An African Adventure - Part the First

There now follows a brief recap of my adventures in South Africa earlier this month. (Also, check out the new links on the right).

R had gone to Bairnsdale to play a gig with EJ on saturday (4th), so I spent that night alone, and set my alarm to wake me up at 4.40am on Sunday morning - ouch. Taxi arrived at 4.55 (5 minutes early) and I was painfully tired. Flew to Sydney (the pilot's name was Captain Roothouse), then flew from Sydney back over Melbourne on route to Jo'burg (?) and then rushed through customs (I think Pele was standing in the customs queue next to me) to make my connecting flight to Cape Town - I had no sitting-around time at any of the airports (except Tullamarine) - I was rushing from one plane to another. When I descended the steps out of the plane and onto the tarmac of Cape Town airport, I was greeted by the spectacular sight of the sun setting behind Table Mountain. Met by my parents and my uncle, who drove us back to his house (past my first glimpses of the almost ubiquitous - and utterly disconcerting for the uninitiated - South African townships), where, after a delightful dinner with cousins, aunt, uncle and parents, I collapsed into my bed-for-the-night, utterly exhausted (having had almost no sleep on the flights), only to be woken shortly after midnight by my brother, returning from a friend's wedding. I gave him a tired greeting hug, then went straight back to sleep - the end of my 33 hour day.

Most of the next day was taken up by the long drive (we also took the scenic route, which made us slightly late) from Cape Town to Mosselbaai. On the way, we saw many mountainous mountains, ostrichy ostriches, and a babboon or two sitting by the road side. I was suprisingly unaffected by jet lag, considering how utterly exhausted I had been the day before. But I was relieved when we arrived at our destination, because it meant the end of 3 days of sitting very still in vehicles. Checked in with the tour organiser, had dinner out (all included in the cost of the hike) and went to bed.

Up early for the first day of out hike (15km). Met our guide, Willie, over breakfast. Then we set off on our 4-day walk. Along the beach front, past a lighthouse, and into a shallow cave, where we saw many a Dassie (small littel rodenty type creatures that sort of look a bit like tailless beavers, but sort of not). We walked up and down, following a rocky trail under a scorching sun (it was very hot - mid 30s - not ideal walking weather), stopping every now and then so that Willie could point out plants to us and tell us about their herbal (or poisonous) properties. Stopped for lunch on a little plateau overlooking the ocean. Up until this point, the walk had been stunning, but towards the end of the day's trail, the path cut across a construction site (they were constructing a golf course) which was less attractive. We could have taken a coastal path which cut out the coarse and took in some caves, but it meant a very steep climb down and up, which we probably would have done if it had been at the start of the walk, but the sun had drained us of all our energy. We were hot and dehydrated and achey. Which is why we were relieved when we came to a road, and Willie announced that we were to be picked up from here and deposited at our place of rest for that night (this was the only time we were picked up - every other day, we walked to where we were staying). We were greeted by copious amounts of food and drink, and then a lecture on the African Black Oystercatcher - a very rare and endangered bird.

Our second day's walk was shorter (12km) but it was all on sand, although we also walked on thousands of beached blue-bottles, which make incredibly satisfying popping noises when stepped on - the ocean's own bubblewrap. We also found an Oystercatcher chick, despite being told yesterday that none had been born at all this year. So I guess that we saw the only African Black Oystercatcher to be born in 2006. We also found an old african midden on top of a dune. The walk itself was hard because it was impossible to guage our progress - the scenery didn't change, our destination didn't seem to be getting any closer, and our starting point wasn't getting any further away. But it was much cooler weather today, and the walk was flat, so I found the going to be quite easy. We arrived at our destination (a place called Boggomsbaai) to find an abundance of thatched cottages. We stayed in a lovely house with a large open fireplace and comfy beds. Which were gratefully occupied by us.

3rd day of walk was our longest - 16km, including some beach walking. We stopped off at a random old lady's house for a toilet break (and so Willie could go to the shops and get some credit for his mobile phone), then hiked up rocky paths to Fransmanshoek, where we stopped for lunch. Then more rocky paths, before embarking on quite a long stretch of beach. At one point, I found out later, Willie turned to my parents and said "I'm going to find out how fit your boys are". He then turned to us, ponted to a huge sand dune, and said "follow me". He then RAN up the side of the dune! Eliot and I attempted to emulate him, but running up a soft sand dune is not easy, and we were soon panting and wheezing away. I kept battling on up (not running - closer to stumbling), but didn't quite make it to the top (it was very windy up there). In the mean time, Willie had made it to the next peak, and had turned around and was running back down past us. We trudged back down with aching limbs and continued on our walk, past Kanon Village and onto our final resting place - an idylically located house right by the sea, with nothing around except rocks, seals and swifts (there was a swift's nest right above the front door).

The last day of our walk was a measly 5km, but it culminated in a boat trip and a champagne brunch. We were driven back to our starting point at Mosselbaai. We then drove towards our next resting place - Knysna - stopping off on the way to pay a visit to a nature reserve, where we saw wilderbeest/gnus, rhinos, giraffes, lions, boks, and some rather touchy-feely elephants (or oliphants, in Africaans). Then to Knysna, where we stayed on a little island called Pleasure Isle. We slept soundly.

The adventure will continue...