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South Africa – Mini-METHS in the Cederbergs– Monday 5th to Friday 9th November 2018

Participants: Martin and Miriam Horrocks, George and Val Wallace, Lloyd and Janet Woods, Mick and Judy Ireson, Richard Philips, Pauline Hutchins, John MacDonald, David Leishman, and in 3-bottle spirit Titch and Yvonne Robb.

Report by Martin Horrocks. Additional comments by Miriam in italics. Photos by John MacDonald, Janet Woods, et al?

The last week in October saw temperatures around Cape Town hovering around 33°C with those further north much, much hotter, making us think we might be in for a right old roasting in the Cederbergs. Amazingly, when we pitched up at Sanddrif on Monday Nov 5th it was 4°C, and so, all-woollies-on time. We had a dozen ardent METHS fans coming together that evening for what turned out to be a fantastic Meet. On Tuesday we hiked up to the amazing Maltese Cross pinnacle which looms in solitary splendour over the high plateau, a geological conundrum. The scenery is spectacular and as November is spring ‘Down South’ the unique flora was full of interest.

Early on in our walk, Richard noticed a headless rabbit, “And it was fresh!”; thus we looked around for signs of a lone leopard and we did find some spore, but it was old.

The Cross impressed us all, even those who’d been before. This time we walked beyond the Cross to find ourselves in a bog with hundreds of Red Hot Pokers. Judy and I saw the splendidly bright male Malachite sunbird, feeding on one of their flowers.

Mick bought each of the two dining groups a bottle of Cederberg Merlot which was perfect for Martin’s bolognese meal.

Wine tasting from Titch’s first bottle: Warwick was given 1 out of 5, “rough”.

On Wednesday we drove over to Kromrivier to hike the Krom River valley path along to the magical Disa Pool. Beneath the tumbling waterfall a good number of us braved the icy waters, with like, 30 secs being a brave effort. After lunch we took the higher contour return path back, spotting Grey Grysbok in this leopard conservation area. Half way along we found why they now need conserving: one very efficient looking leopard trap. From there we steep-descended to the curiously dome-shaped shade-haven of Kromrivier Cave, an ancient bushman abode. Continuing down we crossed the cool, clear river again to meet the valley path back to the cars. One of the more stunning plants we encountered along the river was a lupin-like tall white flowered heather that we identified back at the Environment Centre as Erica daphneflora, would you believe it. Doesn’t that young lady get around! After another fine 6hr walking day, tea in the shade was our drink of choice, for a while.

The crystal clear Krom was high this year, foaming merrily over the red-brown slabs. This time our path was familiar to some, so we could focus on the plants. My favourite was the shower of yellow flowers on every pea bush, contrasting nicely with the papery, tan flower cases and bright green leaves.

Near any water, we found light purple clusters of roundish flowers held up by a long slender stem. We also found Erica daphniflora, and vowed to tell Daphne about it.

John’s chicken dinner was delicious, and miraculously followed by some Kommetjie-made ice cream with fresh berries and John’s own shortbread.

Wine tasting from Titch’s second bottle: Beyerskloof was given 5 out of 5, "mellow and very smooth".

Unexpectedly, the Wolfberg Cracks, our intended last day hike, were still closed for post-fire vegetation recovery. So, on Thursday we ended up exploring things anew. We kicked off with the Lot’s Wife Trail. This winds along through staggering rock formations. We soon met Lot and his pillared wife and many other formations that probed our imaginations for animistic comparisons. And the flowers were absolutely beautiful, purple patch after purple patch of iridescent blooms. The geology hereabouts has a long and ancient history. Old offshore sedimentary sandstone beds have been uplifted and eroded over huge expanses of time. The original beach strata cracks horizontally and uplifting causes vertical splitting, creating channels for water percolation, carrying iron-rich salts that get absorbed, to clad great pillars with a resistant, protective scaling. As the soft unprotected surrounds erode away, these giant iron-clad columns remain.

And with the day warming up, well into the 30’s, we hiked off to Malgat Pool, probably my all-time favourite swimming place. This time the chill was less formidable and we were into minutes of submergence at this magnificent spot. In the afternoon we drove over again to Kromrivier to obtain a permit to visit Truitjieskraal conservation site. This proved to be another rock wonderland, enhanced by a San rock art site, and insightful environmental explanations along the trail.

Just beyond the Maltese Cross road, we found the track where we could park and climb to explore fantastic columns and eroded sandstone shapes that suggest birds, people, turtles and even Biblical figures.

The second, bigger Malgat Pool was beautifully cool and refreshing. Mick dove straight in after Martin, others went in more gingerly. Most swam across to the gushing waterfall, only to find a strong current that pushed them back. Our walk back in wet suits was quite comfortable. Lunch for us was Pauline’s salad and her seeded rolls, with a bit of left-over chicken.

Trudy's kraal in Kromrivier. The Afrikaans name is wonderful: Truitjieskraal. The name goes back to the time of sheep farming in the area and is based on a nickname for a shepherd’s sweetheart who was called Grenelda. We found it was a quieter, somewhat smaller version of Stadsaal. Both were once a place of worship for the San people, and later the Koi-koi who taught the San how to make clay pots and iron tools. Trudy’s kraal has more San paintings and many more information boards, sensitively placed to tell the visitor of the plants and animals once used by the San people and their conservation customs. For example, they kept dried herbs in turtle shells and water in ostrich shells. They remained few in number and had a great respect for their environment. As they later mixed with the Koi-koi, their careful conservation remained.

We were a self-catering party and sure did eat and drink very well, especially that Cederberg red. For our last night we celebrated with a restaurant meal at Kromrivier. Bobotie was well washed down thirsty gullets, and much appreciated!

Wine tasting from Titch’s third bottle: Kleine Zalze was awarded 4 out of 5, "excellent bouquet but still a little young".

All in all, Sanddrif, in the dramatic Cederberg Mountains, proved to be an excellent venue for a group METHS Meet.