day. This was our first
experience of caving as a mass spectator
sport and as the day progressed crowd
control proved to be a serious problem.
Part of the crowd at Gusa 1 (AC, 07/11/2013)
Initial clearing of undergrowth allowed us to
establish a way into Enkuftu Gusa 1 but that
we had three separate routes to the edge
cleared before deciding which to use caused
problems as the crown of noisy and excited
onlookers encroached from all directions.
16
Another part of the crowd (MT, 07/11/2013)
In the end, after a rock had inadvertently
been kicked down the pitch and landed close
to Mark who was surveying at the bottom,
Robin set out a perimeter and instructed the
policeman and two other gun carrying
spectators to enforce it.
On leaving Gusa 1 we walked a short
distance in a long crocodile to Gusa 2 which
also required a serious clearance effort
before we could even work out how best to
descend. This proved to be easier to control
as the topography of the first phase
restricted mass access.
The audience remained with us as we
returned to the clinic and changed. Robin
entertained the children with an impromptu
English lesson and had to be dragged away
to the school where we were ourselves
entertained by a p/e session (which Mark
joined to general amusement) and a fine
meal.
English lesson in Lelisa square (MT, 07/11/2013)
 Oromia 2013

On reaching the town Nasir tracked down

the head man who was immediately co-
operative, changing his own plans for the
day in order to take us to some of the many
caves in the area. He quickly organised a
guard and a team of bag carriers. It really is
extraordinary that the villagers are always so
welcoming and keen to help.

We were taken to two caves in adjacent

A late lunch at Lelisa school (AC, 07/11/2013) dolines – both with almost tropical
vegetation and the first containing a huge
After an early finish we could just manage colony of bats – living both within the
to close the day with a visit to one of the doline and the cave.
local sites of ancient rock paintings near the
village of Melka Belo, a few miles to the
other side of Gelemso, being accompanied
to the site by the local policeman.

The Ganda Allaa 1 doline (MT, 08/11/2013)

The other doline which housed Ganda Allaa

2 proved also to be the home of an owl.

Rock paintings above Melka Belo (MT, 07/11/2013) Ganda Allaa 1 was pretty muddy so we had
to do a lot of kit cleaning on our return to
Friday 8th November Gelemso and our legs were too disgusting to
even go near the shower before a pre clean
Nasir had heard that there were caves at with the scrubbing brushes we purchased for
Wene Gudo but hadn’t visited and wasn’t use as improvised rope washers.
sure of the standard of the road in that
direction. Having discussed it with the
policeman the previous evening and
established that the road was suitable for
4WD a change of plan took us there today.

Robin & Andy washing the kit (MT, 08/11/2013)

The downside of the hotel was the proximity

Wene Gudo main square (AC, 08/11/2013) to the local mosque and this was the night

17
 Oromia 2013

when the call to prayer just didn’t stop. Even

ear plugs failed to allow any of us to sleep.

Saturday 9th November

After returning to Wene Gudo we started the

day with a coffee ceremony at the home of
the head man before visiting two more
nearby caves – guided by the usual group of
willing bag carriers.

Necessary admin at hotel Tegegn, Nasir, Robin &

Andy (MT, 09/11/2013)

Sunday 10th November

We finished packing, ate breakfast, and

loaded the vehicle for the long journey to the
airport.

When we joined the main road at Arba

Reketi we purchased several bags of pre
packed nuts and bananas from young
vendors who run alongside a passing vehicle
offering their goods through the windows.
A young and very tough helper (MT, 09/11/2013)
This is the local equivalent of the motorway
services. The food is pre packed for speed of
Neither went further than the entrance
sale as all travelers know the cost and
chamber so we had plenty of time in hand to
quantity. Bananas, for example, come in
visit 2 more caves about 1km further along
packs of 10 and the standard price is 10 birr.
the ridge. The first was aborted due to bad
air as the oxygen was only 13.5% about 5m
Later we passed an area alongside the road
down but we were able to see enough to
where camel trains deliver charcoal for sale.
have a reasonable idea of the dimensions.
This is used for cooking but mostly for the
coffee ceremony and we loaded the roof
Then came a coffee ceremony with the local
area with several bags for use by Nasir and
farmer and a visit to a rifty cave with several
Tegegn.
entrances which were thoroughly enjoyed by
the younger members of the party.
There are hazards even on the tarmac road.
Camels, goats, donkeys, cows and people
This was our last evening so back at the
driving them wander all over it. It is heavily
hotel we said farewell to Abas, dealt with
used by lorries, buses and private 4WD
administrative matters, sorted the kit and
vehicles. In the event of repairs or blockages
started to pack before going out for the
any detour will involve driving on a rough
excellent as usual evening meal.
track.

