Cycad hiking trail Apr 2009

Due to flight delays I could only leave the airport at about 18:40 on Friday evening. I drove through to Nicola’s at great speed, arriving there shortly after 8pm. Nicola already packed the car so all we had to do was dump my stuff in her car and then we were off. Nicola drove calmly while I still seethed in the passenger seat after the flight delay. We arrived at the basecamp shortly before 9pm, greeted the group who were mostly in bed already and set about making our beds for the night on the verandah of the one hut.

Day 1 (04 Apr): I was up before sunrise, looking for birds. When Nicola got up we boiled some water for tea and coffee and ate some of the pizza we had left over from dinner that Nicola bought for the previous night. We all got ready and left by 8am. Initially the path wound through boulders and grassy plains with the path itself being poorly maintained but well marked. We arrived at he lip of the Olifants river canyon and had nice views of Arendsnes hut we were aiming for. Then we turned away and wandered across more plains before descending to the Olifants river. We followed the path to almost directly below Arendsnes camp before starting the steep climb to the top. It took us about half an hour but still we reached the camp before lunch. Almost immediately we took a shower; it overlooked the entire Olifants river valley and is quite spectacular. The rest of the afternoon we rested, read and watched a pair of Verreaux's eagles soar first below, and soon above us. Before 5pm I started the fire and by 6pm we were braaing our sandwiches and cherry bacon sosaties. After dinner we had peaches and cream for desert and then ended with a cup of tea before going to bed.

Day 2 (05 Apr): We slept outside on the verandah again and got up just before sunrise to boil water for breakfast. We packed up fast and Nicola and I together left a few minutes before the rest so we could do some bird watching in peace. We made good time despite the path rambling unnecessarily through boulders and by 08:30 we were already back at the camp. We watched some birds at the basecamp while we waited for the others to arrive. When they did, I handed over a few pictures for George to frame before we left for home. On the way out I discovered that I left my bird book behind and we had to turn around to fetch it. Back on the tar road, just before Middelburg, we came upon a horrific accident that must have happened minutes before. We stopped to help. One person who seemed to be a paramedic was already helping a female passenger of a bakkie. I put on gloves and helped to keep pressure on a head wound to give the paramedic a rest. The ambulances arrived shortly after. It seemed that a motorcyclist hit the bakkie head-on at great speed. The bodies of the motorcyclist and the bakkie’s driver were in the grass next to the road, terribly mutilated. After giving our contact details to the police we left with the scenes and smells not to be forgotten soon.