Gcwihaba

{{Short description|Cave in Botswana}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

Gcwihaba{{Pronunciation-needed}} is a cave in Botswana located in Okavango Delta region.{{cite web |title=Gcwihaba (Drotsky’s) Cave |url=https://www.lonelyplanet.com/botswana/northwestern-botswana/attractions/gcwihaba-drotsky-s-cave/a/poi-sig/1340543/1328982 |website=Botswana Attractions |publisher=Lonely Planet |access-date=19 May 2021 |language=en}} The Gcwihaba Caves were part of the Kalahari landscape around 2 million years ago, at least for the entire period of the Pleistocene. The name of the cave is a San word and stands for "hyena's lair". The cave is situated 10 km away from the Namibian border.{{cite journal |last1=Mbaiwa |first1=J. E. |last2=Sakuze |first2=Lolly K. |title=Cultural tourism and livelihood diversification: The case of Gcwihaba Caves and XaiXai village in the Okavango Delta, Botswana |journal=Journal of Tourism and Cultural Change |date=March 2009 |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=61–75 |doi=10.1080/14766820902829551}} In 1932 it was first shown to a European, Ghanzi region farmer Martinus Drotsky, and the main cavern was named Drotsky's cavern after him.{{cite web|title=Gcwihaba caves|url=http://www.botswanatourism.co.bw/destination/gcwihaba-caves-and-aha-hills|website=Botswana Tourism|access-date=31 January 2023|archive-date=1 July 2017|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170701040455/http://www.botswanatourism.co.bw/destination/gcwihaba-caves-and-aha-hills}}

Gwchihaba is a Botswana National Monument under the Monuments, Relics and Antiquities Act, and has been put forward to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999.{{Cite web|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5558/|title=Gcwihaba Caves|website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre|language=en|access-date=19 May 2021}}{{Cite book|title=Sustainable Livelihoods in Kalahari Environments: A Contribution to Global Debates|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2002|isbn=9780198234197|editor-last=Sporton|editor-first=Deborah|pages=180}} It is the type locality of the mineral gwihabaite (IMA1994-011).{{cite web | url=https://www.mindat.org/min-6983.html| website= Mindat|title=Gwihabaite|access-date=15 June 2017}}

Even though nothing was found in the first 50 cm of cave during the excavations to affirm that the cave was settled as a camp, 51 stone artefacts (33 of them made from travertine)  were released in the upper  50 cm of the cave. 50–80 cm of the cave is called The Terminal Pleistocene charcoal layer. More cultural relics were observed in this layer. Bones of African bullfrogs and pieces of ostrich eggshell were among the findings.{{Cite journal|date=1996|title=Paleoenvironment and Archaeology of Drotsky's Cave: Western Kalahari Desert, Botswana|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/234046389|journal=Journal of Archaeological Science|doi=10.1006/jasc.1996.0002 |last1=Robbins|first1=L.H.|last2=Murphy|first2=M.L.|last3=Stevens|first3=N.J.|last4=Brook|first4=G.A.|last5=Ivester|first5=A.H.|last6=Haberyan|first6=K.A.|last7=Klein|first7=R.G.|last8=Milo|first8=R.|last9=Stewart|first9=K.M.|last10=Matthiesen|first10=D.G.|last11=Winkler|first11=A.J.|volume=23|pages=7–22}}

File:Commerson’s Leaf-nosed Bat, Tsimamampetsotsa, Madagascar.jpg

Due to the isolated nature of these caves, a special flora and fauna has developed. Some Aloe species and the Namaqua fig tree are only unique to these caves' surroundings. The roots of these fig trees are attracted to humid cave space and they have grown to create beautiful curtains inside the caves. The Namaqwa fig tree in its turn is home of Rueppell's parrot which is also restricted to this area of Botswana. The area has quite a variety of bird species and also big mammals such as elephant, but perhaps scientifically more important biodeversity-wise is the invertebrate fauna surrounding as well as inside the caves. The caves are also home to large colonies of Commerson's leaf-nosed bats (which have a wingspan of up to 60 cm) and common slit-faced bats ( distinguished by their long ears).{{Cite book|last=Brook|first=Michael C.|title=Botswana Monuments, Heritage sites and Museums|publisher=Kwena Pools|year=2017|isbn=9789996805660|location=Gaborone, Botswana|pages=40–41}}

File:Common Slit-faced Bat (Nycteris thebaica) (7027172215).jpg

This tourism site was officially opened by the former President of Botswana, Lt Gen. Dr. Seretse Khama Ian Khama, on 18 December 2014 and the facilities include the gatehouse, ablutions, boreholes, campsite and an airstrip.