Cavechat.org

by **Cheryl Jones** » Jan 8, 2007 10:21 pm

Cango Caves tourists trapped in darkness
Mail & Guardian Online reporter and Sapa | Johannesburg, South Africa
08 January 2007 07:12

Four tourists were trapped for about two hours in darkness inside the Cango Caves near Oudtshoorn in the Western Cape, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) reported on Sunday. :panic:

The four were separated from their group and were told by their guide to follow the lights to the exit, a Cape Town resident told the SABC.

When the cave lights went out, the group was unable to find its way out.

A Cape Town woman was able to call the police using her cellphone. They were rescued by cave staff about an hour-and-a-half after the phone call.

Southern Cape police and Cango Caves management were not immediately available for comment.

On New Year's Day, rescuers battled for 10 hours to free an overweight woman who became stuck in a narrow passage in the caves.

The extensive Cango Caves are among South Africa's most popular tourist attractions, known for its spectacular limestone formations. About a quarter of the 4km cave network, which was discovered in 1780, is open to guided tours.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?ar ... eid=295092

by **batrotter** » Jan 9, 2007 7:09 am

Wow, cell phones work underground? Who'd a thunk it?

by **Squirrel Girl** » Jan 9, 2007 8:29 am

batrotter wrote:Wow, cell phones work underground? Who'd a thunk it?

Yeah! That's what I thought. I guess it meant she was *really* close to the entrance. Which means they probably didn't really need a rescue.
:doh:

by **Teresa** » Jan 9, 2007 8:55 am

Or she could have hit a repeater if the cave had set up underground repeaters, like they do do for their guide radios. After all, a cell phone is just a radio.

by **monicak** » Jan 9, 2007 10:01 am

http://www.cangocaves.co.za/ is worth a look.

by **Squirrel Girl** » Jan 9, 2007 10:10 am

Teresa wrote:Or she could have hit a repeater if the cave had set up underground repeaters, like they do do for their guide radios. After all, a cell phone is just a radio.

Well, it's not that they *couldn't* be made to work underground... The metro stations in DC have Verizon service.

But how many caves do you know that have cell phone service? And why would they?

It's a big enough issue as to whether folks *have* to be able to use their cell phones in Jellystone National Park.

by **GypsumWolf** » Jan 10, 2007 8:23 pm

I prefer to bring my cell phone into caves because If you get stuck in a cave that has a gate (Like I was) then it would be nice to have a cell to call people. Yes I have used the phone in the entrance of the cave and it does work just fine. I was just out of luck because the time we got stuck the key would not go into the lock far enough (inside of lock was to muddy) and that was the trip I decided to leave my cell out of the cave. oops!

by **George Dasher** » Jan 11, 2007 10:59 am

Several of us did a tour of West Virginia's karst areas in Dec 06 to measure some spring flows.

My cell phone spent the entire day looking for a transmitter. I never did get a connection, and I couldn't even use it to tell time.

by **Squirrel Girl** » Jan 11, 2007 11:13 am

George Dasher wrote:Several of us did a tour of West Virginia's karst areas in Dec 06 to measure some spring flows.

My cell phone spent the entire day looking for a transmitter. I never did get a connection, and I couldn't even use it to tell time.

And your point is??????? You are talking about West Virginia, afterall.

:doh:

(Though I have to say that after that OTR where I got gas in Elkins and that woman, smoking a cig at the gas pump with no front teeth, it did make me think, "My god! What they say about West Virginia is *true*!!!)

by **Jep** » Jan 11, 2007 12:42 pm

Come on. I know you two know about the Radio Quite Zone in Pendleton County. You must. It's huge. It is bounded by 39-15-00 to the north, 078-30-00 to the east, 080-30-00 to the west and 37-30-00 to the south. That's most or all of the karst in Grant, Hardy, Pendleton, Randolph, Tucker, Pocahontas and Greenbrier Counties as well as part of Monroe Co. WV and Shenendoah, Rockingham, Highland, Bath, Allegheny Rockbridge and Augusta Countes VA.

Think of it as being as far east as Charlottesville VA, as far north as Clarksburg WV, as far south as Union WV.

NRAO is National Radio Astronomy Observatory. Heck they even hunt down little old ladies with spurious electric blankets to eliminate the RF interference. Due to the mountainous terrain, cell towers are allowed on edges of the zone, providing there is sufficient terrain between the tower and the observatory to protect the observatory. That's why you have coverage along the I-81 corridor.

Here's a site with some cool pictures that they have done. http://www.nrao.edu/imagegallery/php/level1.php

Also, there is more than one observatory associated with NRAO. Take the tour if you ever get a chance.

No wonder, as a radio communications consultant, I moved to Greenbrier County. No cell phones, no beepers, no TV, no RF. Just good clean living and caving. Jep.

by **Squirrel Girl** » Jan 11, 2007 12:45 pm

OK, OK.

But it's more fun to make fun of West Virginia!

:kiss:

by **Ron Fulcher** » Jan 14, 2007 8:55 pm

She did better on the IQ test than you!

The cigarette is not hot enough to ignite the gas fumes, the danger would be if she was lighting it while pumping the gas then ignition would be possible.

by **Squirrel Girl** » Jan 14, 2007 9:08 pm

Ron Fulcher wrote:She did better on the IQ test than you!

The cigarette is not hot enough to ignite the gas fumes, the danger would be if she was lighting it while pumping the gas then ignition would be possible.

It was more the lung cancer thing than the explosion thing, or maybe the whole cigarette thing I was referring to. The cigarette by itself would have been non-noticeable. But, put it next to the missing teeth, and suddenly it just sort of added to the effect.
:nuts: