IN
THIS ISSUE: From the Chair;; Welcome
New Members; Sweetwaters Cottage Weekend;
Didima Camp, Northern Drakensberg; Boston T-Party Week-end
FROM THE CHAIR: Brian Henwood
I
am sure it is not too late to add another New Year resolution to your list. Why
don’t we all make a joint commitment to partake in more outdoor activities
during 2011? Why not step out of our personal comfort zone and make the effort
to get out into the countryside more often, see more places, meet new friends ,
try something different, haul out the old tent for a weekend, or just tackle a
few more local hikes. You make your own resolution and your committee and
leaders will do their best to offer you the variety of activities that will encourage
and support your resolution. Sincere
wishes for good health, peace and happiness in 2011.
I
once attended a presentation by a motivational speaker who expounded the
virtues of the ‘golden moments’ in one’s life. They are those memorable moments
that lifted your spirits and made you feel good. You will enjoy revisiting the
memory time and time again. I suppose enjoying good company relaxing around a
braai fire on top of a mountain sounds pretty average, but in a crudely
constructed building housing a huge variety of interesting items from the past
- well tell me more.
Our
Christmas Party weekend started off on Saturday morning with a cycle ride from
Pietermaritzburg to Byrne. This was a reasonably gentle ride which ended with a
13km climb from Baynesfield Estate to the top of the ridge behind the Minerva
Nature Reserve. This landmark is known as Cunningham Castle. We joined the rest
of the group at Anderson’s Cottage which was the chosen venue for our Christmas
Party. Bushy, who had organised the venue, joined us that evening accompanied
by Pat, Mike and Dallas. We spent the evening in the museum and while relaxing
on old cinema seats positioned around the indoor fire place one could not but
admire the endless array of interesting artefacts ranging from a massive jet
engine to a tiny camera from bygone days. Then once the
meat came off the fire we migrated to the dining saloon of the railway
carriageway, and with the bar in the corner and Libby’s music selection the
party was on.
The
mist hung low over the mountain on Sunday morning but this did not deter our
hardy members who arrived in time for a short hike lead by Bushy. We could not
venture too far, but we did reach several vantage points where we were able to
appreciate the beautiful countryside.
Our
lunchtime braai was interrupted by the arrival of Mother Christmas and one of
her many ‘angelic hunks’ who promptly set about distributing gifts. Some of the
partygoers were not particularly thrilled with what they had received from the
generous Mother Christmas and went about forcibly swapping their gifts with the
less boisterous members of the group.
All
in all the weekend was a golden moment for us, and
many thanks to Bushy and Libby for doing most of the organising.
You
probably over-indulged during the festive season so now is the time to burn up
those surplus calories. You would have received some months ago the list of
activities for the period January to March. Study the fixture list and select
those activities that interest you, then contact the appropriate leaders and
make the commitment. Coming up are a variety of day hikes, cottage weekends,
camping weekends and even cave hikes for the more adventurous. At the social
evening on 18 January we will show you photographs of a couple of the venues to
whet your appetite.
A
group of twelve lead by
Your
committee and leaders will be meeting shortly to put together the fixture list
for the second quarter. Should you have
any new ideas for future activities or a desire to do a particular hike we
would like to hear from you. Please do not hesitate to
contact a committee member or one of the leaders and don’t forget to visit our website (www.gohiking.co.za) periodically. Happy
hiking and kind regards,
WELCOME
Welcome to the following new members. We trust you will spend many happy hiking
hours in our company: Bernd & Almut Schutheiss; Delreeves & Jannaeus Lamech; Dheshree Chetty; Lisa & Megs
Robertson; Athol Samuel; Bernice Mastross; Sas
Armstrong; Terry Higginson; Mark, Dee, Gavin, David & Michael Brunner; Kevin & Wendy Sparks; Doug & Cheryl Roland, and many happy
returns to Hettie Randall.
SWEETWATERS
COTTAGE WEEKEND Christie
Exall
5 - 7 November
2010
The weekend 5-7th November was spent at Sweetwaters
Cottage with fellow hikers Keith (Leader), Margaret, Max, Chris, Brigitta,
Christine, Rose and I.
It turned out to be one of the most enjoyable weekends
for a long time. The weather was
glorious. On Saturday morning we set
off (with our one-legged leader) in misty and cloudy conditions. These conditions persisted all day. Wonderful for hiking!
We headed off towards FUN CAVE. Our aim was JOHN’S CAVE. The location is a guarded secret. We reached
this beautifully situated cave way before lunch. We had
time to spare so after having an early lunch we explored this lovely area. Our way back was also a matter of exploring, We descended
steeply down an unknown mountain side towards the Umzimkulu River, passing
Margaret’s VENUS POOL.
On Sunday we set off towards the THREE POOLS VALLEY
(this time with a legless leader!....after the
previous night’s over indulgence) and on towards two caves with very good rock
paintings. On our way back the four ladies decided to swim in the raw where we
found a natural Jacuzzi. The men were sent packing! After much screaming and
laughing we followed our legless leader and Chris back to the cottage. As tradition will have it, we tucked into
Margaret’s delicious waffles and syrup. Something not to be
missed.
