Kgaswane Mountain Reserve (Magaliesberg) Jun 2008

After spending most of the day birding at Roodeplaat dam, I drove through by myself at about 1.30pm, arriving at about 3pm. After taking my pack with all my hiking stuff to the camp, I returned to the car to fetch my laptop and a few other things. Back at the car I did some birding while waiting for the others. When they didn’t arrive by 5pm, I walked back to camp and completed my birding list for the day on the laptop. It wasn’t long after when the rest of the team showed up. We started the fire and then celebrated Shirley’s birthday with some champagne. After dinner we chatted till about 7pm before we hit the bed.

Day 1 (28 Jun): Under the trees, it took some time for the sunlight to filter through – consequently we probably only got up around 7am. We packed quickly and I took a quick walk back to the car to drop my laptop and other things I didn’t feel like carrying. George, Eddy and Brian also walked back to the car soon after. At around 8.30 we started on the same trail I did almost 4 years ago. Shortly after we started climbing we came upon a little kudu calf lying on the path. It was very much alive and we first thought it was caught in a snare or broke a bone or something. Shirley mentioned putting it out of its misery but then George and Eddy thought that it might just be struggling to get up. George got it by the back and heaved it up and all of a sudden it found its legs and bounded away in the undergrowth – we were happy that we managed to help the little one. We eventually made it up the seemingly endless incline, headed past the zebra dam and then up towards the trig beacon where we arrived at about 11am. We had a bite to eat before carrying on. Just before descending down the escarpment, a group of four came walking on the path towards us. They had started from Naga that morning, but I thought they should’ve done it in the opposite direction. I took the lead and soon I was ahead of the rest. My feet were getting a little sore as I ascended back to the top and as I approached the Secretary bird plains I decided to have a short break to rest my feet. George and Eddy soon came walking up and I took the lead again with George following. We first saw the green water tank in the distance and about 1km further, walked into camp – it was 1pm. We rested easy the afternoon. Brian started the fire early to heat up water for the showers and during the course of the afternoon we all had a hot bath/shower. I started cooking my mealies and onion early and at 5pm had a really nice dinner of mealies, onion and boerewors. At 17.30 we were all ready to go to bed and I read for a short while before dozing off.

Day 2 (29 Jun): We were up before the sun and ready to go by 7.30. There was a slight but chilly wind blowing so I kept my top on. I took the lead with the intention of resting my feet properly along the way. I walked an hour and then reached the little kloof where a ladder descends into it. At the bottom I sat and waited for about 15 minutes before the others arrived. Then I was off again and walked well until I reached Tierkloof waterfall. My feet had started to become a sore but it wasn’t killing me yet. Either way, the others were still some time away so I scrambled up the other side, took my boots off and sat baking in the sun. Twenty minutes later the others arrived. Eddy and Shirley clambered down to the waterfall but it wasn’t long before we started walking again. Once more I went out in front and made good progress up the first little ridge. George stuck close behind but after I crossed the plains and the car road, I pulled ahead. I climbed well up to Trig beacon 217, had a short break, and then moved on. I passed the four hikers we passed the previous day – they still had quite a way to go. Down into the kloof I sat down again just as I entered the forest. My feet were reasonably sore, but the brief rest of about 8 minutes or so made a huge difference. I got up before the others arrived and sped down the kloof to the bottom. After walking another 400m towards the hut, I had another short break to ease the pain from the kloof descent. I then realized that the road running next to the path will take me back directly to the car so I walked through a little bit of burnt veld and then got on the road for the last 500m. I reached the car at about 12:20. I only waited about 15 minutes for the others to show up. As I was close to home and eager to get back there, I said my goodbyes and left at 12:45.

Gatberg - Monk's Cowl (Drakensberg) Jun 2008

Darrell and Liza arrived at my work shortly after 4pm on Friday. Gordon and Nicola were stuck in traffic and arrived some time later. We left around 16:30 and made our way through Jo'burg traffic. Just after 9pm we arrived in Bergville and slept under the tennis court veranda.

Day 1 (21 Jun): My alarm went off at 05:30 but I snoozed it 3 times before getting up just after 6am. It was chilly but not cold. We had rain during the night but the skies were clearing fast. We had breakfast, packed up and were on our way shortly after 7am, arriving at Monk’s Cowl around 08:30. We signed in, got dressed and were on our way. It was a beautiful sunny morning and the weather looked stable. We started up the path towards the Sphinx. I was walking with the new La Sportiva Thunders and took it nice and easy. We passed a group of day trippers at the Sphinx and spread out a little as each took his own pace up towards the contour path. Gordon reached Blind Man’s Corner just before me and veered off to the left to the campsite. When I reached the path I dropped my pack and went to fetch him as we were supposed to go the other direction. Just after 11am we were all at BMC and we rested a little before carrying on. My left foot started developing the same problem I had with the KSB Sherpas. It wasn’t so bad that I couldn’t walk but it certainly did not bode well. Shortly before 12am we reached a little gully with a stream where I decided to sit for lunch as I needed to take my boots off – my foot was starting to hurt quite a bit. After lunch it was better for the first few hundred meters but then it started hurting again. Despite this, I kept going well and we descended from Hlatikulu neck to the river valley. We could see a pretty clear track leading up a spur towards Gatberg and it seemed easy enough to follow. I was already harboring ideas of not going to the top but seeing the path made me re-evaluate. We reached the river valley just after 1pm and looked around a bit before finding two decent campsites. I took my boots off to rest my feet but as discussions grew about climbing Gatberg, I put my shoes back on and tried to tie the laces in a different way to see if I could ease the pain. However, walking a short distance, my foot was screaming again and I decided to give it a rest. Gordon, Darrell and Nicola were set on going so they started at 1.30pm. Liza and I pitched the tents and listened to radio communications from Darrell on their progress. I spent the afternoon reading and relaxing in the tent. Just after 4pm they returned, with Darrell and Gordon making it to the top. They indicated the path was reasonably easy to follow but the last section is a little exposed, although not as much as Cathedral peak. Soon after we started boiling water for some coffee and tea and then started eating and cooking as well. The pasta with mince and cheese came off beautifully and with the beetroot as a starter and hot chocolate as pudding, we were very content when we went to bed at 6pm. I still read well into the night. It was chilly outside but certainly not as cold as I expected it would be – I probably only switched my light off at around 9pm.

Day 2 (22 Jun): We woke just before sunrise, had breakfast and packed up. My feet were feeling OK so I made good time climbing back up to Hlatikulu neck. I went in front and walked all the way to Blind Man’s Corner without feeling much pain. Here I rested and waited for the others. A couple came walking up, on their way up Sterkhorn. Clouds were building and a very light, cold breeze was blowing – it looked like it might rain later, perhaps even snow! Down from BMC we went, and rested again at the Sphinx – this I climbed as well. Unfortunately, with the downhill, my foot started hurting. Even so, shortly after passing a huge group of youngsters on their way up, Gordon and I dropped our packs to have a look at the sunken forest. We walked for about 100m before we walked into some forest where a few really large boulders seemed to provide a different touch to the forest. We returned and caught up to the others, arriving at the car just before noon. We all had a very welcome hot shower before hopping in the car for the long drive back.

Kisumu, Kenya Jun 2008

A colleague and I arrived in Kisumu over the weekend for work in the coming week. The Monday was a public holiday in Kenya and we decided to go for a short boat trip out on Lake Victoria to find some birds