The main hazards are broken down or

crashed and abandoned vehicles surrounded
or preceded by the local hazard warning sign

18
 Oromia 2013
(large rocks). The crashes are often caused
by wandering animals and on our own return
journey our car was a collateral victim of a
cow killed not a lot earlier by a well
damaged lorry. As we passed the carcase it
was being eaten by a huge swarm of
vultures, one of which decided to demolish
our windscreen as it flew away.
The windscreen post vulture (MT, 10/11/2013)
We learned that vultures are more resilient
than windscreens. After so much damage we
were convinced that the vulture lying on the
ground was dead but as Robin approached
with camera in hand it rose up and hopped
19
away to rejoin the feast it had left a short
while before.
This incident caused ongoing problems as it
was impossible to repair the windscreen on a
Sunday. Fortunately the area exactly in front
of the driver remained fairly clear and he
had good enough visibility to complete the
journey. Not that the traffic policemen
thought the same. We were stopped time and
time again but somehow Nasir and Tegegn
managed to talk their way into being
allowed to continue – and the receipt from
the fine imposed by the second policeman
proved to be the talisman which prevented
others.
We eventually reached the airport in good
time for our flight and settled down with the
free internet connection to catch up on two
weeks without communication.
Monday 11th November
Our flight was at 2am. It departed on time
and we caught it. The vegetarian meal was
not moussaka.
 Oromia 2013
Cave Exploration and Research in Ethiopia
The best known cave in Ethiopia, and by far
the longest, is Sof Omar, which is
mentioned in European literature as early as
1897. It remains the most important cave in
the country. A British expedition surveyed
8km of passages in 1966 and in 1973
another British expedition extended the cave
to 15km. Subsequently there have been
many British, Italian and Swiss expeditions
to explore this cave.
There is one other known cave in the same
region, Nur Mohamed, which extends to
2.8km.
Addis Ababa University recorded and
surveyed several horizontal and vertical
caves in 1976 including Enkuftu Mohu
which, at -192m, remains the deepest in the
country.
Exploration ceased for several years due to
the political problems but expeditions
resumed during the 1990s; there was an
Italian expedition in 1995 and expeditions
by Huddersfield University Caving Club in
1995, 1996 and 1997. These expeditions
discovered two important caves Holqa
Achere (3,830m) and Holqa Aynage
(3,308m) which remain the 2nd and 3rd
longest in the country and are separated by
only 30m at their nearest point.
In 1994 a Swiss team visited Sof Omar and
in 2004 a second expedition explored two
caves 150km to the north east Goma Saada
(489m) and Tullu (201m), and Holqa
Danzuriyaa (450m) a cave in basalt about
200 km north west of Addis Ababa.
20
There was environmental monitoring and
speleothem research of caves in the Mechara
area from 2004-2007 by a team led by
Afsawossen Asrat of the University of Addis
Ababa.
There were visits to the same region in the
period 2004-2006 by Italian cavers which
included the exploration and survey of
Holqa Rukiessa.
In 2008 and 2009, two Italian expeditions
organised by Marco Vigano, explored the
area in the extreme north east of the
Ethiopian karst at Gursum (to the east of
Harar). They found and explored Holqa
Oromo (2km) with many fine formations.
In 2011 our multi national expedition (with
Ethiopian, English, Welsh, French, Swiss,
and Italian members) followed up the two
Italian expeditions starting in the Gursum
area and then visiting the area to the west of
Harar. We explored 23 caves, mostly modest
but including Rako Barzala (450m long).
Two members of that expedition, Nasir
Ahmed and Robin Weare, stayed on to visit
the Gelemso area and explored Holqa
Warabesa to an estimated 1400m.
The Gelemso area was visited in April 2012
by Nasir and 8 French cavers who surveyed
7.2 km of passages in 18 caves including the
extension of Holqa Warabesa to 3,108m. In
April 2013 Nasir and 7 French cavers
explored and surveyed 2.2 km of passages in
45 generally quite modest caves.
 Oromia 2013

Ethiopia’s longest and deepest caves

There are only 30 known caves in Ethiopia over 100m long and together they have 37.7 km of
passages, of which 15.1km are to be found in Sof Omar. The series of expeditions conducted
since 2011 in association with our French friends have added 21 caves and 9.7 km to this list.

1 Sof Omar Bale Oromia 15,100 Various 1897-1972

2 Holqa Achere W Hararghe Oromia 3,830 Huddersfield Uni SS 1995-1996
3 Holqa Aynaga W Hararghe Oromia 3,308 Huddersfield Uni SS 1995-1996
4 Holqa Warabesa W Hararghe Oromia 3,108 Ethiopia 2011 & 2012 2011-2012
5 Nur Mohaned Bale Oromia 2,500 BSEE 1972
6 Holqa Oromo E Hararghe Oromia 1,500 Italian Expedition 2008-2009
7 Holqa Rukiessa W Hararghe Oromia 1,071 Club Alpino Italiano 2006
8 Holqa Bero W Hararghe Oromia 884 Ethiopia 2012 2012
9 Goma Sadaa Bale Oromia 489 SS Suisse 2004
10 Holqa Nanoo W Hararghe Oromia 457 Ethiopia 2012 2012
11 Holqa Danzuriyaa Oromia 450 SS Suisse 2004
12 Rako Barzala E Hararghe Oromia 437 Ethiopia 2011 2011
13 Holqa Chafe W Hararghe Oromia 414 Ethiopia 2013 2013
14 Enkuftu Kabanawa W Hararghe Oromia 405 Ethiopia 2012 2012
15 Holqa Dollys W Hararghe Oromia 374 Ethiopia 2012 2012
16 Holqa Ijafavitee W Hararghe Oromia 362 Ethiopia 2012 2012
17 Zavey Beati S Tigray Tigray 330 D Causer 1962
18 Enkuftu Abonyu S Tigray Tigray 306 Ethiopia 2013 2013
19 Melkay Mana Bale Oromia 294 BSEE 1972
19 Holqa Kiya E Hararghe Oromia 270 Ethiopia 2011 2011
20 Holqa Borthee W Hararghe Oromia 236 Ethiopia 2012 2012

Deep caves are even less well known with only 14 going below 50m and one which exceeds
100m. Our recent expeditions have added 9 caves to this list.

