'WINTER' IN CAPE TOWN

I thoroughly enjoyed the variety of weather and tranquility of my second Cape Town winter. Cape Town has a mediterranean climate with winter rainfall from around May to August and long dry hot summers over October to April. From July on, the annual display of 'fynbos' (fine bush) flowers begins gradually to replace the dry summer bush. Locals call it the 'green season'. This winter began very late which was bad for the water situation. It was also very mild, with temperatures mostly oscillating between 14°C and 25°C ( 57°F and 77°F). Sunny warm days then a few rainy ones. It is often fairly easy to escape the rain by heading an hour or two into the interior, behind the mountain ranges. Also if it's raining on one side of Cape Town, it is likely that the sun is shining on the other. The mountain range (the Cape Peninsula National Park) that the city and suburbs wrap themselves around, can create four seasons in one day. And four seasons in a month is normal! Last year I hiked up Lion's Head at midday on the 21st of June - mid-winter's day, in shorts, in a sweltering 27 degrees C ( 84F). Twenty-five days later on July 16th 2002, Rick and Tamyra from Atlanta and I summited Table Mountain in a brief snow blizzard.

We had a spell of snow this August and again in October. People headed for the mountains to marvel, play and ski. Snow is a novelty in most parts of South Africa. Several feet of it fell on top of Table Mountain and lots in the Cape fold mountains - Stellenbosch winelands, the Cederberg ... some snow flakes were even reported in the City and Simon's Town on the peninsula - apparently a first.

Other winter activities included: whale watching, warm weather braais (BBQs) and 'fire crawling' around the peninsula with friends on the cold days. 'Fire crawling' is hopping from one warm hearth to another on a chilly winter's day. A guide friend and I managed three on one afternoon. Starting at the Boulders Beach Guesthouse with hot chocolate & whiskey, then tea and red wine with Frans, the owner and his family at their house overlooking False Bay. Finally, dinner and gluhwein with family friends and artists in Hout Bay.

In South Africa we make gluhwein using rooibos (red bush tea), red wine, oranges with cloves, nutmeg, etc. Very good! Rooibos (or 'Red bush' pronounced Roy - like the name and 'bos' with the o as in 'or') 'tea' is an aromatic herbal infusion made from the leaves of an indigenous bush, Aspalathus linearis, found in the Cederberg mountains of the Western Cape It is known for its health properties, apparently has more anti-oxidants than green tea, has no tanin and no caffeine. It is now available in many parts of the world, and is good drunk hot or cold - and in gluhwein!

At the end of May my guests for a Cape Peninsula trip were Deborah and Richard Casillas from Santa Fe. As we were walking up to Cape Point, a baboon rushed past and grabbed the plastic bag with water, camera etc. that Richard had been carrying. Fortunately, unlike other muggers, baboons are only after food! He stopped a few yards away, tore open the packet, spread the contents on the ground, saw no food and ran off leaving the camera unharmed.

Unfortunately the Cape Point baboons are notorious for grabbing food from people. This stems from tourists who, keen to get close-up photos, attract them with food. Unfortunately this instills a fearlessness of humans and undesirable behaviour patterns. This is my second baboon mugging. One cannot have animals with incisors longer than a lion's grabbing ice-creams from people's hands. People who intentionally feed them get fined and sadly if the behaviour becomes too aggressive, the baboon is shot.

In August I flew up to Johannesburg to buy a Land Rover from my long time friend and safari colleague Vaughan Blackman who has gone back to studying for the time being. The Land Rover is well kitted out for safaris, with comfortable coach seats at the back, roof rack, winch, etc. Vaughan took some friends of mine from Santa Fe on a Botswana safari in this Landy back in 2001, so it is well trained too. Being so big and solid, a friend likened it to a rhino and the name seems to have stuck.

Next I persuaded my Mom, Jean, (who is part of the African Essence Team) to join me on a 10 day trip from Joburg to Cape Town via the Kalahari desert, Namaqualand and the Cederberg mountains.

The Kalahari is in a far flung north western corner of South Africa, and extends into both Namibia and Botswana. One of the 'Peace Parks' - the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park incorporates parts of all three countries.

