The following is about a trip I undertook with my friend Dom across the Southern Hemisphere during the winter of 1999. Rereading my journal about our amateur explorations makes me smile and remember things that had started to fade…anyway read on !
7 December 1998 and we began the walking odyssey we had initially set our sights on ! The Rhebuck Trail is a loop of 30 km round some of the most dramatic scenery that can be found in the Golden Gate National Park of South Africa, allowing hopeful spotters a number of chances to catch a range of wildlife – so we imagined anyway. Setting off from our base camp at the park entrance, our route followed outcrops and peaks with harsh sounding Dutch names – Die Brandwag and Bosklof stick in my memory. DomÂ’s measured pace seemed to be easy enough to cope with, despite the ever increasing sun light and a large pack set upon my back…
A yummy (!) chicken noodle lunch, eaten al-fresco on a hot little outcrop looking down out of our valley, gave us a view of where we were heading. We could see the Wilgenhof (youth hostel) and the Klein Caledon Rivier (Little Caledon for those non Dutch speakers), which we were unsure on how to cross. Recent flooding in the past months had swept debris and our trail downstream – lack of choice forced us to ford this river near to the main valley route of the R712. The final 3 kms up a side valley towards our overnight hut was uneventful enough to leave me feeling surprisingly fresh from what should have been a tiring day. A 30 minute foot dip in the nearby Ribbok Spruit felt almost as good as the oft desired long, cold lager ! Ominously my earlier bravado was weakening, as the earlier sunshine began to extract its own revenge upon my exposed flesh
Alone we sat in the darkening eve waiting for the impressive looking braal to fire our food, when the heavens opened with a wild thunder storm, hurling lightning and rain at all below it. Our valley was lit continually and our BBQ soaked thoroughly !! Along with trails of rain escaping ants, we sat in the hut munching on a gas heated gourmet alternative of tinned sausages and baked beans – Dom’s foresight again proving invaluable.
The next day was physically one of the longest dayÂ’s my life ! It began with us leaving the hut at 7.00 am and ploughing through the harsh undergrowth surrounding the Ribbok Spruit. My water cooled legs & feet failed to counter the stinging running across my upper torso and the mere thought of more sunburn forced drastic measures – a long sleeved top, a baseball cap and a somewhat smelly, old white t-shirt wrapped around my neck. Dom led me onwards through 4 sore kms and somehow away from the main trail – vegetation and flooding doing their worst once again. A tortuous alternative took us up and down the hills that surrounded the Generaalskop – a 2732 metre high and very cloud free mountain that sat looking contemptuously down upon us. We did spot Black Wildebeest and Eland as they scampered before our weary trudging but at this point I wasnÂ’t interested in making any sort of David Attenborough documentary ! With his experience of hiking, Dom suggested we move up the GeneralÂ’s flanks to find our elusive trail but a sullen 30 minutes on my part almost had me insisting that we took a more appealing trail that seemed to hug the contours of the lower flanks. Eventually this trail, probably created by a Rhebuck, reunited us with the trail proper and all my thoughts of doom & gloom fled ! Dom thought that we had sped our way through the remaining 3 kms back to base camp at Glen Reenen 90 minutes. I was on autopilot and ignored even the chance of a swim in the lower reaches of the Buffelspruit. Never did hut no. 1 look so appealing ! Would I undertake such a journey again ? Once I had rid myself of my various aches and as long as I was better prepared physically, I reasoned that the masochistic streak within me would argue yes ! The rest of me would just roll my eyes heavenward or rather Ribbokkop wards !!
For more information about national parks in South Africa see – http://www.sanparks.org/