1 Enkuftu Mohu E Hararghe Oromia -192 W Morton 1976

2 Enkuftu Abonyu S Tigray Tigray -94 Ethiopia 2013 2013
3= Enkuftu Dideesa E Hararghe Oromia -80 W Morton 1976
3= Enkuftu Diblo W Hararghe Oromia -80 Oromia 2013 2013
5 Holqa Rukiessa W Hararghe Oromia -72 Club Alpino Italiano 2006
6 Holqa Warabesa W Hararghe Oromia -70 Ethiopia 2011 & 2012 2011-2012
7 Enkuftu Mitata E Hararghe Oromia -68 Ethiopia 2011 2011
8 Enkuftu Hade E Hararghe Oromia -66 W Morton 1976
9 Enkuftu Gusa 2 W Hararghe Oromia -65 Oromia 2013 2013
10 Tula Kuliwasa 1 E Hararghe Oromia -64 BSEE 1972
11 Enkuftu Wenday Darge E Hararghe Oromia -59 BSEE 1972
12 Enkuftu Kabanawa W Hararghe Oromia -54 Ethiopia 2012 2012
13 Holqa Haro W Hararghe Oromia -53 Ethiopia 2013 2013
14 Enkuftu Uttee E Hararghe Oromia -50 Ethiopia 2013 2013

21
 Oromia 2013

Specialist Equipment
In addition to our normal personal caving kit We had the use, therefore, of a Rae Systems
we had learned from 2011 and took a limited Qrae II Gas Monitor which performed
amount of specialist equipment. perfectly.

Dust Masks

As Robin had been hospitalized as the result

of the histoplasmosis problems experienced
in 2011 prevention of a recurrence was at
the very top of the list. With the benefit of
the advisory documentation produced in the
USA and after careful consideration of the
options and field trials in local caves we
decided to use disposable half face
respirators with inhalation valves and
selected respirators which complied with the
standards of EN149 of the class FFP3 (ie
filters at least 99% of airborne particles with
less than 2% inward leakage).

They fitted snugly and despite having

explored several caves with large bat
populations there was no repeat of previous Andy reading monitor in Warabesa (MT, 30/10/2013)
problems.

Gas Monitor Medical Equipment

Prior experience of team members and the
past experience of other expeditions told us
that low oxygen/high carbon dioxide levels
were a regular problem in Oromia and with
a major objective being to descend pitches
which had previously remained undescended
due to bad air we concluded that it was of
prime importance that we have a gas
monitor available.
We were fortunate that when we asked for
advice from our cave rescue team we were
offered the use of a monitor which was far
better than anything we would have
purchased. Their rationale was partly that it
gave the team the opportunity to have
members experienced in the use of the
equipment and partly (we hoped) that they
didn’t want to risk losing us.
We took a comprehensive medical kit,
including sterile needles & syringes, with
the addition of Amoxicillin & Ciprofloxacin
antibiotics, and Co Codamol pain killers,
together with a smaller first aid kit that was
taken into the caves.
Deet insect repellant & bite relief spray were
also taken, together with hand sanitizing
gels.
Fortunately few of these were needed,
Amoxicillin was dispensed to Nasir to help
his chest complaint, the deet & bite relief
were used to combat bed bugs!
Pitch Hauling Equipment
In case of unforeseen problems or mistakes
we ensured that we had available to us

22
 Oromia 2013

sufficient spare equipment to allow an Rope and Rope Protectors

unconscious caver to be hauled up a pitch if
necessary. For this we took a spare Petzl
stop, two pulleys, a jammer and some extra
karabiners, in order to be able to create an
emergency z-rig hauling system.
Bolting Equipment
We took a hand bolting spit kit and although
natural belay points were selected wherever
possible it was utilized underground on 3
occasions with single spits either backed up
onto the roped pitch above or onto natural
boulder belays.
We made space and saved weight by using
9mm rope. Being somewhat conservative we
selected the “fat” 9mm manufactured by
Courant. This proved to be exactly what we
needed – reassuringly thick but light and
wonderfully flexible. We supplemented the
rope with a supply of rope protectors. They
proved to be of use almost every time we
went underground and a fine investment.

