Kumasi to Agogo - Ghana Jul 2008

During a week's work in Ghana I snapped a few pictures just outside the hotel and along the road we drove. Unfortunately I didn't have a chance to explore the surrounding areas a bit more.

Bermanzi hiking trail Jul 2008

I had a half day off and drove to George’s place after work at 12:45. Shortly after I arrived, Shirley and Eddy showed up. We packed and left before 2pm. We took our time; Eddy still had to pick up something in Witbank and took the back roads to Middelburg. Before 6pm we were at Bermanzi but the combination lock code that was faxed through to George didn’t work. After some struggling, Eddie tried the code that was used the last time the club was there – magically this worked and soon after we were making fire at the hut. We were using the new Stables hut which was much nicer. Chris and the rest showed up a little later and by 19:00 we were having a barbeque, going to bed not long after.

Day 1 (19 Jul): It was chilly when we got up but we got going at 8am. We walked without much plan, knowing the area by now very well. We eventually ended up at the river in the bottom of the gorge, having skipped out on the trail that walked past the Swazi and Pedi kraals. We continued upstream, enjoying a slow walk and spotting some Knysna turacos as well. Approaching the waterfall, some of us walked straight down to the river and then made our way upstream along the riverbed. This turned out to be very tricky as the waterfall spray and growth on the rocks made everything exceptionally slick. However, we made it to just before the waterfall. George, Shirley and Eddy were talking about climbing out on the other side of the waterfall and seeing a nice looking grass ramp to the right, I voted to go up there. After scrambling up some steep grass and rock, we suddenly came onto a beautiful open trail which we followed right to the top. The remaining 3 members stayed at the waterfall and walked back from there. Soon after we reached the top, we had lunch and then walked back along the top, meeting the rest shortly after the waterfall. I stood on the spot where I anchored my rope 3 years before when I made the 122m abseil and remembered how scary that was. We walked back to the hut, with me in the lead, and arrived at about 1pm. After resting a short while, Shirley, Eddy and I went to practice some abseiling and knot passing at the short section of vertical rock immediately below the huts. Back at the hut we made fire, had a braai and chatted around the fire until about 8pm before all hitting the bed.

Day 2 (20 Jul): Sunday saw us up early and on our way by 8am. This time we took the walk down to the river and past the kraals before heading upstream. Before we got to the waterfall this time, we turned steeply uphill and made our way back to camp. We were probably away for only 2 hours before we were back, had a quick shower and were on our way home by 11:00.

Tsehlanyane peaks - Qwa-Qwa (Drakensberg) Jul 2008

Karen and Phil picked me up from work on Friday afternoon at 16:30. We drove to Warrenn’s place in southern Johannesburg where we picked up Warrenn and Chris. The drive down to Phuthaditjaba was uneventful and we arrived at the University of the Freestate, Qwa-Qwa campus at about 22:00 where Kagiso, the owner of Maluticaves trail, duly waited for us. After we spoke to him, we decided to drive straight up to Mkhondo hut from where we would be able to start the next morning for Daggasneck pass. The road was pretty bad and could not have been done without a 4x4. We arrived at the hut shortly after 23:00, having picked up the key to the hut from two shepherds staying in the ruins just above the huts. We had the one hut all to ourselves and sorted out all our gear before going to bed.

Day 1 (05 Jul): We rose early and although it looked like a beautiful day, the wind was blowing hard and icily outside. We packed and left at about 08:00, walking up towards the ruins. There we met the two shepherds who were going to guide two Namibians who stayed in the other hut. We spoke briefly and asked about names of the peaks in the region. They corrected us on which peaks were Kgotswane and Metjathitjane and that Thaba Putsoa means Grey Mountain. We followed the footprints up from the ruins, first following the road, then some shepherd tracks rising gently up towards a saddle. The two shepherds and the Namibians arrived at the saddle while I waited for the others and started contouring around the next spur into the main valley of Daggasneck pass. We followed around, keeping our own contour. Feeling a little worried still about how my feet were going to cope with a pass, I took it very slowly but steadily. I made very good progress and managed to stay well in front of the others, resting occasionally. Walking very slowly I was able to gain a good distance. I topped out at 11:30 in a very strong wind. I sheltered behind a rock and waited for the others. Warrenn showed up first and Chris wasn’t far behind. A shepherd and his dogs stood not far from us. We waited until Karen and Phil were close to the top; then we set off to climb what I eventually called Tsehlanyane’s hat. This peak turned out to be 2960m tall and was therefore not a Khulu. Back at the packs we sheltered behind the rock for lunch before setting off on an exploratory trip on the escarpment. The wind was blowing hard and it was cold. We climbed to the top of the next peak, passing the shepherd and his 9 dogs along the way. He was very friendly, spoke not a word of English, and posed for pictures for me and Chris. The top of the next peak was measured at exactly 3000m by both my and Chris’s GPSs. We decided to call it Tsehlanyane peak. We descended into the next valley, looking for a cave as far as we went. While the others hid behind a rock band, Chris went one way and I another. Finding nothing we got together again and walked a little further north. The wind was starting to take its toll so we dropped the packs once again and while Phil and Warrenn waited, Chris, Karen and I went looking for caves once more. Only about 300m further along I spotted a cave below us in the escarpment wall. It looked like the grass slopes may be a little nasty to cross but Chris walked down and when he returned, informed us that the cave is very interesting, being open at both ends. It was large enough for all of us but had a rocky floor and was a bit drafty. We decided it will still be better than sleeping on top so we fetched the others. As we approached the cave, it started to snow lightly. Getting across the slopes proved to be a little hard. It was very steep and exposed on the grass slopes and the extremely strong gusts tried hard to pull us off. Finally in the cave we wasted no time to level the ground for sleeping place and getting some hot water going. With dinner done, it started snowing a little harder outside and the wind blew in flakes every now and again. We went to bed almost immediately after dinner. The wind got worse and worse and soon snow was being blown into the cave at a rapid pace. Chris decided to get his flysheet out to try and cover the three of us who were bivvying behind Karen and Phil’s tent. For the next half an hour or so the tent flapped incessantly above us. When Chris got up to pee, he noticed the tent scraping badly against the cave wall and snow being blown into the tent which was acting like a sail. He struggled tremendously to turn it around and eventually had it fixed to some extent. However, with the wind gusting at probably 60-80km per hour through the cave, we got little sleep during the night.

