Cape to Kgalagadi via Riemvasmaak(Oct 2011)
Day 1
We all converged on Oom Benna’s* old farmhouse just north of Brandvlei on the R27 between Calvinia and Keimoes in the N. Cape. This happens to be one of my favourite roads in S. Africa: a good straight tar road through ±350km of emptiness with only the many Pale Chanting Goshawks for company. We arrives at around 5pm to find Paul and Sandra and their daughter, Kara and Mia, along with Jason and Robin, already ensconced in our overnight self catering accommodation, We were joined later by Ian, Debi, Dean and Roswell who had delayed their departure from Cape Town until after the rugby. That evening we sat and “kuiered” under a starry sky: no camp fire at this stage.
*Oom Benna was the former owner from the 1950s until his death in 1998. He was a great local character who “smoused” vegetables and anything else he could lay his hands on all over Bushmanland.
Day 2
We departed from Oom Benna’s at about 9am and continues our journey, vis Kenhardt, to Keimoes where we stocked up on padkos at the Farm Stall and caught up on local news with the owner (apparently the farmers had still not received compensation for their severe losses during the floods earlier in the year) and filled up our water containers before heading off for Riemvasmaak: our destination for the day. We turned onto the gravel just before Kakamas and stopped for lunch under a tree bedecked with a huge Sociable Weaver nest, before arriving in Riemvasmaak at about 1,30pm. Here we had an appointment to work with the community, facilitated by local Tourism Officer, Clarissa. We were met by a large group of over 100 children who were first given a lesson on conservation, based on local birds and animal spoor, by Paul and Jason. This was followed by a somewhat chaotic craft session in their lovely new, but very echoey community hall. Each child made a bird mask from a brown paper bag, decorated and adorned with brightly coloured feathers. As usual, all the materials which were left over were donated to the community for future use by the children.
Meanwhile Ian and Robin were helping 45 elderly people with reading glasses, each one first being given a simple eye test as some eye conditions such as cataracts and macular degeneration cannot be improved by “readers”. Ian also distributed sunglasses as he felt that these would be of long term benefit to this community who live in a particularly sun-baked spot.
The football pumping team, led by Eddie was hard at work inflating over 100 footballs which are always given out at the end of the work session.
At the end of the afternoon, hot, tired and frazzled, we arrived at the Riemvasmaak Warmbad Camp where we were to spend the next two nights. After setting up camp, we relaxed with a glorious soak in the hot springs, looking up at the incredible rock formations around us as darkness descended. After that everything was good! We had a de-briefing session around the fire on our afternoon’s work before wending our way to bed.
Day 3
This, being Sunday, was a day “at rest” for us. After completing the camp chores I read through all the information on Riemvasmaak and its history which was displayed in the camp lapa. This explained a lot of what we had observed on our visit to the Riemvasmaak community: the smart, new, brick built houses, community hall and medical centre and the 18.5 million rand water scheme in progress. This was obviously a place where service delivery was happening.
The background to this was the forced removal of the entire community of 1500 from 74,000ha of land in 1973. Those of Xhosa extraction were sent to the Transkei, whilst those of Nama ancestry were sent to Namibia. The people suffered terrible hardship. The land they left behind was handed over to the Defence Force who used it for missile testing amongst other things. In 1004 the decision was taken to give the whole 74,00ha back to the people. It was one of the first land restitution projects in the New South Africa and was registered as a Presidential Launch Project. As such it enjoyed a high political profile.
We received some feedback from our previous day’s community work: Henry Basson, the camp attendant, asked Robin whether we were the people who gave his “Mommy” glasses. She takes in sewing for money and had always had to rely on family members to thread her needles but since yesterday she had been able to thread them herself.
Jason went for a walk and found leopard spoor and skats! We ended our day of leisure with another soak in the hot springs – after dark.
Day 4
We were all up early to pack and move on – to the Kalagadi. We were all on various missions to shop for everything from food to a new tent for Robin and Jason so we all went our separate way, meeting in Askham where we were joined by Chris, Gabi, Jake and J’aime Weeden
After loading up with 15 bags of camel thorn wood, we set off for our afternoon appointment with the Welkom community on the border of the Kalagadi Transfrontier Park. Here we were met by a gathering of about 50 children and 30 adults. Quite a number of the Park staff live in this settlement and we found the children to be fairly knowledgeable about the local fauna. We have found that this is usually the case with children whose parents work in the Parks. It was a very pleasurable community to work with and the session was less hectic than the previous one.