Summary of Caves Discovered/Explored

Date Name Latitude Longitude Altitude Length Depth

31/10/2013 Holqa Warabesa 1 8o39.260 40o24.319 1630m 3,200m -70m
31/10/2013 Holqa Warabesa 2 8o39.264 40o24.326 1631m 25m

1 02/11/2013 Enkuftu Wene 8o39.296 40o31.705 1782m 51m -42m

2 03/11/2013 Enkuftu Mate 1 8o38.823 40o31.573 1742m 34m -6m
3 03/11/2013 Enkuftu Biyoo 1 8o38.718 40o30.994 1734m 63m -40m
4 03/11/2013 Enkuftu Biyoo 2 8o38.800 40o31.100 1742m 11m -6m
5 03/11/2013 Enkuftu Mate 3 8o38.638 40o31.281 1720m 55m -37m
6 04/11/2013 Enkuftu Ancher 1 8o36.217 40o34.154 1707m 30m -22m
7 04/11/2013 Enkuftu Ancher 2 8o35.902 40o34.276 1678m 35m -22m
8 04/11/2013 Enkuftu Hanchar 8o34.964 40o35.064 1421m 45m -18m
9 05/11/2013 Enkuftu Hafursa 8o37.297 40o29.789 1485m 71m -35m
10 06/11/2013 Enkuftu Diblo 8o38.561 40o32.689 1775m 90m -80m
11 07/11/2013 Enkuftu Gusa 1 8o42.443 40o31.596 1855m 56m -44m
12 07/11/2013 Enkuftu Gusa 2 8o42.436 40o31.550 1864m 78m -65m
13 08/11/2013 Holqa Ganda Alaa 1 8o45.043 40o35.313 1841m 161m -25m
14 08/11/2013 Enkuftu Ganda Alaa 2 8o45.042 40o35.277 1851m 27m -22m
15 09/11/2013 Enkuftu Kulubas 1 8o46.251 40o36.183 1935m 18m -18m
16 09/11/2013 Enkuftu Kulubas 2 8o46.115 40o36.044 1922m 30m -6m
17 09/11/2013 Enkuftu Goro 1 8o45.952 40o35.235 1870m 13m -13m
18 09/11/2013 Enkuftu Goro 2 8o45.947 40o35.228 1877m 6m -6m

Not explored Enkuftu Mate 2 8o38.646 40o31.127 1726m

23
 Oromia 2013

Holqa Warabesa
Main entrance: Latitude 8o39.26 Longitude 40o24.319 Elevation 1630m
Side entrance: Latitude 8o39.264 Longitude 40o24.316 Elevation 1631m
Length c 3,200m (3,108m surveyed length) Depth 70m

Explored 31/10/2013 by Andy, Mark, Nasir & Robin

This was intended as a reconnaissance and contained a considerable amount of flood

photographic trip with a return planned for
the next day. After clearing the entrance of
the thorn bushes which had been left by the
local villagers to block it we entered the
cave and proceeded to the climb before the
first pitch.
After the first 100m the floor of the passage
was generally wet with large puddles in
places.
When it had been visited in April 2011 and
April 2012, both occasions at the end of the
dry season, the passage floor, although with
evidence of flood debris, had been dry and
dusty with only a hint of water at one
location. It was clear that this section of the
cave had taken a great flow of water in the
wet season recently ended. The passage
debris.
We proceeded as far as the 5m climb before
the first pitch and, with an already low 16%
oxygen reading, lowered the meter down.
The readings became progressively lower to
reach 10.9% oxygen - a dangerously low
level which caused us to abandon further
exploration.
This was a huge disappointment as Robin &
Nasir had passed the bottom of this climb in
2011 without difficulty and it had been
passed again by the French team in 2012.
We concluded that the air quality must
improve as the dry season progressed.

24
 Oromia 2013

Mark and Andy concentrated on photography as they left the cave

Andy inspecting a fossil bed in the main passage (MT Fossils (MT, 30/10/2013)
30/10/2013)

Andy in main passage (MT 30/10/2013) Andy in main passage (MT 30/10/2013)

Meanwhile, Robin and Nasir had gone on ahead to explore several side passages which had been
noted on the way in. Although none went far they were, in order of exploration, going back to the
entrance:

1. A hole in the floor about 50m short of the 5m climb was not explored as the oxygen level
was too low.
2. About 20m of passage at the foot of the climb down from the junction which led from the
main passage to the pitch. This may have been no more than the same passage at lower
level.
3. A small rift straight ahead as we returned to the crossroads bend continued for about 25m
before closing down.
4. A tight passage at head height on the sharp right hand bend near the entrance extended
for 17 of Robin’s body lengths – approximately 30m. This passage contained porcupine
quills and moth wings.
5. A passage to the right just inside the entrance did, as expected, connect to the small
entrance nearby. This was a crawl of about 15m to a bedding chamber 5m across with a
passage at the far end leading another 5m to the second entrance.

25
 Oromia 2013

Caves explored in the Hunde Dhaba area

26
 Oromia 2013

Enkuftu Wene
The cave is named for the doves which nest
near the top of the entrance shaft.

The entrance is in the middle of trees at the

base of a circular doline in farmland.