On our way to the park we stayed at Prof Ann Rasa's rustic bush camp set in red Kalahari dunes. 'Prof' is an entomologist. She took us on a wonderful walk early one chilly morning. We found heaps of spoor (animal and insect footprints), including that of a female aardvark! At Prof's house an orphaned meerkat or 'suricate' charmed the visitors with its antics.

Following morning - sunrise & moon set

Mom and I celebrated my 33rd birthday out at the bush camp among the rosy dunes. (Directions: Follow the road past 4 dunes, turn right and drive about 2 kms. Bush Camp is on the left.) Springbok bounded away as our Land Rover approached them, and gemsbok, ostriches and hartebeest watched us from the crests of the dunes flanking the track.

It was a beautiful evening with big purple rain clouds on one side and the western sky was bright orange, and to top it all, a full moon. Later the land was bathed in soft white light and we could see animals drinking at the water hole across the valley. Mom and I cooked dinner on the fire, drank wine and sat talking and staring at the bright starry sky. Not much beats the myriad display of southern stars seen through the crystal-clear desert air.

It was easy to find the bushmen (as they call themselves), since members of the family sell necklaces, mobiles, bows and arrows and other wares made from Camelthorn seed pods, ostrich eggshells, duiker horns and sinew at their rustic roadside stalls. They had a fire going and on seeing my Land Rover, one of Dawid's brothers, Hendrik presuming I was a tourist began to strip off the western jacket that was keeping him warm to show his traditional skins and golden nakedness beneath. I shouted out to him to keep it on and that I was looking for Jason and Dawid. Since it had been the monthly pension day everyone was a little tipsy and had large packages of groceries, so we all piled into the Landy and took the 4x4 road to their hut deep in their hard-won land.

On the way the family members regaled me with stories and songs. They are lovely warm people, joking and friendly.

KGALAGADI TRANSFRONTIER PARK (Previously the 'Kalahari Gemsbok National Park')
We spent two nights in the park and had many great sightings of the Kalahari wildlife. One highlight was the pride of lions and their four playful cubs which we came across on the first afternoon. The adults were lying around catching the warmth from the last rays of sun while the cubs chased each other, tumbled and pounced tirelessly. The lions were gold, the shadows blue. I am embarrassed to say that I missed this great photo opportunity because I didn't know how to operate the camera I had borrowed from my sister. I thought it was broken, but it had a macro lense on!

TRAVEL TIP: Know how to operate all the equipment you bring before you need to use it!

However, I did take this shot of a lioness' spoor at the picnic site showing where she had walked past the night before.

The Land Rover has an excellent height advantage over other vehicles for game viewing. It is very comfortable and seats 6, each with a window seat, and lots of space inside.

We saw African wild cats four times in three days - I have only seen one before. They are fairly rare, though obviously thriving in the park. We watched one of them stalking for quite a long time. Another beautiful sight was a caracal, or 'rooikat' ( red cat) which is the African lynx. As its name implies it is russet red with delicate black tufted ear hairs. It seemed surprised and disappointed that I had spotted it among the scraggly bushes, and slunk off.

We also watched hunting bat-eared foxes and were visited by a dainty Cape Fox at our bungalow in the evenings and a mongoose and ground squirrel during the day. The dry desert vegetation somehow supports the many herds of gemsbok, springbok and wildebeest that we saw widely spread throughout the Park.

Also an abundance of birdlife - among others we saw several martial eagles, pale chanting goshawks and a huge flock of several hundred double banded sand grouses that wheeled about in the air and then descended on a water source en masse before exploding off into the air again. Further on I spotted two spotted eagle owls roosting in a tree. A frequent sight is the cory bustard, a strange bird growing to the height of over 5 feet, and unlike the ostrich can fly.

Mom and I then drove south through Namaqualand, the wildflower region. Did you know that South Africa is the origin of hundreds of the freesias, lilies, irises, clivias and other bulbs now found all over the world?

Late August and September is spring and usually the peak time to see vast fields of bright Namaqualand daisies and thousands of bulbs. This year the Cape rains were very late, and so spring was late in arriving too. In fact winter wasn't over at all!

