SA Adventures (vol. 3)

The beach in Durban

    On Thursday morning (June 9) I crammed my earthly possessions into my backpack and biked hard to the train station. I missed the train by a minute, so I was fifteen minutes late to meet David, who had just lost his phone. In a moment of indiscretion we had planned to arrive at the airport fifteen minutes our departure time. And I had squandered that absurdly short buffer. The taxi driver obliged with a 140 kmph ride, and we regained fifteen minutes. We ran from check-in to security, then sprinted to the gate. We got into our seats ten minutes after arriving at the airport, and the flight left on time. When we arrived in Durban we tried to rent a car, and after three tries we found a place which would do so with a debit card. After running on the beach and getting a bit lost, we found our car, a hostel, and an Indian restaurant.
    At the recommendation of several people, we got bunny chow: a curry in a hollowed out half a loaf of bread. It was delicious, but we decided we needed a bit more food. While we waited the forty-five minutes it took for it to arrive, the table next to asked if we'd like to help them finish their food. They were a lively group of marketing co-workers, and we chatted about spices, language, politics, and endurance sports for nearly two hours. One of my favorite parts of traveling is all the lovely people I encounter and this was a really fun interaction.

    The next morning we set out before dawn in hopes of avoiding potential traffic caused by political protests. We stopped for gas in a small town three hours in, and when I started the car afterwards smoke billowed out of the hood. When I looked under the hood I saw that oil had poured out of the engine and was still rapidly dripping, though I couldn't identify the source. The owner of the cafe I parked in front of was very kind and let us use her phone to contact the rental company. And then we drank coffee (which I forgot to pay for, and had to come back when we passed through town again) and waited two hours for the replacement car to show up. We ended up with a much better car (the original was a .8 L, highway legal go-cart) and set off again.
 

We followed a small road through rolling brown hills and small villages to a trailhead. It was noon so we selected a short, 5 km hike hoping to get back before dark and find a place to stay. The trail led through grasslands and sun at first, with the escarpment in the background.

Rounding a head of land the trail dropped into gorge, and instead of sun-drenched grass we were suddenly surrounded by ferns, trees, moss, and a waterfall fed by a clear, cold creek. We followed the creek up the gorge, under trees and ferns, to a larger waterfall. After contemplation I decided I probably needed to shower under it, so I stripped and went for it. It was cold, but not paralyzing, and supremely refreshing.

 

 We decided to continue up the gorge instead of heading back, figuring there would be just enough daylight. We boulder hopped, passing Zion-esque slots (think The Subway) with clear green water in smoothly carved channels. In hopes of making a loop instead of backtracking (which I avoid on principle) I suggested that we could climb out the gorge, find a trail at the ridge, and follow it back. I was honestly a bit hesitant, not being familiar with the area, and therefore unable to accurately assess the risks. But David was for it, so we clambered out. The waist high ferns provided decent grip, but a barrier as well. The slope was almost too steep to climb, and when rock was exposed it was more bouldering than hiking.


    Eventually we made it out the "top" of the gorge, and it became slightly less steep, so that we could walk instead of using all four limbs. It was still like a long flight of uneven, very steep stairs, and the scramble to the top of the ridge was long and exhausting. We found a trail just where we expected, and decided to take the longer, more interesting route back. So we turned left and followed a barely perceptible foot track through the knee high waving grass. The hills were covered in the grass, with no trees, with little hint of their scale and steepness. From the ridge we had a much better view of the escarpment, the grassy hills gave way suddenly to sheer walls of dark rock, topped with rugged peaks where the escarpment rose 1000m. I realized how fittingly the native peoples named the range: Barrier of Spears.

    We walked briskly, not enthusiastic about trying to trace the footpath through unfamiliar mountains in the dark. As the sun dropped behind the range, beams streamed in around the peaks, highlighting their rugged crags. We decided to drop back into a gorge for the hike out. The trail appeared to end at the top of a cliff, and pick up at the bottom. But, it led down the face, more scramble than trail, and we jogged up the valley toward the exit. I glanced back at one point and sun had broken through the clouds and lighted up the largest of the cliffs, showing that there was color in the dark granite. We made it out just as it became two dark to see, having traversed around fifteen km, a few of those off trails.
    Sadly we did not have the gear to camp, much less with a low around freezing. So we drove back to town to find lodging, stopping at a hospital for David to look around. His experience working in a Ugandan hospital showcased pretty horrific healthcare. He was pleasantly surprised at the cleanliness of the facility, number of staff, and overall quality. KFC provided sketchy internet and ice-cream, and I found a reasonably priced lodging for the night. I was so tired I couldn't think, and was very happy when we found a hotel in the town where we had broken down earlier. The staff was incredibly friendly, and the owner loaned me his phone charger since I'd lost my adapter

    In the morning we headed to Royal Natal national park to hike to the base of the Tugela Falls, the highest in Africa. Clouds had moved in eliminating the view of the escarpment, so we hiked into the clouds and rain. We couldn't see the falls, but we did find a slot canyon, with beautiful greenish water in pools, sheer 25m walls, and lovely curves. Slot canyons are one of my favorite features, but we needed to head back to the car. Mostly drenched, we hiked and ran the 7 km back, and I stopped to think and listen to the rain at times.

