Namibia Cave
Drachenhauchloch
84 m below the entrance.
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data), CC BY 4.0, with relief shading from Copernicus WorldDEM-30
The descent
84 metres down, to scale.
The real relief above Drachenhauchloch, measured on the Copernicus model every 30 m, and the cave going down at the same vertical scale.
Tower of Pisa (56 m) would fit upside down 1.5 times.
The depth is the one published by those who explored it; the shape of the galleries is a sketch, not a survey.
84m
Depth
published (Wikidata)
1,540m
Entrance altitude
published (Wikidata)
21°C
Inside, all year
the yearly average outside, at the entrance
43m
Rock above
the highest point within 1.5 km
Inside and outside
21 °C inside, all year.
Deep inside, a cave keeps the average temperature of the year outside: about 21 °C here, in January and in August. In October the afternoon reaches 34 °C at the entrance, 13 °C warmer than inside: take a jacket. The best months to escape the heat are from August to April. The wettest months are from November to March: water rises fast underground, so never go in without a guide after heavy rain.
- 31°18°Jan
- 30°17°Feb
- 29°16°Mar
- 28°14°Apr
- 26°10°May
- 24°7°Jun
- 24°6°Jul
- 27°9°Aug
- 32°13°Sep
- 34°17°Oct
- 33°18°Nov
- 32°18°Dec
Outside: afternoon and night averages for 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) brought to the altitude of the entrance. Inside: the yearly average, which deep parts of a cave keep. Near the entrance it follows the weather a little.
Deep cave in Namibia, containing perhaps the world's largest non-subglacial lake.
Drachenhauchloch is a cave in Namibia. It goes down 84 m below the entrance. The entrance is at 1,540 m. It has an underground lake.
Getting there.
- No public accessProtected for science or for its art. Look for a replica or a visitor centre nearby.
- Ondangwa Airport (OND)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 262 km in a straight lineCar hire at OND airport (Ondangwa)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
Plan the visit
Guided tours, a bed nearby, a car.
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
From above.
The ground above the cave, with the relief shaded, the line of the section and what people have mapped around the entrance.
N
1.5 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6.0 × 6.0 km, north up. The line is the section above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the entrance.
- 2other cave entrances within 3 kmGhaub Cave, Dragon's Breath Cave
- 1campsites within 8 kmGhaub Campsite
- 1hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmGhaub Lodge
- springs within 2 km
- sinkholes within 3 km
- caving clubs and spots within 15 km
- viewpoints within 3 km
- marked hiking routes within 3 km
- climbing crags within 3 km
- named waterfalls within 4 km
- car parks within 2 km
- information boards and visitor centres within 3 km
- bus stops within 2 km
- restaurants and cafés within 3 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, around the entrance. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Month by month
The weather outside, at the entrance.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon | 31 | 30 | 29 | 28 | 26 | 24 | 24 | 27 | 32 | 34 | 33 | 32 |
| Afternoon | 31 | 30 | 29 | 28 | 26 | 24 | 24 | 27 | 32 | 34 | 33 | 32 |
| Night | 18 | 17 | 16 | 14 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 13 | 17 | 18 | 18 |
| Rain (mm) | 125 | 101 | 79 | 31 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 26 | 66 | 87 |
| Rainy days | 17 | 16 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 14 |
| Sun hours/day | 8.6 | 8.2 | 8.0 | 9.0 | 10.5 | 10.6 | 10.7 | 10.8 | 10.9 | 10.2 | 9.4 | 9.3 |
| Afternoon | Afternoon | Night | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 31 | 31 | 18 | 125 | 8.6 |
| Feb | 30 | 30 | 17 | 101 | 8.2 |
| Mar | 29 | 29 | 16 | 79 | 8.0 |
| Apr | 28 | 28 | 14 | 31 | 9.0 |
| May | 26 | 26 | 10 | 3 | 10.5 |
| Jun | 24 | 24 | 7 | 0 | 10.6 |
| Jul | 24 | 24 | 6 | 0 | 10.7 |
| Aug | 27 | 27 | 9 | 0 | 10.8 |
| Sep | 32 | 32 | 13 | 2 | 10.9 |
| Oct | 34 | 34 | 17 | 26 | 10.2 |
| Nov | 33 | 33 | 18 | 66 | 9.4 |
| Dec | 32 | 32 | 18 | 87 | 9.3 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the altitude of the entrance (1,540 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.
Recent years
Wet years, dry years.
Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A dry year means a lower river and hotter rock; a wet one, more water in the gorge.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 43% | 90% | 54% | 45% | — | — | — | — | — | 23% | 17% | 46% |
| 2021 | 182% | 107% | 156% | 4% | — | — | — | — | — | 107% | 9% | 21% |
| 2022 | 101% | 124% | 167% | 251% | — | — | — | — | — | 186% | 19% | 41% |
| 2023 | 92% | 56% | 50% | 92% | — | — | — | — | — | 2% | 17% | 62% |
| 2024 | 119% | 47% | 62% | 31% | — | — | — | — | — | 1% | 30% | 84% |
| 2025 | 73% | 207% | 126% | 289% | — | — | — | — | — | 40% | 106% | 159% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Caves nearby.
Drachenhauchloch
Namibia
- 84 mDepth
- —Galleries
- 1,540 mEntrance altitude
- 21 °CInside, all year
Bushman Paradise Cave
Namibia · 342 km
- —Depth
- —Galleries
- 1,032 mEntrance altitude
- 23 °CInside, all year
The White Lady
Namibia · 373 km
- —Depth
- —Galleries
- 625 mEntrance altitude
- 23 °CInside, all year
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length, visitors | Wikidata (Q1254270) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| The relief above, the entrance altitude, the section and the 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Climate | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 |
| Entrances, springs, sinkholes, opening hours and what is around | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
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