After obtaining a safe reading from the

oxygen meter Mark descended a 40m rope
belayed to an overhanging tree branch,
returning when he realised that the rope
didn’t reach the bottom of the shaft and
there was no suitable rebelay point. The
surface rigging was reorganised to allow the
Mark bolting 2nd pitch (RW, 02/11/2013)
traverse line to reach the rebelay point about
5m lower and Robin descended the free
hang to reach a flat earth floor.
Although this looked good the pitch was
blind – the floor being blocked by boulders
The way on was along a small passage
with a high aven above.
which led after about 10m of slight descent
to a second pitch.
Flood debris was seen jammed in the sides
of the aven at a height of 10m.
Mark came down with more rope and the
bolting kit and we rigged the pitch with a
single spit in the right hand wall and a
natural back up.

27
 Oromia 2013

Enkuftu Mate 1

The entrance is a single pitch from the

surface to a crescent shaped chamber with
several apparent ways on around boulders,
but all proved to be silted up.

At the eastern end of the chamber a second

entrance pitch was seen which leads up into
dense undergrowth.

The only feature of interest was a nest of

chicks in a small niche in the wall.

Robin on entrance pitch (MT, 03/11/2013)

28
 Oromia 2013

Enkuftu Mate 3

The cave starts with a 5 – 8 m diameter open
shaft; with a 10m free hang from an
overhanging tree branch. The base of the
pitch, still in daylight, lands on a sloping
boulder floor.
A clamber down over large boulders leads to
an awkward 15 m sloping pitch in a rift
which was descended using a rope belayed
around a large chocked boulder.
At the base of the pitch lands a short
descending passage leads to the top of a
circular chamber, up to about 14m diameter,
rock floored at the top but sloping down to
silt & guano banks at the bottom, which
block all possible ways on.

Andy rigging the entrance (MT 03/11/2013)

29
 Oromia 2013

Enkuftu Biyoo 2

The cave had been used as a rubbish tip by
local villagers and, as Andy & Robin were
sorting tackle for a potential rope descent,
Nasir appeared below, having found a free
climbing route into the cave through the
middle of a banana tree.
After a scramble down over boulders we
found it to be more of a rock shelter than a
cave. On reaching the only flat area it could
clearly be seen that the cave was going
nowhere.

30
 Oromia 2013
Enkuftu Biyoo 1
An impressive large rectangular open shaft
was descended by a hand line down a 3m
climb to the gulley floor.
An easy descent in daylight over large
boulders led to a 7m pitch under a large
overhanging block to land in a large flat
floored high chamber choked in one
direction with large blocks after 10m.
Nasir on first pitch (MT 03/11/2013)
31
The cave continues as a low crawl directly
beneath the first pitch, to enter a small 4m
long chamber blocked by calcite formations.
In the middle of the chamber a hole through
loose blocks was enlarged sufficiently to
enter the top of a fine free hanging 18m
pitch, opening out into the ceiling of a 13m
diameter well decorated chamber. To
descend, the rope was belayed to a spit
placed in the wall above the top of the pitch.
The boulder & silt floor of the chamber
slopes to the top of a 5m deep circular shaft
which was not descended due to lack of
rope, shortness of breath & the oxygen
meter being out of battery. The shaft appears
to be blocked with large rocks, with a
possible way on through a narrow squeeze.
Tree roots extended down to the base of the
18m pitch, & the chamber contained many
bats, some seen flying up & down the shaft.
 Oromia 2013

Enkuftu Ancher 1
The entrance is in an open rift in an area of
limestone pavement initially blocked and
covered with brushwood by villagers. The
rope was belayed to a tree and protected
over the smooth rock edge of the shaft.
The rift ascends gently to the north east to
reach a boulder blockage.
A steeper descent in the opposite direction
leads around a corner over boulders to a
narrow rift with a flat floor covered in bat
guano. This appears not to continue but it
could not be fully explored due to a strong
smell of ammonia smell and an oxygen
reading of only 13.9%.

Andy prepares to descend (MT 04/11/2013)

An 11m free hang in a 2m wide rift lands on

a brushwood covered floor with the remains
of a broken wooden ladder, apparently used Nasir leaving the cave (RW 04/11/2013)
for animal rescue.

32
 Oromia 2013

Enkuftu Ancher 2
A narrow 15m entrance rift with well
decorated walls was descended to reach the
floor. To the right the passage ascends past a
formation and after 5m turns sharply right
being blocked by boulders after a further
5m.

To the left a loose rubble slope descends

steeply but after about 10m the oxygen
reading had dropped from 19.6% at the
landing point to 16.7%.

Although the cave appears to continue there Formations with bat (RW 04/11/2013)
was no way to make progress without
bolting a risky traverse.

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 Oromia 2013
Enkuftu Hanchar
The cave has a large 7m high entrance in a
cliff face, with two higher shaft entrances
from the hillside above.
The entrances to Enkuftu Hanchar (RW 04/11/2013)
34
A free hanging 9m descent was made from
the lower of these two upper entrances with
the rope belayed to an overhanging tree
backed up to an adjacent tree.
The 2m diameter hole leads into the roof of
a large oval daylight lit chamber with a
dusty covered with bird and bat guano. This
gently slopes down towards the large open
entrance overlooking the valley.
Two narrow rifts at the top end of the
chamber which contain a large bat
population become too narrow after 5m.
During our exploration local boys found a
way down the cliff and into the cave through
the lower entrance!
 Oromia 2013

Enkuftu Hafursa

Enkuftu Hafursa entrance (MT 05/11/2013)

The entrance was blowing a strong and very

warm draught. The oxygen reading outside
the cave and in the draught was 18.9%.