Sunday held another incredible hike in a granite cathedral, up the escarpment above the clouds to the top of the second highest waterfall in the world. The hike began after half an hour of very steep and rough mountain road, which ended at a military outpost. The frost encrusted bushes and concertina wire, with freezing wind whipping over the ridge almost deterred us from the hike. But we decided to start in and if it was not wise or just too cold, we'd turn back. Fifteen minutes of brisk hiking carried us above the cloud, out of the wind, and the sun was actually quite warm. An hour in we took a side path over the ridge and got our first look at the escarpment. It was filled to the half with clouds, but the portion of the cliffs above still inspired awe.

I was eager to be at the top, so after brief admiration we set off up the trail. It became steeper, more boulder strewn until it ended at a fifty foot cliff. Fortunately for us, chain ladders gave passage up the two faces to the plateau above. Instead of hiking through rugged mountains, we topped the Bluff and strolled through rolling fields with a frozen brook running though.

The grassy, rolling plateau abruptly became sky at the margin of a cliff. Two thousand feet below, a sea of stratus clouds obscured their base. The granite walls stretch away and end jagged crags to form a cloud filled Amphitheater whose scale defies conception. I sat at the edge, my brain scrambling to process the grandeur. I envied the ibis which flew off the edge, suddenly three orders of magnitude higher off the ground. Sadly the pillowing clouds would not support me quite as well.
I tried to commit as to memory all the details: streaks of color in the dark granite, razor ridges, clean, cold air carrying the smell of sky, and the enormity of the scenery.

Tugela Falls begins its 948 m descent where we stood, falling in five cascades down the sheer face, including second highest single drop in the world at 411 m. There was very little water and it was frozen, but the view was still stupendous.

As I looked the clouds became shreds of poly-fill revealing the tortuous gorges the falling water has carved into the valley floor. The insurmountable ridges we had wound though the day before shrank to mere lumps from the vantage and comparison. Once again, my eyes failed me as I struggled just to focus in order to take in the view. I spotted the trail we had followed to the base of the falls, a mere thread along the now miniature cliffs.

On the hike down I probably missed out on the scenery as I continued to process the grandeur I had just experienced. Clouds swept up over the ridge, so I didn't get to see the Amphitheater again, and a troop of angry macaques motivated me to not linger at the lower viewpoint.







We headed back to Durban for David to catch his flight, and for me to find out if I had one. I couldn't look into my flights any more until the business day began in the US at 1400. So I started running. I first ran five km to a wharf, tried to get a gig as a deck hand on a yacht, was turned down, so I ran to the beach.
I spent two hours watching the waves, surfers and my footprints in the sand. I stopped at a coffee shop for some coffee, forgot to pay again, and had to re-run a long, steep hill to settle up. After 15 km of running I made it back to the hostel with loudly moo-ing calves. I did finally get my flights sorted but not until fifteen hours before their departure time.

The trip to Moz the next morning was uneventful, other than a no-show airport shuttle which stressfully forced me to try out Uber for the first time. I did realize while I was waiting My driver, Wisemann, was a South African grad student in statistics, and we had a lovely chat about culture, TV, and the pace of life in different cities. I arrived in Beira on time and had no issues with customs, much to my surprise.
And now I'm here, definitely in Africa for the first time in six years. Some things are eerily familiar from my time in Kenya and at the same time I feel completely out of place. So I'm helping out where I can, finding how I fit into the projects here, learning some portuguese, and getting to experience a very new church atmosphere. The vacation in SA was lovely and I am excited to get involved in the work here.

SA Adventure (vol. 2)

   Saturday was a bit more relaxed, after a nine and a half mile trail run on a mountain. Janelle (my sister-in-law) is training for a half marathon and David, Aram, and I joined her run. I haven't run on purpose in a long time, and even at a distance pace I was struggling. Aram, Sim, David, and I went to Kalky's for fish and chips for lunch. The run may have contributed, but we agreed it was probably the best fish we'd ever had. We spent the evening at a cold and windy beach with blown sand whipping over the beach wall to sting the face. The water is ~57 F, (about spring temp, for Missouri folk), so the wee folk would have endure a lot of cold to drown. Mostly we played on the playground: I jumped over stuff, Malachi worked on skipping rungs of the monkey bars, and I helped Ezra traverse some of the more intimidating equipment. Right before we left I noticed that Malachi was no longer on the beach adjacent to the playground. I scanned the coast and saw a half-size figure about half a mile down the beach. I chased him down and found out he'd been chasing a flock of gulls. "I chased them, and they would fly and land and I chased them again. And then I couldn't find you."