We woke up deep in the Cederberg mountains to find a couple of inches of snow covering everything!

This trip was a great success. We found wonderful venues with friendly and attentive hosts. The people are passionate about their neck of the woods, their stories and knowledge are fascinating and their enthusiasm and hospitality make it difficult to leave.

MORE SERENDIPITY & NEW FRIENDS

On returning to Cape Town I met the talented artist Sarah Mackay, whom I had been told 'I must meet' by several people and who in turn introduced me to Dawid Kruiper's brother, Vetkat Kruiper and his wife Belinda who also live in the Kalahari, but 60kms further north. More of the book, 'the Healing Land' came alive for me as the Kalahari couple were in Cape Town for the gallery opening of Vetkat and Sarah's art at the Sophea Gallery and Tibetan Teahouse in Simon's Town. I met them over a long tea and they invited the participants of my 2004 Kalahari Safari and other guests to visit their home, 'Blinkwater'. Their words below express the essence of Vetkat and Belinda's environment.

"Blinkwater is a semi-arid desert landscape. Pristine land bordering on the now Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. A natural sanctuary where respect and silence forms the core of the home of Vetkat and Belinda (home is a place filled with love.) The couple live against a backdrop of a magnificent red sand dune, Kalahari sky and endless space. With them lives Jurie and Oom Hansie and four dogs.

"Experience a relaxing getaway. Camp out on a typical Kalahari farm which reflects the exact way of life which locals have led." (or stay at a guesthouse nearby) "This is a place of inspiration for folk who seek solitude and privacy. A stay here can restore vitality, bring humour, teach endurance and vulnerability to its visitors. Feast on a landscape so awesome in its desolation, filled with colours of red, green, greys, yellow and blues. Come enjoy quiet days and nights, storytelling, fires at night, acoustic guitar and warm hospitality.

"Vetkat Kruiper is of the Khomani San group (prefer to be called Bushmen), the youngest son of the late Regop. His late father (was) known as a respected healer, wise man and sheep herder amongst the community. Vetkat is an established artist. To this date he has exhibited three successful exhibitions, two at the Bergtheil Museum, Westville-Durban and the other at the Pretoria University. Vetkat's work is a must to see and surely collector's material"

AFRICAN ESSENCE KALAHARI SAFARI: September 2004.

Highlights of this 21 Day safari: 6 days of game viewing in 3 different areas in South Africa with a good chance of seeing all of Africa's most famous animals in the Cape Peninsula National Park, West Coast National Park, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and Pilansberg Game Reserve (2hrs from Joburg), peak wildflower season in Namaqualand, excellent birding (African penguins, west coast Cape gannet colony, other waterbirds, fynbos, desert, Cape, mountain and highveld birds), guided rock art experience by rock art expert, nature walks en-route, a couple of days in the kalahari dunes tracking and game driving and/or spending time with the Khomani bushmen, Vetkat's art, Cape Town, Table Mountain, Cape Point, the Cederberg and Magaliesberg mountains.

Season: spring - the absolute best time of the year for visiting the Cape and the Kalahari.

Atmosphere: This is a relaxing nature-orientated tour with 2 - 3 nights in most places, time to 'do your own thing' and enjoy wild tranquility, walk, or talk with friendly locals. Accommodation is in small comfortable guest houses and charming cottages which are owner-run as well as chalets inside National Parks and Game Reserves. The option of sleeping out 'under the stars' or in tents is available in some instances for those who would like to spend a night even closer to the wilderness (your guide often does), but beds are always available should you change your mind.

Cost: ZAR 21 000 each per person sharing on this 21 day safari. This includes all accommodation, transport withing SA, activities and entrance fees mentioned, guiding and all meals except some in Cape Town and Johannesburg. Airfare is not included: approx $1200 from almost anywhere in the US. Arrive Cape Town, depart Johannesburg. We have 2 or 3 more seats available in the Land Rover (Maximum group size will be 6 including guide). I will be sending the itinerary description out in January. Anyone who is interested or intrigued please email Vanessa.