We hike. We like.
Trip Start
Sep 09, 2006
1
5
10
Trip End
Nov 24, 2006
Cape Town,
South Africa
Sunday, October 1, 2006
With our porkless larder we pushed along the eastern side of the Drakensburg. Unfortunately, although it was a cloudless, sunny day, the haziness that has diminished our appreciation of the Blyde River Canyon afflicted us once more, giving us only an impression of the grandeur of the towering escarpment that forms The Amphitheatre, the highlight of Royal Natal National Park where we were to spend two nights in a small chalet.
Our ambition to get an early start on a hike was discouraged by heavy cloud cover and then dashed by the arrival of a thunderstorm that included two heavy hail falls. So we settled in for a cozy indoor day, binoculars handy to view the many unfamiliar birds feeding on the flowering shrub not far from our sliding glass door. By noon, however, the skies cleared and we were treated to a crisply clear afternoon and new hiking hopes. Winding up the Temucula River gorge, our hike offered changing views of the eroded rock faces in shades of rust to tan with black vertical streaks, the cliffs still frosted with the morning's hail. Further variety was provided occasional stretches of temperate forest where drainage provided enough water to support lusher growth. Well marked and maintained, the modest slopes and elevation changes made our four hours on this trail perfect for the irregular hikers that we are.
Next morning, we turned west along the northern edge of Lesotho and more eye-popping geology in the raw as we headed into Golden Gardens National Park. We only had time to stop here for a short, but very rewarding walk up to a narrow ravine formed by the cleaving of a huge chunk of rock carved further by the action of water falling into the breach. The approach had been recently burned off, and the blackened shrubs and grasses were showing the fresh, brilliant verdance of new growth.
We spent the night at a homey B & B in Ficksburg, South Africa's cherry capital. During the following morning's walk to take in the town's notable sandstone architecture, we happened upon the local headquarters of an HIV educational outreach program. During our chat with Vicent, the local coordinator, we learned that the local infection rate among the at-risk population is a hard-to-believe 76%. He told us that efforts to encourage condom use are stymied by beliefs that the lubricant contains worm larvae and that use will pump air into the body and harm the kidneys. Along with school-based programs, the program is reaching into nearby Lesotho to encourage safer sex practices by incoming truck drivers and the locals who trade casual sex for needed cash.
Flying from Bloemfontein to Cape Town took us over the Great Karoo, whose dry, vast and tough-looking landscape suddenly gives way to the broad wine growing region outside Cape Town. This is a city that has a great deal going for it. Wrapped around a bay and belted around the back by mountains, it enjoys a dramatically beautiful setting, a temperate climate, long stretches of beaches that offer swimming and surfing, great white sharks notwithstanding. Burgeoning construction and soaring property values tell the story of a city on a rapid ascent.
We spent last night at the home of Dino and Albert, the couple we hit it off with during a game drive at Hluhluwe Game Reserve. We are much indebted to Albert who did his best to make the best of the bad situation we had created for ourselves by giving Cape Town just a day and a half. Taking us on a brief, but intensive motor tour, his considerable knowledge of his beloved home town accomplished what we never would have been able to on our own. A fine dinner of home-cooked Cape cuisine included babootie (I love that name), a baked dish of ground beef in a sweet and sour mildly spicy sauce, topped with a custard. Albert and Dino's warmth, graciousness and generosity bowled us over and we hope that we can reciprocate it someday.
We will be leaving tomorrow morning on the truck safari that will take us from here to Nairobi over the next six weeks. With the pre-departure meeting and a good look at the truck, all our concerns that we may have made a bad choice are gone. There will be 8 of us on a truck generously designed to accomodate 16 (others we have seen squeeze up to 24 in the same space). The guide seems an easy going fellow, but inspires confidence. There are two laptops aboard intended for photographic use, but I hope that I can make use of one for text composition too.
As we will soon be leaving South Africa, it seems a good time for general remarks about our visit here, but it's late and we have an early start tomorrow. I hope to offer a retrospective view from Swapkomund, Namibia a few days hence.