    We drove to Stellenbosch in wine country on Sunday and enjoyed the incredible scenery. After visiting a market/winery/carnival, we drove between towns while the wee folk napped. The car that Aram and Debbi borrowed is a convertible, and we cruised among the mountains and vineyards with the top down. It didn't even seem like real life.

The next vineyard (Babylonstoren) had extensive gardens with flowers, herbs, fruit trees, all organized in neat plots separated by hedges. It was quite lovely to just wander the isles as the sun lowered, and I even snagged a delicious guava from under a tree. Our supper gave me another reason to move to SA - we went to a "four and a half" star steakhouse, where the most expensive steak was around $17. Eleven dollars got me 300 g of the best steak I have ever eaten, flambéd in front of me with brandy.

    Monday Morning we spent at the beach, throwing a disc, rescuing from the freezing water, and playing with the kids. We even collected some mussels which Aram steamed for lunch. With copious amounts of garlic butter and lemon I could forgive the grit, and the fact that they were mollusks.
    After lunch Aram, Simanelle, and I hiked Chapman's Peak, the highpoint between Capetown and where we stayed. The road to the between Nordhoek and Capetown (which we took to the trailhead) is carved into the cliff around a point of coast. I was really hoping to bike it while I was there, but it never happened.

Chapman's Peak Drive

The 2 hour hike was fairly steep but on a well established trail. Sprinting the last half kilometer to the top turned out to be more than I should have undertaken, and my lungs complained loudly all evening. The top offered a view of the whole peninsula, as well as the far side of the bay. I would have liked to stay at the top until sunset, but we had to head back to rescue Debbi from her five vassals.

    Tuesday we decided we needed to climb Table Mountain; what else do you do when there are mountains within thirty minutes of the city? So Simanelle (with Malachi, Ezra, and Jude) and I set off to meet David at the park. David and I took one of the rougher non-technical routes to the peak - India Venster. After a bit of actual trail consisting of stairs, the rest of the hike was a rock scramble with over 700m of vertical gain in less than two km. Scrambling up the exposed face of the mountain offered a fantastic view as we climbed, and I stopped often to admire my surroundings. Simanelle took the easiest route as the were each carrying a child and Malachi (6) was hiking. Platteklip Gorge still had about the same altitude gain, but consists of 3 km of stairs instead of bouldering. I was amazed when they arrived at the top soon after David and I, having carried two kids all the way up.
    After some coffee and some pictures we headed down. Janelle took the cable car with the kids and David, Sim, and I decided to run down Platteklip. It was a rather thrilling descent. Never quite in control of my momentum, I used muscle tension to break my fall as I bounced from boulder to boulder. Other hikers added obstacles to avoid, as well as encouragement. People we passed cheered us on and inquired desperately about the distance to the top. The route was very exposed and the afternoon sun was intense, so we were quite glad to pause under a bush at a creek crossing and soak our heads. Amazingly, we made it to the bottom in one piece with no sprained joints and only a bit of lost blood.
   David and I had been thinking of hiking Lion's Head that afternoon, but after lunch I was already getting sore and we decided not to overdo it. Instead we did some research for our proposed trip to the Drakensburg mountains. Based on what little information we could find we decided to go for it and figure out the rest when we got there. We found cheap flights to Durban, where we planned to rent a car and drive the four hours to the Drakensburg Escarpment. Predicted weather was not overly fortuitous, with lows below freezing at night, but without camping gear we would have to stay in hostels anyway.

    The weather was lovely on Wednesday, so we decided to go surfing despite the fact that Sim and I could barely walk from our mountain run. For six dollars we could rent a board and wetsuit for the day, so Aram, Sim and I rotated surfing and hanging out with kids. We did our best to use the very small waves, and there was a lot of waiting, but I got up a couple of times. Malachi, Shadrach, and Priska had a wonderful time playing in the waves, and Shadrach was able to ride some of the tumbling mush close to the shore.
I borrowed a skimboard from a guy, slid around in the shallows, fell, and then talked with the group for a while. It turned out they are first year students at a seminary located right on the beach. Several of them were interested in development work fascinated by us three brothers all working in eastern Africa.
    After hanging out on the beach for seven hours or so, Aram, Sim, and the kids went to a restaurant overlooking the beach, and I ran ignoring my legs' increasingly vociferous protests. The sun had sunk behind the mountain, but I as I ran up the beach I escaped its shadow. The sun illuminated the waves and sand warmifying the colors and sharpening contrast. I ran until the sun set behind a farther range and turned followed back whatever footprints the rising tide had not erased. The others were still eating so I watched the waves which now attracted a crowd of sur, gracefully skimming the glassy faces of the breakers. When the much-anticipated ice-cream was finished and the children de-sanded we headed home.

