Cape Agullas-- The most southerly point in Africa.
Dustin's mom gave us a lift to my parents in Stellenbosch for the last lunch on Thursday 3rd November - the trip begins.
Ended up in Grabou for the first night and camped between the N2 highway and some orchards. They were spraying their crops all night so the petrol stove had to be extinguished everytime the tractor came close - supper came eventually.
Next day we went through to Swellendam to my friend Matthew's house. Bought food for a five day hike in Marloth Nature Reserve and after loading bags we sweated to the foot of the towering mountain range. Kobus behind the desk said it would cost us R750 for 4 days for the 3 of us! DISGUSTED! Something has to be done so that us locals can also enjoy our mountains. Settled for a 1 day hike in the rain.
Next day the 3 of us hitchhiked to Bredasdorp on the back of a cattle truck and then onto Cape Agulhas, the southernmost point in Africa. Trekked down the beach and missioned around the coast between Struisbaai and Arniston for a few days. Many snakes - 1 crawling between our legs 1 evening and trying to get into Matt's tent. A poisonous night adder (luckily we were searching for a tent peg at the time).
Back to Swellendam and then left Matt miserable at home and went on to my father's house in Riversdale. Many braais, much drinking and lots of tall tales - even a packed Dutchman pub full of lang-arming farmers and their pretty meisies... pretty frightening, especially when we joined in!
Then on to Wilderness; a few hiking trails, more snakes, lots of bird life and 1 rotting, stinking beached whale.
On to Sedgefield where we fixed a broken paddle-boat with a piece of rope and a leatherman. Towing another row boat behind us loaded with our bags, we made for the huge island in the middle of the lake. Almost got munched by the biggest, meanest crab we had ever seen. Its pincers were bigger than my hands and could easily have removed a few of my toes in 1 pinch!
Over the next few days we broke down and almost sunk many times. Much fun. Did a lot of fishing with no luck and discovered a strange species of sea slug in the lagoon. Bright blue and pink, it breathed and shat through a long gash in its back.
We hitched on to Knysna and got there for lunch. After hours of baking in the sun on the outskirts of town facing 2 lanes of traffic (probably due to the serial killer in town) we got 1 of the craziest lifts ever. A red car with surfboards on the roof stopped for us and we squashed into the back seat with bags and a big yellow, leaky coolbox. "Grab a beer and mush this section", Paul, the maniac driver barked as he handed me a bankie. His equally nutty girlfriend, Leanne, giggled in the passenger seat. Paul lit the bottle neck himself while I held his beer and he overtook cars with his knee. Dustin and I exchanged worried glances which soon turned to nutty grins after the pipe made a few rounds. On the road you have to go with the flow and we had now abandoned all fear and were riding the bucking bronco with everyone else. Dire Straits blasted out the CD player - a rent a car, new 2 days ago but now with a cracked windscreen and missing number plate.
We went along with them to check out a surf spot (the Wreck) at Robberg - more beers. We arrived at this quiet little beach carpark in Richmanville (rich Vaalies, leopard-print speedos) with the music full-blast, windscreen wipers back and front going off and Paul jerking the car with the brakes, causing us all to headbang. Insanity! The looks we got would've loosened the bowels of a full grown bull elephant, but not Paul, no, he had to start ripping off all the fat dutchman and shouting obcenities at them. To the beach - Paul with surfboard in 1 arm and coolbox in the other - Leanne topless, tits flapping in the breeze. We managed to lose them in the dunes after more beer and crazy talk. A true mullit, best lift ever!
Walked 5kms down the beach into Plett and camped for the night in some bushes. We attempted a 4 day hike down Natures Valley to the Bloukraans River. Ignoring a sign saying: THIS PART OF TRAIL CLOSED DUE TO DANGEROUS CONDITIONS. We pressed on, sweating under heavy loads through thick sand, pebbles and giant outcrops of rock. Eventually we could go no further - we had arrived at a huge unclimbable cliff being battered by the pounding surf. No choice, we had to swim.
Unpacked our bags and waterproofed everything, then timed the waves and jumped in keeping our bags floating on the cliffside of us to protect us from being smashed to death. Halfway across, Dusty's bag was ripped from him and battered against the rocks but he managed to retrieve it and we made it in the end.
Further on we hit a similar obstacle but this time swimming would have meant imminent death or disfiguration - we would have to climb. It was getting dark so we decided to camp for the night perched under the cliffs. We had half-a-litre of water so we tried boiling sea water and catching the steam - no success. After a bad night's sleep due to the pounding surf, we decided to turn back. We camped at Matjies River - a small tributary entering the sea. We boiled river water, ate muscles and fish caught from the sea for a few days before getting a lift to St Francis Bay with an undertaker. Dusty's gran lives here and we've been chilling out for the last few days, eating home cooked meals and drinking beer down in the local pub where Dusty's uncle was a bit of a celebrity.
Leaving to go through the Karoo to Orkney on Tuesday.
Keep you posted,
Timo
