Into the 'Berg

The entrance gate to Injisuthi

I have just returned from a fantastic three days in the Drakensberg mountains.  I had the pleasure of being invited to help out with a camping and self-development trip.  This is a three day, two night, camping trip that is organised by the Wilderness Training Programme every two years for Waterfall College year 11 and 12’s. 

This year we had a large group.  The hike was headed by Adam White, and alongside me were the three other guides from African Quest, preparing for their Zambian mission by spending a month here in South Africa. We were to watch over the safety of 44 students, take them up to the Grindstone Caves in Injisuthi.  The area is in the northern section of the Golden Gates area of Ukhahlamba Drakensberg Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and wilderness area. One of just two UNESCO natural heritage sites in South Africa, the Drakensberg is a stunning topographical feature of sandstone cliffs and crags, with rich highland grasslands and crystal clear streams.

The hike up to the Grindstone Caves was a challenge for some, taking four hours to get there in the heat of the afternoon.  We arrived to a pair of caves, the boys squishing into a low roofed dome with a spluttering waterfall offering drinking water and cold showers.  While the group was briefed at this first cave, I pushed on to set up at the girls cave, and steal a quick shower at the waterfall there before the gaggle arrived.  I slept up the top end of the girls cave with my panga and can of mace under my pillow, though I don’t know how much use I would have been if there really was an invasion by baboons or basotho’s.

the Grindstone caves are tucked away under the ledge to the left

young berg adder, maybe

After a very difficult night sleep, thanks to a terrible unnamed snorer nearby, I woke just a little grumpy.  The dawn sun pouring on the mountainside warmed the evaporating dew, and my mood, and we readied the group for a day of activities. After breakfast we started off descending a few hundred meters to the river, where frigid berg water thundered off a waterfall into a shallow plunge pool.  The refreshing dip was followed by a sweaty return up the mountain to the caves. After lunch, the group sidled along the ridge a short distance to another open overhang.  Here were a few beautiful bushman paintings, unfortunately extensively vandalized from many years of abuse and thieving hands.  Adam and I then took a group of seven keen lads on a more challenging 10 km mountain hike to a ridge summit.

On this particular hike, while trudging along the track, single file in peaceful quiet, I began to enjoy the rhythmic breathing, the quiet introspection, and the majesty of the mountains.  I reflected on the amazing months spend hiking and raptor surveying in solitude in the Mongolian mountains.  I recalled a particular ritual performed by the mongolians, and it has been so long, too long, since I last did this.

A feature of mountain passes and summits in Mongolia is the presence of magnificent ovuu (cairn of stones).  The Ovuu are piled high with stones carried from lower down, cluttered with bottles of vodka, and wads of tugrik (money) as offerings.  Tied to sticks embedded within the ovuu are streams of blue silk, flapping into the winds in much the same way as the more familiar Tibetan prayer flags do.  Making offerings to the Eternal Blue Sky and to bless the four winds, while walking three times around the ovuu, for past, present, and future, this was a regular ritual performed while I was there.

Now, perched atop this particular miniature summit in Injisuthi, sits an embryonic ovuu of its own.

a magnificent mongolian ovuu

a uKhahlamba Drakensberg ovuu

The few days was over too quickly and yesterday morning, we packed up the crew and descended back to the main camp.  Had a great lunch (it only takes two days to get over a staple diet of cold cans of spaghetti meatballs and energy bars), and pushed the students back onto the bus back to Durban.

I hope its not too long before returning to The Berg, and hopefully next time to challenge myself on an epic hike.  Next time I might also have time for some birding and wildlife watching. Next time maybe, I will get my Bearded Vulture and Drakensberg Rockjumper.

the adventure group descending the ridge summit

Waterfall College descending from the caves on friday morning

The Teacher Within

This semester I have taken on a lab demonstrating role for the second year Vertebrate Biology course.  There will be a three hour practical lab every week until November, most of which, as expected for a vertebrate biology course, are dissections.  I recall that during my undergraduate year this was the one paper that I aced, and received a letter from the lecturer for that course suggesting I pursue postgraduate research in this field.  Well well well…

Our second prac held last week was the one fieldtrip for the semester.  The group of 70-something students went down to the uShaka Oceanarium for the afternoon.  I was well impressed with the facility there and they had spectacular tropical reef tanks, as well as covering a variety of marine communities.

Though I’d never seen a dolphin show before and didn’t know what to expect – sadly I could only find its analogy as the aquatic version of a chimpanzee tea-party.  Admittedly I wish I knew more about the needs required, and those fulfilled, in this environment before making such a bold statement.

It is as one of the fortunate few who has had the opportunity to interact with dolphins at various times (swimming with spinner and bottlenose dolphins in Mauritius, having Common dolphins just a fingertip away riding in the bow wave of our family boat in the Bay of Plenty, and seeing large pods of Dusky dolphins frolicking off the Kaikoura coast), that this form of entertainment is compared against.
Sadly, one naturally has a weaker emotive response looking into the eyes of an enormous ragged-toothed shark in a similar sized aquarium.

My group investigating the open ocean fishes

Pineapplefish Cleidopus gloriamaris

In the same week, I threw myself into the deep end in an attempt to assist with a school camp.  The Padbury family run the Wilderness Training Programme; adventure activities for schools and other groups such as Africa Quest.  This was the first camp run for this particular Kloof school, and for many of the school kids it was their first night.  So it’s not too surprising that keeping 83! Grade 4’s (9-10 year olds) on task and out of trouble was going to be a challenge. 

Arriving at Southport on the South Coast at midday, they started out as a most unruly bunch.  Though we kept the activities running until 9pm on the first night - finishing with 'stalk the lantern', which on a full-moon night was quite impossible for the wee grommets.

The next day we had them worked out, and it was great to end the camp with a good couple of hours on the beach.  Not common in New Zealand, but widespread here as far as I can tell, are these concrete splash pools in the upper tidal zone.  The morning was made most memorable by the two pods of (maybe) bottlenose dolphin’s cruising the surf zone, and out on the horizon one or two humpback whales performing spectacular full breaches.