Reluctantly we all headed home apart from Keith,
Margaret and Max who were due to hike to WILSON”S CAVE on Monday.
The mind’s eye goes back to the beautiful green
mountains, flowers in abundance, such as Phygelius aequilis, Cyrtanthus epiphyticus,
Hermannia cristata and Hermannia woodii, Erica cerithoides, Rhodohypoxis
baurrii, Pentanisia prunelloides, Hypoxis species, Berkheya species, Ledebouria
species and Eulophia ovalis and I for one cannot wait to go back again. Wild flower input by courtesy of Rose Dix.
Once more “THANK YOU” our legless leader for taking us
on the weekend’s wonderful hikes.
DIDIMA CAMP, NORTHERN
DRAKENSBERG
Brian
Henwood
12 – 14 November 2010
What I like about the
Didima camp site is not only the quality of the camp site facilities but also
the variety of hiking options available.
Eleven of us camped at
Didima over the 13/14 November weekend.
It was a ‘bring-a-buddy’ weekend so Mark and Irene Wisdom, Sandy Miles,
On Saturday Mark, Irene and
I chose to ride up Mike’s Pass on our mountain bikes while the other 8 hikers
chose to hitch a lift in a 4X4 vehicle.
After a 7km scenic ascent to the car park the party re-grouped on the jeep
track heading along the contour in the direction of the Cathedral Peak Hotel.
The lunch break was at a picturesque spot at the upper reaches of the Ndumeni
River before it tumbles into Rainbow Gorge.
Looking up to the escarpment we could see Castle Buttress just north of
Organ Pipes Pass.
The 14 km hike was not too
strenuous but after the steep descent into the indigenous forest near Ribbon
Falls the aching knees and sore toes were soon forgotten when ice cold
refreshments were served on the lawns of the hotel.
In the meantime the
mountain bikers had turned around and headed off back to the car park. I loaded my bike and drove down the pass
while Mark and Irene rewarded themselves with a speedy descent to the camp
site.
The Sunday morning hike was
via the Didima Resort to Rainbow Gorge where we enjoyed a short rest and a swim
in the river before returning to camp. All in all a rain-free, hassle-free and calmly energetic weekend.
BOSTON T
PARTY WEEKEND - 26-28 NOVEMBER 2010 Jenny Rooks
26-28 November 2010 Durban Ramblers Sunday Hike Co-Ordinator
Participants :- Keith (Sat
hike leader) & Margaret Ashton, Rose Dix, Margret Kirsten, Jenny Rooks,
Terry Higginson, Jon Stevens, Margie Forbes, Mark Nellist, Mary Clover, Max Ramseier,
Roy & Rose Glen, Marie Gurr, Neville Walmsley, Kevin & Gail
Knox-Davies, Ron & Christine Horley, Libby Deysel, Christie Exall, Cheryl
Sol, Harry Holderness & Stella Wells.
Altogether there were 24
participants from Midlands Hiking Club and Durban Ramblers Hiking Club this
week-end at Boston T Party; either camping indoors in tents or outdoors, or in
the 8-bedded dormitory plus 3 couples in double rooms. The week-end
started off with a torrential downpour late on Friday afternoon, but it also
provided a good opportunity for everyone to get to know each other as we all
gathered on Sue and Rory’s veranda with our drinks, waiting for the storm to
subside. All of us had opted for the catered meal on Friday night, so we
continued with the convivial atmosphere over an excellent supper provided by
Boston T Party in their candle-lit dining room. By the end of the evening
we were all good friends.
On Saturday we drove a
short distance to Mount Park Guest Farm, from where 23 of us climbed up to the
beacon on Nhlosane to see the wonderful 360⁰ panoramic views, then after lunch we had quite
a steep descent all the way down to the waterfall, which meant we had to come
up all the way again, nearly to the top of Nhlosane before tackling another
descent down to Everglades Hotel. The total distance was just less than
11 km, but according to Keith’s GPS we climbed over 750m in total. It was
a tough, challenging hike but extremely enjoyable in stunning scenery.
On Sunday morning, about 14
of us joined Rob King on a morning hike from Adamshurst, an indigenous nursery
and restaurant, which is 20 minutes away from Boston. Although we avoided
the infamous ‘Widow-maker’ hill on this hike, it was still quite challenging
for those who were already fairly stiff from the previous day’s hike. It
was a great hike to round off a lovely week-end, which was followed by a good
lunch at the restaurant.
Thanks to Keith and
Midlands for inviting Durban Ramblers to join in on their week-end. We
all believe that the joint week-end was a resounding success and Durban
Ramblers so enjoyed hiking with Midlands’ members. We hope that this is
only the start of many more such joint week-ends in the future. Keith is
talking about another week-end at Boston T Party next year, and we are already
looking forward to it.
PHOTOGRAPHS
All photographs of day
hikes and hiking week-ends can be viewed on our web site www.gohiking.co.za.