Finally we arrived at Twee Rivieren, the main gate to the Kalagadi, where, after pitching camp, we were catered for by ladies of the Welkom community with a braai, salads and delicious rooster brood.
Day 5
We were up early again to strike camp and after visiting the garage to deflate our tyres to the recommended 1.6 we met Melissa who was to be our guide for the next 3 days on the Nossob 4x4 Trail.Each vehicle had to carry sufficient water for 3½ days plus our 15 bags of firewood. We were also issued with radios for communication. We travelled swiftly over the first 50km on the tourist road towards Nossob before turning off onto the trail.
Paul and family were lucky enough to see 3 cheetahs amongst a herd of springbok and gemsbok after leaving Twee Rivieren.
We had had our briefing on dune driving by Melissa and now we had our initiation. Each vehicle had to wait for the one in front to crest the dune before starting the run-up: exhilarating stuff!
Eventually we arrived at Witgat, our camp for the night, consisting of 2 long drops and a pulley shower. We fell asleep to the sound of lions roaring close to the camp. For those of us camping on the ground, all there was between us and them was a slip of a girl with a gun!
Day 6
On leaving camp we saw the lions on the surrounding dunes. This was to be another day of dune driving. Along the way we stopped to watch a colony of meerkats in a stand-off with a Cape cobra. This was fascinating as the cobra is capable of killing them whilst collectively the meerkats are able to kill a snake. In the end the Cape cobra backed off.
We arrived at Rosyntjiebos Camp by mid afternoon which gave us time to relax after pitching camp, before the evening chores of fire making and cooking. I heard a brown hyena scratching around our tent during the night.
Day 7
This was to be “Big Dune Day”. During our briefing from Melissa at the start of the trail she had told us about this mother of all dunes known as Berta which no Landrover had ever been able to surmount. In fact a detour had been made around the dune for this reason. Dean was up for the challenge, determined that his short wheel base Landy would be the one to beat Berta! There was great excitement as we stood and watched the long run-up in anticipation – and suddenly the Landy disappeared over the top. He had made it! We all cheered Dean and passenger, Jake, on their return.
Since it was a very hot day, the decision was made not to stop for lunch but to press on with the rest of the 51km to our last camp at Swartbas so that we could relax in the shade during the heat of the day. We spent the afternoon birding, playing boulle, reading and generally keeping cool. After dinner we played charades around the fire amid much laughter.
Day 8
This was my birthday and unfortunately I had been smitten overnight with the “bug” from which some of the other members had suffered along the way, I was presented with a beautiful book of photographs:”Colours of the Kalahari”, signed by the author and photographer, Hannes Lochner. A much treasured gift and memento.
By the time we reached Nossob Camp in the middle of the morning I was feeling grim and thankfully Melissa had arranged an emergency chalet for me so that I was able to collapse into bed for the day. The rest of the party were able to grab the prime camping site under the trees where they spent a chilled day playing boulle, soccer and watching game from the hide.
Day 9
We traveled south along the Nossob River to exit the Park at Twee Rivieren. Our destination was Andriesvale for an afternoon of community work. This was a very poor and dysfunctional community, seen at its worst on a Saturday in the middle of the weekend’s drinking binge. There were obvious signs of alcohol and physical abuse. Unfortunately some of these marginalised communities see us as part of the “authority” which neglects them and treat us accordingly. Our shoulders must be broad in such cases. We can do so little in the face of such huge needs.
We stayed the night at Molopo Lodge where Eddie and I booked into a cottage as, by now, we were both sick. The rest of the group set up camp and were treated to an evening meal at Tant Sannie’s, a small local roadside restaurant.
Day 10
After a very disappointing loss resulting in the Sprinboks exiting the Rugby World Cup, most of our team opted to pack up and leave Molopo Lodge after the match. Eddie and stayed on for another night in an attempt to recover somewhat before having to face the long trek home.
Day 11
We departed from Molopo Lodge and sharing the driving, made our way as far as Calvinia, where we found comfortable lodging for the night at Steenkamp’s next door to the Blou Naartjie where, unbeknown to us at the time, the rest of the crew had spent the previous night.
Day 12
Home to Napier in the Overberg via a glorious back road through the Botterkloof Pass, with a brief stop for refreshment in Clanwillian. The end of a wonderful journey.