BERGFREE ADVENTURES NEWSLETTER NUMBER 27 27November 2006 “Holland Visitors and Bushcat Safaris” Highmoor - Kamberg 21 November 2006 Dutch Trekkers From the Antbear Guesthouse - www.antbear.com Marie McCrae of Bushcat Safaris - www.bushcatsafaris.com , phoned and asked me to guide some of her overseas clients on a day trek to the Berg mountains. They were to stay at the Antbear Guest House near Mooi River , which is very central to many Drakensberg hiking areas. Meeting the party at the Antbear for breakfast , we then set off for Highmoor and Kamberg resorts. At Kamberg we reviewed the Bushman film show at the Rock Art Centre , then headed off to the famous Kamberg Shelter Cave . The day was cool and overcast , the mountain side was alive with flowers , new green grass and lots of water in the many streams. On the way we stopped for a rest , and a photo My International Guests Rymien and Thys ( both in their 70’s) and myself On reaching the Magical “Waterfall Shelter” another rest , and photos of the paintings behind the waterfall , which are believed to Incorporate magical powers to the water. A little further on we looked up one of the many valleys with fresh sparkling waterfalls after the recent rains. The long trek up to the paintings was done in splendid style by Rymien who showed extreme fitness for a person of her age – quite remarkable . Well done to her as she finally stood next to some of the Bushmen paintings in this famous cave On the way down Rymein just had to stop and have a drink of cool, fresh mountain water. From Kamberg we headed to the nearby Highmoor Park , where not far from the car park there is a miniature Grand Canyon , which is seldom visited by the visiting public. Then it was back to the cars and back to the Antbear where a few cups of good hot tea were enjoyed from the terrace An enjoyable day , especially as the weather was very kind to us. Thanks to Marie and her brother for bringing these folk all the way from Gauteng for this Drakensberg experience. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “The Canadian Connections” Highmoor 23 November 2006 Canadian Explorers Lynette, from the well known “Cleopatra Mountain Farmhouse” at Kamberg , booked with me to accompany a party of 6 Canadian visitors who would staying at Cleopatra for a few days , on a day walk experience into the nearby “Little Berg” . These guests were out from Canada for a Conference , and some sightseeing . On the way up to Cleopatra , the clear blue sky with white clouds hung above the Giants Castle range of mountains. Then the sign on the wall showed that I had arrived at Cleopatra Mountain Farmhouse After meeting the “Canadian Connections” – these folk came from cities spread over many hundreds of kilometers in Canada, we drove up to Highmoor to commence our days outing. The day was slightly cloudy , but very warm and humid , and after about 2 hours of walking , all were glad to get to a stream with a pretty waterfall , and cold water. Here some decided to rest whilst I went on with 2 “hikers” to a nearby cave , and Bushman Rock Art. These folk had a very relaxing time sitting b y the stream and cooling their feet in the cold mountain stream . The view from the top of the crest down into the valley with farm lands and dams was especially pretty in the cloudy overcast conditions. First a visit to the rock art , then a lunch break , then on to a nearby cave where many overnight hikers have spent the night in years past A rest in the cave , then a steep climb out to the ridge above to head for home .When we arrived back at the river where we had left some of our party earlier , they were gone – back to the cars Here Richard Washed his face to get the sweat off his brow then we pushed on to the car park. On arriving at the car 2 of the ladies were busy doing some Yoga exercises to loosen up their tired muscles Once that was done , a bottle of wine was opened to have a toast to an enjoyable day in the Little Berg. Well done to my hiking partners , you did great ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “The Misty, Rainey, Sunny Hike” Giants Castle – Langalibalele Pass 25-26 November 2006 MHC – S.A. Hikers Saturday the 25th November saw 8 of us (Keith, Margaret, Allison, Chantel, Jenny, Lisa, Gerad), meeting at Giants Castle gate – a wet , misty and overcast cold morning. We were heading for Bannerman’s hut, where we would overnight , then head along the contour path to Langalibalele ridge , up the pass to the Carbineers Memorial Cross , and back down again to Giants Main camp later on Sunday afternoon. The weather proved to be as bad as promised , mist , wet and cold. So with that in mind , we put our best foot forward and headed straight for Bannerman’s at full speed – no lunch break !!!!! We arrived at the hut in record time , wet cold and hungry . Wet clothes were changed for dry ones , and the hut soon looked like a laundry with wet clothes hanging from all available hanging space . Lunch was had as soon as we had changed ,then some had an afternoon sleep , others played cards and chatted away the afternoon. All agreed that the hut was a much better bet than a cave or tent in such conditions. Then soon it was time for supper by candlelight. As the water system in the hut was not working ????!!!! , so the indoor toilet was out of action . Sooner or later some needed to take to the outdoors to talk with nature. Not a very pleasant task in the rain – everything gets wet. Some brave souls geared themselves up , and put on a brave face to go out into the elements. Others held back until there was no more holding back – it rained and rained. Then at the last minute , armed with a shining spade, put on the RED fighting cape and headed out into the dark , wet, rainy night, where the long grass was lying bent with water and cold, and waiting for him to …….. Sunday morning showed promise of a good day , so we packed , had breakfast and left early for Langie’s Pass. With the heavy rain during the night , some of the little stream we had hardly noticed the day before , had risen considerably , and a helping hand was needed to cross at places. Later our hopes for a good day faded as the mist settled back down onto us , fortunately however , the slight rain was absent , so it made for a cool hike , but with limited visibility .When we reached the waterfall at the base of the pass, the mist was still thick , and one wondered – if we climbed the pass , would we see anything on the top ??? Two of the party decided not to go up to the top, so we left them with our big hiking packs, and armed with lighter day packs with lunch and rain gear we headed up the pass. The mist was thick , the going was easy as one could not see how high you had to climb . Up and up we went , all in a misty grey fog of damp air. Then as we were somewhere near the top , the mist started to thin , and we saw the tops of the mountain glistening in the thin mist above us. Looking back down , a wall of mist hid the valley below . Soon we broke through the mist into a totally different world, blue sky , incredible flowers , and the top of the pass just above us – or something like that. We pushed on , and on getting to the summit we looked back across a white sea of cloud that covered the whole land for as far as one could see , and on the right , the “Giant” of Giants Castle lying on a white mist of cloud. We soon were at the cairn of the Carbineers Memorial, for my hiking companions this was the first time they had been to this place. A battle site that happened 30 October 1973 – known as the Langalibalele Rebellion that took place at the top of this pass , now called Langalibalele Pass. Lunch was had here , a good look at the site and scenery was enjoyed , with the incredible view of a vast sea of white cloud below . It was time to start the long trek down the mountain to meet up with the others of our party at the waterfall , pick up our backpacks , and keep on dropping down the mountain ridges until we reached Giants camp below , a drop of some 1200 meters and some 12 kilometers away. To the hikers from the Midlands Hiking Club , well done to you all , and thanks for a good week end ( for more info about the Midlands Hiking Club – based in Howick , KZN , visit www.gohiking.co.za ) As a gentle reminder make sure that your footwear is suitable for the conditions , and your feet ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~