AN ALTERNATIVE VIEW OF THE MOUNTAINS Philip
Grant
Southern Secrets
Hiking and Backpacking
I have been a Professional Mountain Guide since 2005. My view and perception of the South African
Drakensberg Mountains and the Maluti Mountains of the independent Kingdom of
Lesotho have changed in ways that I could never have realised. Let me
explain…………
Once qualified as a guide, I imagined that I would swap my usual South
African hiking club companions with paying clients from overseas countries, and
that the hikes I would guide would be ones we generally all know well, or at
least variations of them.
To some extent this has been true, but like most South African hikers,
my knowledge of the mountains ended more or less at the Lesotho border. I had
previously done some road trips within Lesotho, including visiting the
obligatory Katse Dam and Mokhotlong, but my hiking experiences were still
limited by the uneasy suspicion I felt when meeting Basotho people, mainly
because of my own ignorance.
This started changing after I was approached by the owners of Sani Lodge
Backpackers to guide their standard trips into Lesotho, with their tour company
Drakensberg Adventures. These trips have evolved as an attraction for their
clients, who come from all over the world, and are of any age group, the main
essential requirement being an adventurous spirit.
All Drakensberg Adventures Lesotho trips involve as much interaction
with the Basotho people as possible, sleeping in traditional huts and eating
local food. They are designed to benefit as many people in the surrounding
communities as possible. All support local community tourism initiatives that have
developed and evolved within Lesotho. Examples are two and three day cultural
visits, two, three and four day pony trekking trips, and trekking trips where
kit is carried by pack animals, such as to Thabana Ntlenyana (3482m), the
highest point in Southern Africa, from a Basotho village.
I now had the new pleasure of introducing visitors to the Drakensberg
and Maluti Mountains who were prepared to pay for the sort of experiences that
we take for granted! By closely observing their open minded, enquiring,
interested and respectful interactions with the Basotho people, free of the
sort of antiquated mental baggage that unfortunately a lot of us South Africans
still carry around, and seeing how they were received and treated in return,
showed me very quickly how I had been missing out hugely up until then. Since
then, each visit to Lesotho adds more to my knowledge of the Basotho, their way
of life and their culture. The more I get to know them, the more I am learning
to understand and respect their age old traditional ways, and have now come to
a point where I can abandon my suspicions. I have gained enough insight, to see
for the first time in my life, how outsiders and the rest of the world must
appear to Africans.
As my knowledge of the physical terrain increases, in place of a limited
view of the Drakensberg as an escarpment ending at the Lesotho border, I now
see the whole Drakensberg / Maluti massif as one unit, with the South African
Drakensberg as the very beautiful wilderness edge to an area of such size and
potential as to be almost limitless in scope. Now the paths leading up the
Drakensberg passes which we as hikers are so familiar with make sense, and when
I see the paths continuing and disappearing into the Lesotho interior, I want
to follow them, to experience more of the tranquil, friendly, peaceful and
welcoming village life that I know is not far away. A Drakensberg high traverse
now seems to be like hiking against the natural flow of the mountains instead
of with it, and conversely a hike over the Drakensberg escarpment into the
Lesotho interior and back, makes absolute sense.
I am now increasingly frustrated when I overhear the general talk
amongst South African hikers of Lesotho and the Basotho, much of it based on
ignorance and suspicion, and dare I say it, plain old fashioned prejudice.
In response to an
obvious interest from overseas visitors, I set up my own Southern Secrets Cross
Border Cultural Hike (or Cross-Cultural Hike) in 2008, involving a night or
nights in a wilderness cave with a night or nights in a Basotho Village across
the border. The response has been very good, to the point that about half my
own trips are Cross-Cultural hikes.
I would like to share
my knowledge and experiences with South African hikers, as I know how it can
increase the appreciation of the potential of our mountain surroundings. To
this end I am putting together a three day (two night) version of my
Cross-Cultural Hike for interested members from the Mountain Backpackers Club
and the Midlands Hiking Club.
The hike would be;
·
Day
1: Hike to the village over the Drakensberg (18kms 950m ascent and 300m
descent, approximately 8hrs)
·
Day
2: All day to experience a day in the life of a Basotho Village. There would be
a guided walk around the village and the optional extra of pony riding.
·
Day
3: Hike back on the third day by a different route (16kms 650m descent,
approximately 7hrs).
The only costs would
be the two nights in the village (currently R160.00 per person per night dinner
bed and breakfast = R320.00, and tip for our village guide split between the
participants). Additional costs would only be for optional extras such as pony
trekking from the village and beers from the local shop! Numbers would be
limited to six at a time. Packs would be light as we would only have to carry
three lunches, personal clothing, warm and wet weather gear and a sleeping bag.
VALID PASSPORTS ARE ESSENTIAL as is an open, enquiring mind and a sense of fun
and adventure!
If anyone is
interested in such a hiking experience, please phone me to discuss – based on
the response, I will set a date . I reserve the right
to telephonically interview all prospective participants.
Useful contacts: Philip Grant
Southern
Secrets Hiking and Backpacking 033 997 1817 (Cell 082 417 9163
www.drakensbergadventures.co.za
Recommended reading: ‘Shepherd Boy of the Maloti’ by Thabo Makpa
Morija Museum and
Archives
ISBN
99911-632-3-9