Day 2 (06 Jul): We emerged from inside our sleeping bags with the wind still blowing fiercely outside. The mountain slopes were covered in snow and the sun on the rocks made a stunning sight. Thin clouds still blew in from the escarpment but it was in general totally clear. As we started to pack up, Chris’s sleeping bag suddenly got lifted by the wind and blew out of the cave and away in the wind. Swearing, he tried to go after it but to no avail. To add to this, his torch was inside the sleeping bag. With the wind making life almost unbearable and bitterly cold, we decided to skip breakfast and get off the mountain as soon as possible. We packed up, losing some plastic bags to the wind as well. We were finally ready to go and started moving across the slope. The snow on the slope along with the wind made it extremely dangerous. Neither Phil, nor Karen could do it with their packs and Chris had to escort them across the slope. I took Phil’s pack but when I crossed I realized I would not be able to go back again for my own pack – I was a little freaked out. Chris heroically went back twice for Karen and my pack before returning with his own. The previous day, Chris mentioned we could do the pass the cave was in. While we waited for Chris to fetch his pack, Warrenn had a look a little lower down the pass and indicated the pass can go. We started to descend and continued when Chris was also down. But then Warrenn started coming back - dead end. This meant we had to climb back up the pass. The gully was severely iced up and full of snow. We had to be very careful and when we finally reached the top, the wind took our breaths away – it was easily blowing at 100-120km per hour. The top was covered in snow and very beautiful – unfortunately it was not pleasant on top and we wanted to get off immediately. Our haste made us decided to go down the next pass that we saw from the top, instead of walking 2km back to Daggasneck pass. The top of this pass, which we called Tsehlanyane pass, was easy enough, but soon it steepened into a rock gully choked with snow and ice. But we confidently climbed down and made good progress until we reached a nasty looking short waterfall. Chris climbed out of the gully on a very steep and slippery grass slope to check out the gully lower down. He returned to tell us that there is another obstacle lower down the gully that may be even worse. However, the grass slopes looked simple enough, except that the wind was gusting harder on the slopes than in the gully. With Karen and Phil protesting about the grass slopes we decided to go for those anyway as Chris was confident they would be safer. Taking our time, we crossed the short but tricky section. Chris had to help Karen and Chris across and take their packs as well. Out on the slopes, it was indeed much easier despite the stronger wind. We were also now in the sun and started warming up a little for the first time. We descended rapidly and soon made it down to the river and a small track that joined up with the Daggasneck pass path. Chris decided to go and look for his sleeping bag while the rest of us returned to camp. The four of us stopped at the bottom for a quick lunch before catching the path back to the hut. This went uneventfully except that my feet started to hurt a little just before we hit the road. Sitting to wait for Karen and Phil, I had enough rest to make the remaining 500m quite bearable. Chris arrived about 10 minutes after us; unfortunately he didn’t find his bag. We all jumped in the shower and were very relieved to be back and looking forward to some decent food. At 15;00 we piled in the car and were ready to go. Then the car wouldn’t start. After numerous attempts, Phil called a buddy of his who advised to heat up the diesel pump. We went back into the hut, boiled water and poured this on the pump. This also didn’t work. We called Kagiso to try and get some help. While waiting we decided to try and push start it. This also didn’t work. Then, just as despair started to set in, Phil gave one more try and suddenly the car sprang into life. We jumped up and down with joy, got in the car and off we were to Harrismith for dinner, then back home.