Dragon's Breath Cave

Namibia

Dragon's Breath Cave is a flooded karst cave located in the Otjozondjupa Region of Namibia on private land, not accessible to the general public. The cave was discovered by Roger Ellis during a caving expedition to the area in 1986. It is named for the warm, moist air that rises from its entrance wh

en barometric pressure drops, which condenses to form a mist suggestive of the breath of a dragon. The cave contains the world's largest known non-subglacial underground lake, with an area of almost 2 hectares (4.9 acres). The water surface of the lake is around 60 metres (200 ft) below the land surface at the cave mouth. Its total depth is 205 metres (673 ft). Although it has been reported that the rare fish species Clarias cavernicola lives in the lake in the Dragon's Breath Cave, this is an error. It is only known from the nearby Aigamas Cave. Martyn Farr records in his book The Darkness Beckons the exploration of the cave by a team of divers and cavers led by Roger Ellis and Charles Maxwell of the South African Spelaeological Association a year after the cave was identified in 1986 by cavers as being of significant size.

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