After a short climb into the entrance the

cave descends steeply for about 16m
through a series of short and awkward
climbs to the top of a rift.
This part of the cave shows evidence of
some excavation with some boulders moved
aside and occasional steps cut, presumably
made by local visitors or by Nasir the
previous year
To the right an upward sloping passage
quickly closes down while to the left an
impressive main route continues for about
45m to a pitch with 2 short climbs up and
over boulder piles. This main passage
contains many calcite formations with fine
curtains and stalagmites, some however
have been damaged or broken off by
previous visitors.
The rift passage finally narrows to 1 or 2m
with an awkward earthy loose slope leading
to the head of a pitch about 15m deep and
descending into an unsurveyed lower rift
passage.
Curtains in the main rift (MT 05/11/2013)
This was rigged with a rope, however due to
lack of natural belays the rope had to be
secured some way back, around a boulder.
For much of the pitch this resulted in the
rope having an awkward lay against a
muddy slope at 80o, so much so that it
proved to be very difficult to come up, with
ascenders slipping and choked with mud.
The passage at the bottom remains
unsurveyed but comprises a rift chamber
which probably doubles back beneath the
main rift passage. This chamber is about
20m long and 4m wide and pretty well filled
with formations. There was no obvious exit
from this chamber.
It is unclear what happens to the strong draft
which was observed at the entrance.

35
 Oromia 2013

Formations in terminal chamber (RW 05/11/2013) Formations in terminal chamber (RW 05/11/2013)

36
 Oromia 2013

Enkuftu Diblo
This cave entrance was covered in
vegetation & located in a small doline about
400m from the road and surrounded by
coffee fields. This cave proved to be the
deepest explored during the expedition (-
80m) and comprised a sporting steeply
descending route with 6 fine pitches.
A flat floor at the base of the entrance shaft
leads after 5m to the head of a 2nd pitch
where a rope belay around a boulder was
used. This is a smooth water washed shaft
landing on a small ledge after 37m.

Clearing the Diblo entrance (RW, 06/11/2013)

With the vegetation cleared a rope belay

from a tree leads down a rocky slope to the
head of a 19m deep circular fluted shaft,
Nasir at second pitch head (MT, 06/11/2013)
with walls covered with calcite flowstone
some of which appears old and partly
Two further pitches of 4m and 6m follow
eroded.
with larger ledges leading to the head of the
final pitch.

In the absence of natural belay points the

rope was belayed to a spit placed in the
floor.

With just enough rope to reach the bottom a

6m free hang landed at the top of a boulder
slope, leading down to a small final chamber
with the way on blocked with silt & flood
debris.

Entrance Shaft, Enkuftu Diblo (MT, 06/11/2013)

37
Oromia 2013

38
 Oromia 2013

Caves explored in the Lelisa area

39
 Oromia 2013

Enkuftu Gusa 1

The cave has an impressive 44m deep

daylight shaft around 3m wide at the top and
belling out to 5m or so half way down and
with some unusable ledges part way down.
At the base it is completely blocked with
earth, but with a narrow rift passage leading
back in an upward direction to the SE.

Although we were told that this shaft had

been used to dispose of bodies during the
1990s civil war we saw no supporting
Mark entering Enkuftu Gusa 1 (AC, 07/11/2013)
evidence apart from a leather boot and a
mostly buried plastic sack at the base of the
The entrance is in the middle of a large
shaft.
shallow doline and surrounded by trees &
vegetation. To allow exploration, the
entrance was cleared by machete.

40
 Oromia 2013
Enkuftu Gusa 2
The entrance gully (MT, 07/11/2013)
A large vegetation covered rock gulley was
cleared to allow a scramble down a small rift
which led to a daylight chamber with a floor
of large boulders.
Nasir & Robin at the entrance pitch (MT, 07/11/2013)
The rope is belayed around a large boulder
to descend the 12m entrance pitch which,
broken by jutting boulders, requires care to
be taken to avoid rope damage. A 4m
horizontal section leads to the head of the
41
34m deep 2nd pitch, a water worn slot in a
high canyon passage.
Andy at the second pitch (RW, 07/11/2013)
To descend this pitch the rope was belayed
around a large block back from the pitch
head to a ledge 24m down. After a further
10m this lands in an impressive chamber, up
to 7m wide and 15m long.
The 3rd and final pitch leads off through a
gap in chocked boulders with a rope belayed
around a large boulder in the centre of the
chamber.
Andy at the third pitch (RW, 07/11/2013)
This 17m pitch lands on the silt floor of a
6m diameter chamber with all ways on
blocked by silt & flood debris. A small hole
 Oromia 2013

in the LH back wall of the chamber provides

a route for flood water to drain away.

An unexpected hazard was that the floors of

the chambers and ledges in the cave were
covered in used medical syringes with
covered needles, clinical waste from the
nearby health centre.

42
 Oromia 2013

Caves explored in the Wene Gudo area

43
 Oromia 2013
Holqa Ganda Alaa 1
The entrance chamber (MT, 08/11/2013)
The entrance is located at the North end of a
large shallow doline in chat fields amongst
trees & smaller vegetation.
From a dry stone wall a large daylight gulley
dropped down towards a high cave entrance
over boulders & jungle like vegetation. A
loud sound of flying bats could be heard as
the entrance was approached. The cave
contained a very large bat roost with
nurseries in the ceiling. The floor was
covered in bat guano, some of it fresh &
yellow.
The bat roost (MT, 08/11/2013)
At the far lower end of the entrance chamber
there is a 2m deep circular pot which was
descended by electron ladder.
There was evidence that local people had
descended the pot by using a tree branch.
44
Andy climbing ladder (RW, 08/11/2013)
A crawling passage over silt leads past a
small passage on the left to a 3m high
rectangular chamber with speckled rock &
many crickets on the walls. The passage
continues and turns to the right to a passage
with speckled walls which turns again into a
wet crawl past a stal barrier to a higher
passage with thigh deep pools where a large
spider was seen on the wall.
Andy in the speckled passage (RW, 08/11/2013)
The passage widens to end in a 4m pitch
down to a chamber with a pool at the
bottom, from which a low passage led off
over silt banks to waist deep water with a
lowering roof. With bubbles rising from the
disturbed silt the exploration ended with the
oxygen level at 16.5%.
 Oromia 2013

Back near the entrance the passage to the

left leads to a gently descending crawl
through rocks to a bedding plane and after
10m a 7m pitch in the right hand floor of the
passage descends to a small chamber. A wet
slot in the floor is the top of a 5m pitch into
a further small chamber with a pool in the
floor.

From here a crawl leads down to a sharp

right hand turn into a low, water filled
passage that appeared to be blocked by silt
after 8m.

At the top of the 7m pitch the bedding plane

passage continues to a climb up over
boulders to a T junction, to the right an
ascending boulder slope ended in a choke
that appeared to be close to the surface, with Robin & Andy after leaving the cave (MT, 08/11/2013)
many bats. The survey data confirms a
location 7m immediately beneath the The entire lower part of this cave is
entrance. To the left the passage ends in a extremely muddy with copious amounts of
small calcite blocked chamber. bat guano and stagnant water giving rise to
very smelly and unpleasant conditions.

45
 Oromia 2013

Holqa Ganda Alaa 2

A wide, open shaft containing large boulders

descends steeply to a boulder choke

During exploration a large owl, resembling a

barn owl, was in residence and when
disturbed retreated down into the lower part
of the cave.

The cave contains one inlet passage in the

NE wall 6m above the floor. However this is
inaccessible without a maypole or similar.
From the passage size and direction it is
likely to link into the lower SE end of Ganda
Alaa 1.
Mark at entrance (RW, 08/11/2013)

This cave entrance is situated 70 m South of

Ganda Alaa 1 in the same doline.

46
 Oromia 2013

Enkuftu Goro 1
The entrance to this cave forms a tree lined
entrance shaft up to 6 m diameter, situated
on the side of a large doline in chat fields.

A 13m descent from an overhanging tree

leads to an earth floor, with all possible
ways on blocked with silt.

Many syringes with needles were found on

the floor.

Andy approaching pitch head (MT, 09/11/2013)

Enkuftu Goro 2
This comprises a small vertical shaft the same doline as Goro 1. It is blocked after
surrounded by trees & scrub in the bottom of 6m with mud & sticks.

47
 Oromia 2013
Enkuftu Kulubas 1
Andy preparing to descend (MT, 09/11/2013)
Enkuftu Kulubas 2
This cave comprises three entrances in a
limestone pavement connected by a narrow
rift.
Andy sorts the tackle (MT, 08/11/2013)
A 5m entrance shaft descends to a boulder
floor with the passage going both ways. To
the left SE direction the rift is narrow and
ends after about 5m in a small chamber. To
48
The entrance is located in an area of
limestone pavement surrounded by large
rock pinnacles.
It had been covered with brush wood and
was cleared for our exploration.
A 2m diameter shaft with many small ledges
descends 18m to a sloping floor probably
blocked with silt.
The oxygen reading at the base was 12.5%.
the right after a small squeeze, the rift opens
out to 2 1/2m with a second entrance above.
Then, after a total distance of about 18m
there is a third entrance. During the
exploration Mark was met by several excited
local boys who had free climbed in through
the 3rd entrance and who were able to make
a through trip using the rope on the first
entrance as a hand line.
Mark supervises a young caver (AC, 08/11/2013)
Oromia 2013

49
 Oromia 2013

Financial Matters
By European standards day to day living in Ethiopia is inexpensive. Diesel costs 62 pence a litre,
local beer 30p a bottle. A room in a normal country hotel costs about £1 a night. Our evening
meals, including a soft drink, cost about £1.50 per head, a cup of coffee 20 pence, breakfast with
2 cups of coffee about £1.