South Africa Adventures (vol. 1)

    The past two weeks have been packed with activities as I tried to explore as much of SA as possible. The timing worked out so that I was able to visit my friend from Rosedale days, David Wolfer, as well as my brothers Sim and Aram on my way to Mozambique. I couldn't hope to recount two weeks of adventures in their entirety (and it would be rather dull to read), so I'll just hit some highlights.
The flights over were pleasantly uneventful and I got to talk at length with several former strangers. In the StL airport I met an older couple, Mary and Jerry, who are retired airforce and have traveled the world flying standby, and lived in more countries than I have visited. Anytime they had vacation time they'd just find a flight to Berlin, or Lima, or Dublin, or... And now they live in StL, he plays tennis and she hangs out with grandchildren and any other available youngsters. I had an overnight layover at the Joburg airport and joined a group of people sleeping on metal benches. I talked for two hours with José, an ethnically Portuguese south african guy in his fifties. It was fascinating to hear of the world he grew up in, where strong colonial influence, apartheid, and general racism was simply how things worked.
    I slept a few hours, found my flight, and arrived in Cape Town to sun streaming through gaps in the clouds to illuminate the mountains as we approached over the bay. My first impressions were of the contrasts: mountains and ocean, sun and storm, walled compounds with pools across the highway from sheet-metal shacks. I arrived with no means to contact or locate David, and no knowledge of the city. With six hours to kill I took a bus to city centre and walked to a coffee shop I had located with the limited airport internet. Truth Coffee roasts their own beans with the equipment in the middle of the steam-punk themed shop. A flat white livened me up significantly, but I still couldn't connect with David. So,when my half-hour of internet ran out, I set out for another Bean There, a coffee shop with chocolate confectionery. Their internet was dodgy, but I was able to find David and set out hiking across the city lugging all my earthly possessions. After nearly 48 hours of travel, an exhausted and coffee crashing me found David. We chilled for a bit then made chocolate chip cookies with all the wrong ingredients, I was accosted by his landlady, and we biked in the dark to one of the wealthiest areas of CT for small group.

Priska in cloud

  Through a similar process of public trans and wandering about cluelessly, I found Aram the next morning and went for a hike. I decided to move to CT when 30 minute took us from the beach to the mountains with views akin to Big Sur in CA. Priska (10 year old niece) and I struck off towards the mist shrouded peak, scrambling over rocks (an opportunity to teach some bouldering technique) and dodging prickle bushes. At the top there was no view, 40 mph chilling wind, and the thrill of looking down and seeing nothing but cloud. When we reunited with Aram it turned out that poor communication had resulted in him not knowing where we were, or that we were together. But all worked out.
    On the train back to town I was shepherded from an empty carriage into crowded one by a helpful guy concerned for my safety. So I learned the Afrikaans word for 'thank you'. I missed the train I was supposed to take, so I was late to meet David. And I got off three stations early, so I ran 4km in the falling dusk. David had left (me not having a phone and all) so I biked 10 km in the dark, alone, in traffic, on highways, and through alleys, in an unfamiliar city to find him. It was terrifying. And on the way my rear light fell off and broke. The trip was worth it though, and I had wine and cheese with five brilliant people from Denmark, Germany, Syria, and the US. It's wonderfully illuminating to spend time with people who are far more intelligent, well traveled, and globally aware than I.
I hiked another mountain the next morning with some of David's friends from his masters of public health program. The trail took us to a peak overlooking the Atlantic and Indian oceans, and they pulled muffins, tea, fruit, and turkish delight from their packs. So we had morning tea seated on boulders and discussed world politics, development philosophy, and surveyed the scenery.

From there David and I went to a township (low cost housing areas) where he tutors 6th grade math. We quizzed five boys for an hour, and I was again struck by the sharp contrast between the extremes of wealth and poverty present in such close proximity. We caught a train across the peninsula met up with Aram, Simeon, and their families, and cooked chicken cordon red-neck. After supper and the children were asleep, I probed Aram and Sim on their experience in development work, (15 ish years between them) and absorbed as much as I could. And thus concluded my second day in Cape Town.