We drove north to an area known by climbers as Rocklands, a fantastic spread of earth unmarked on any of our maps, where there are countless house-sized boulders that vary in color from golden to red to black (and every color in between) scattered as far as you can travel in a day's journey. And again, the terrain just didn't quite make sense. Usually when you see boulders, there is a cliff line nearby that the rock more than likely fell from. Not here though - the ground was mostly flat, a gentle roll to it at best, with hills on the horizon. We were there to 'boulder' or to climb up the rocks. Bouldering seems a bit silly, because often the rock you are trying to climb has an easier way up, as in walking up the back of it, but the point is to challenge yourself and often there are beautiful lines to attempt. We stayed and climbed until we ran out of food, then began our journey back to Durban.
We drove along the southern coast, initially leapfrogging small resort towns, then trekking out into hills and valleys untouched by modern developments. The first day we hiked to the base of a large waterfall that fell 50 meters from the ocean's break, and climbed half way up it to a sunny ledge. The next day was a real treat. We splurged a bit and went to a place called Monkey Land, which was an enormous rehabilitation and refuge center for hundreds of monkeys. They were so fun to watch, jumping and swinging around. It was a blast.
As we traveled East from Monkey Land, the roads got worse and worse, until eventually we were on roads riddled with huge potholes. I have never seen so many in my life - so many, that in a 2 lane road with no one else on it, we were unable to dodge them, even driving slowly. We were in Xhosa country (the X is a 'click'). The Xhosa people in this area live in much of the same way that they have always lived. Their round huts dot the tops of the rolling hills and are painted pale green with thatched roofs. Thier livestock wander the hills, and often block or dart out into the road, which added to the exciting drive. They often paint their faces a chalky white, which I'm still not sure the significance of, but it did make them look a bit eerie to my foreign eyes. Large gardens stretched from hut to hut, and they would wave to us from the shade that extended from under the thatching.
This road took us to a small backpacker within walking distance a beach more beautiful than I could dream up. It was at the back of a small shallow bay where the waves were a perfect surf break. The water was so clear you could count your toes when swimming, and the combination of the aquamarine water lapping up against pure white sand under the enormous South African sky was breathtaking. We played in the water with a few Afrikaner families who had also survived the drive in, then in the evening walked pretty far down the coast, watching fishermen pull in tomorrow's meal. One night, we survived what the radio called 'gale forced winds' in a suddenly leaking tent, and woke again to stray horses whinny-ing and snuffing, inches from our heads. With our days running out, there was one more important stop to make before returning home.
We went back to the game reserve that I had been to with the CFHIers and on a surprisingly cool day the animals put on quite a show. Driving around all day can be a bit boring, especially when you have already loaded the rental car with 4000 miles, but today we had giraffes, rhinos, zebra, cheetahs, wild dogs, monkeys, impala, the funky deer-camel-with-stripes, crocodiles, wart hogs, buffalo, wildebeast, babboons, elephants, and tourists to watch. We sadly did not see lions, leopards, or penguins, and gladly did not see any great whites while in South Africa. The animals at the park have a huge area to roam, but are well acclimated to vehicles, so you can drive pretty close to most of them. One rhino thought we were too close and started moving in on the car, so we drove off pretty fast. A narrow escape.
The next morning we had to be at the airport early to begin our 40 hour (total travel time) journey home. It was thankfully uneventful with the exception of running into a couple that I had taken down the river last summer in the Atlanta airport. They were coming home from Peru. It is nice to be home again, though a bit chilly.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Kati
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