Our overall expenditure was:

Travel to Ethiopia 1,591

Travel within Ethiopia 791
Insurance 253
Medical 476
Visas 38
Food and accommodation 272
Guides, guards and porters 283
Group equipment 1,943
Personal equipment 1,200
Training 151

Total £6,998

This was financed by:

Grant from the Welsh Sports Association 1,950

Sponsorship – loan of equipment 850
Personal contributions – provision of equipment 1,880
Personal financial contributions 2,318

Total £6,998

50
 Oromia 2013

The Caving Team

Robin Weare

Mark Tringham

Nasir Ahmed

Andy Clark

51
 Oromia 2013

The support team

Abas (the cameraman)

Tegegn (the driver)

Other helpers

AC, 04/11/2013

AC, 04/11/2013 MT, 03/11/2013

RW, 08/11/2013

AC, 09/11/2013

AC, 09/11/2013
MT, 05/11/2013

52
 Oromia 2013

The Countryside

MT, 05/11/2013

AC, 01/11/2013

MT, 01/11/2013

RW, 02/11/2013

MT, 03/11/2013
AC, 01/11/2013

53
 Oromia 2013

Maps

Ethiopia

54
 Oromia 2013

Region visited by the expedition

A satellite view of the area explored by the expedition relative to the route from Addis
Ababa and the main tarmac road.

55
 Oromia 2013

Rift Valley

The area explored by the expedition relative to the Great Rift valley.

56
 Oromia 2013

Relief view of expedition caving area

A satellite view of the routes taken during the expedition, either by 4WD vehicle or on foot.

57
 Oromia 2013

Overview of expedition caving area

An overview of the routes used during the expedition, either by 4WD vehicle or on foot.

58
 Oromia 2013

Warabesa area

This satellite view shows the route travelled along all weather road at the north to the
junction with the track to the Warabesa area, the parking place in the village and the route
followed to the cave.

59
 Oromia 2013

The Hunde Dhaba area

The satellite view of the walking routes along the ridges which lead from Hunde Dhaba to
Hafursa and Hanchar.

60
 Oromia 2013

The Hunde Dhaba area (2)

A closer satellite view of the areas near to Hunde Dhaba showing the Mate, Biyoo, Wene &
Diblo caves.

61
 Oromia 2013

The Hunde Dhaba area (3)

A satellite view of the area of the Biyoo and Mate caves in closer detail. Including the
nearest village at the top right of the map.

62
 Oromia 2013

The area around the Hafursa ridge

A satellite view of the route taken to walk to Hafursa, passing the Biyoo and Mate caves,
with the steep sided river valley surrounding the ridge.

63
 Oromia 2013

Hunde Dhaba and Diblo

A satellite view of Hunde Dhaba showing the route from the centre of the township to the
town meeting place and the location of Enkuftu Diblo.

64
 Oromia 2013

The Ancher ridge

A satellite view of the ridge, and the walking route past the two Ancher caves to Enkuftu
Hanchar, showing the steep sided river valleys surrounding the ridge.

65
 Oromia 2013

The Lelisa area

A satellite view of the township of Lelisa showing the location of the Gusa caves.

66
 Oromia 2013

The Lelisa area (2)

A closer satellite view of Lelisa showing the walking route between the health centre and
Enkuftu Gusa 1.

67
 Oromia 2013

The Lelisa area (3)

A satellite view of the Lelisa plateau showing unexplored dolines and their relationship to
the Gusa caves.

68
 Oromia 2013

Dolines near Lelisa

A closer satellite view of the area around unexplored Dolines 3 and 4.

69
 Oromia 2013

Dolines near Lelisa (2)

A closer satellite view of the area around unexplored Doline 1

70
 Oromia 2013

The Wene Gudo area

A satellite view of the township of Wene Gudo and the local caves.

71
 Oromia 2013

The Wene Gudo area (2)

This satellite view shows the Wene Gudo area and caves in relation to Gelemso. The road
ends at Wene Gudo.

72
 Oromia 2013

The Wene Gudo area (3)

A closer satellite view of the caves in the Wene Gudo area showing their location relative to
the township of Wene Gudo.

73
 Oromia 2013

The Ganda Alaa caves

The walking route to the Ganda Alaa caves

74
 Oromia 2013

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[2] Causer, D. (1962), A cave in Ethiopia; Wessex Cave Club Journal, 7,p.86

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[20] Bachechi, L ; Notizie preliminari sulla campagna di scavo 2002 svolta nel deposito del riparo di
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[29] Caves of Mechara: The Millennium Expedition to Ethiopia by John Gunn, Andy Baker & Asfawossen
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[30] Environmental Monitoring in the Mechara caves, southeastern Ethiopia: Implication for speleothem
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45-96.

[32] Tringham M; Ethiopia: Histoplasmosis strikes expedition; Descent 221 p 18

[33} Tringham M; Short but Sweet (the 2011 expedition to Ethiopia); Descent 222 pp 30-32

[34] JC Lalou; Sof Omar ; Stalactite n°1-2011, pp. 21-37

[35] J.J. Bolanz; Explorations 2004 en Ethiopie; Stalactite n°1-2011, pp.38-42

[36] B. et J. Lips; Ethiopie 2012: Rapport d’expédition 22/04 au 02/05/2012; Echo des Vulcains n°70

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