Trip Report:
Two Weeks in South Africa, January 1999
Richard's Version
Day 13
Wednesday, 1/20-
We got up a bit earlier today so we could get to George in time to catch the Outeniqua Choo Tjoe. It was raining a bit, but not too bad. Good day to sit on a train.
Unlike the train at Jamestown (see our Gold Country trip report), this one is actually coal fired. This became immediately obvious when soot started to rain down on us through the open windows. We were filthy by the end of the trip!
The train route runs through the hills to the coast, then follows the 5 lagoons to Knysna. We got some very pretty views along the way (as well as seeing several 'informal settlements' with lots of waving and shouting children). Glad we didn't sign up for the complete trip though. We only went about half way before catching the return train at Sedgefield, and even by then we were thinking it was getting a little repetetive (MTV generation I guess).
It was raining again when we arrived back at George, but we were determined to visit the Storms River Mouth in the Tsitsikamma National Park, so we climbed in the car and started down the N2. Tsitsikamma is on the Garden Route a good deal east of Knysna, so we had a couple of hours of driving to get there. It was pouring down rain the entire way, if anything getting worse as we got closer to the park. I was getting grumpy from the stress of driving in the rain and not having any idea of how far we had to go. After the N2 turned into a toll road (6.50 Rands) we were even more confused, as that wasn't mentioned in any of our guidebooks. We were just thinking we must have passed it when we saw the sign.
As we arrived at the entrance gate, the guard warned us that it was raining (gee, really?), but we paid our 10 Rands each and he opened the gate for us. Almost the second we passed the gate the sun began to come out, and by the time we arrived at the rest camp and trailhead it was already getting quite warm.
Since it was around 2, we were starving. We got chicken sandwiches and chips at the fast food window of the rest camp store, and sat by the water while we ate. The chicken was a large deep fried McNugget type patty, nothing to write home about.
After snorking, I mean eating, our lunch, we started down the trail to the river mouth and suspension bridge. I had brought my hiking stick and was ready for rough trail, but instead the entire way was on a wooden boardwalk, which I guess is more environmentally friendly than an erosion prone trail. The path went up the hill through beautiful forest and followed along a high contour with occasional breathtaking views of the rocky beaches below. Then it dropped straight down (via steep steps) to about 20 feet above the water, where the suspension bridge crossed the river mouth.
Rather than take the bridge right off, I wanted to visit a cave that was a bit up the path. It was occupied prehistorically, and there was supposed to have been an excellent excavated midden face to see. Well, the cave was big and impressive, but there was nothing left of the excavation. The mud on the ground did have shells in it, making it a midden, but there wasn't anything else but a sign describing the finds. Being the foolhardy sort, I decided I wanted to go back into the cave, which sloped down rapidly and went back a good 30 meters or more. I quickly learned that damp midden and bat guano are quite slippery, as I slid down to the bottom of the cave. I warned Alison not to try and follow (not that she had any intention of it, but I had to pretend to be noble), and let my eyes adjust to the dark so I could try and climb out. The ever increasing squeaking signalled that the bats did not appreciate me disturbing their slumber. I snapped a couple pictures in the dark hoping to catch a bat in flight (there were a couple buzzing around), then started climbing back out. I discovered that all the rock edges were razor sharp and an inch thick in guano, but I still managed to climb out. I was very glad I had a bottle of disinfecting handwashing solution in my backpack (alcohol by any other name) to scrub with after I made it out. Mycotic infections are not my idea of a good time.
Despite my fear of heights (which is conveniently shunted aside whenever there is something neat that needs doing), we crossed the narrow, bouncy suspension bridge across the river mouth. Pleased with our accomplishments, we crossed back and headed up the trail again, planning on taking a side route (off roading at last!) to one of the rocky beaches. On the way we saw more Dassies, this time actually climbing in bushes eating leaves.
Down on the beach the views were quite spectacular. The beach itself was made of very large pebbles, and there was a good deal of driftwood piled up at the brush line. The waves would come shoving through channels carved between sheets of rock, rattling the pebbles as it washed over and back. Quite a neat sound. We climbed around on the rocks a bit, marvelling at the brilliant orange lichens and precariously balanced slabs, and then headed back. We hadn't really noticed just how far down we had come, because by the time we had scrambled back up to the boardwalk we were quite winded and I was sweating like a pig (I know, pigs pant, they don't sweat).
We rehydrated back at the restaurant/store, and relaxed while watching the tide come in. By now it was 5:30, and I wasn't looking forward to driving in the dark, so we started the drive back.
On our way to the park on the N2 we had noticed that there was a non-toll alternative on our way, so this time before we got to the toll gates we took the exit for the R102. This turned out to be a wonderful side trip. Whereas the N2 runs in a straight line acorss the tops of the bluffs that line the ocean (always far enough inland not to see the ocean), the R102 was the early rural route that snaked down around the steep canyons to the bottom, where it crossed the river on a small bridge, then snaked up the next hill and down into the next canyon. Though the road was narrow and winding, the views were absolutely spectacular. Truly gorgeous gorges! (I've been waiting for the chance to finally write that down!). We stopped half way up to admire one canyon, then stopped again at the top of one bluff to look down the canyon leading to Nature's Valley and the beach beyond (it was near here that the R102 rejoined the N2. It rejoins on the opposite side of the N2, so at some point we must have passed beneath it, but I was too busy weaving to notice). Very nice!! In all, the detour probably added nearly an hour to our trip home, but it was well worth it, and I'd recommend it!
We made it back to Wilderness right around sundown (the sun was setting about 8:30 at night). We felt pretty grotty, so we decided to just grab some nibblies at the grocery store rather than going to a restaurant for dinner. This isn't a good idea when the store is so tiny, and you've been hiking all afternoon. We ended up with cookies and chips for dinner, not exactly healthy, but we needed the salt. We got in bed a bit earlier than usual that night!
Day: 1 -
2 -
3 -
4 -
5 -
6 -
7 -
8 -
9 -
10 -
11 -
12 -
13 -
14 -
15 -
Notes/Resources
Back to Richard's Home Page
Last Updated 16 April, 1999
Send Comments to: rlindstrom@earthlink.net