Rhebok hiking trail (Drakensberg) Nov 2008

After work I drove to the Wells’ place where Marni and Gordon were already waiting for me. Nicola arrived soon after. Having heard news of many accidents on the radio I was considering only driving down early the next morning. However, we decided that we’d risk it, quickly packed and jumped into the Jeep, generously lent to us by Marni’s mom. Gordon was going to drive and took it around the block to get used to the automatic transmission before we were off. The traffic was heavy but turned out to be far less bad than anticipated and at 7pm we were already at Villiers. We had some takeaway dinner before carrying on. We missed the turn-off to Reitz due to me trying to get some sleep but when we realized it, we quickly turned around and drove back. Finally we arrived at Glen Reenen just before 11pm. Ben and Laurel had given me a call earlier to explain they were going to stay in Clarens, rather than Golden Gate and will meet us the next morning.

Day 1 (15 Nov): The birds were chirping away before 5am already but since we expected Laurel and Ben only at 8am, we were lazy in getting up and ready to go. It was a beautiful morning but promised to get very hot. We had breakfast, packed our bags and paid for the night’s camping. While Nicola and I waited, Gordon and Marni drove to the Stables so long to unload all the baggage. We barely waited 5 minutes before Laurel and Ben arrived. Nicola and I jumped in and we drove to the Stables where the others were already busy unpacking. Introductions made, I quickly ensured everyone had everything before the vehicles were driven to Glen Reenen again to leave one at either end. We started hiking at about 8.30. It was a very pleasant walk up to the hut with everyone getting into their own rhythms. Then we started gaining altitude steadily, walking along the stream. It wasn’t long before we started climbing more steeply away from the river on the true left. I was staying at the back with Nicola who was still recovering from a cold and walking slow but steady. Laurel and Ben were in the middle and Gordon and Marni up front. We met up with Laurel and Ben where they sat at a small stream coming off the spur directly below Ribbok Kop. Laurel had slipped on the wet rock and bruised her shin badly but a quick inspection assured me nothing was broken. It was about time for lunch so I quickly walked up to where Gordon and Marni were sitting and called them down to lunch. Ben wrapped Laurel’s shin with a wet sock to reduce the swelling and after lunch she was quite capable of carrying on again. We now made visible progress up the slope and soon it was only the last incline ahead of us and we could see the Golden Gate border fence on the saddle. It was a little windy at the saddle and I was slightly concerned that it may become worse. However, we found a good spot to pitch all three tents and soon we had them standing. The sun was blazing down and inside the tents it was certainly too hot to lie down. So we chose the cooler outside to laze around the rest of the afternoon. Later Nicola and I walked through a hole in the fence and sat watching the Caledon valley for a while before the chilly wind drove us back to the tents. Shortly before 6pm, Gordon started boiling rice for dinnerand then cooked mince and tomato relish. When all was done we ate with gusto. After dinner, Nicola spoiled us all with some hazelnut hot chocolate which went down marvelously before we crawled into the tents for the night.

Day 2 (16 Nov): I slept surprisingly well and woke early. But both Nicola and I were very lazy and we stayed in the tent until well after 6am. Gordon and Marni’s chatting eventually inspired us to get out and we had breakfast in glorious sunshine. I felt my shoulders were sore and first thought the pack straps had hurt me but when I took my shirt off I discovered I burned badly through my tattered T-shirt. With being so lazy, we had missed our start time to go for Ribbok kop and I decided to rather finish the normal Day 2 of the Rhebok route. With that decided, we packed everything up and were on our way shortly after 8am. It promised to be a hot day but there were a few clouds drifting around and the light breeze we had was very welcome. On the plateau directly below Generaalskop, Marni, Gordon, Laurel and Ben dropped their packs to go climb to the trig beacon. Having climbed it before I felt no inclination to climb it again and Nicola was still feeling a little off so we decided to slowly carry on as the others were sure to catch us. We walked leisurely across the plateau and soon started descending into the valley below. We spotted some wildebeest and Nicola got a few nice pictures in. After the first descent onto the ridge, we spotted the others also coming down and just before the last descent towards the small dam, they overtook us. At the dam, everyone but the two of us were very keen for a swim so while they dove in, we carried on slowly. By now my feet had started to act up again and I wanted to get back to camp desperately. The last few hundred metres were agony and when I got to Glen Reenen I literally collapsed. Soon the others joined us and we all had a shower before driving back.