| |
|
|
 |
On The Trail Of Early Man
By Marion Taylor
I have a dark secret. I am in love with Early Man, and he doesn’t get much earlier than in Africa. That’s one reason why Africa is my favourite holiday destination.
Sitting in the Nelson Bay Cave on the Robberg Peninsula, of South Africa’s Garden Route, looking out to sea, I contemplate the changes in the landscape over the past 120,000 years. Huge breakers smash onto the rocky shore. Back then the peninsula was a hill overlooking a vast plain, far from the sea. The earliest inhabitants of the cave were the ancestors of the modern Khoisan people. These Middle Stone Age people hunted giant springbok, giant horse and giant buffalo. They collected shell-fish and made hefty hand tools from quartzite.
Between 18,000 to 12,000 years ago the tools become smaller and finer. There are bone remains of springbok and giant hartebeest. These giants of the plain faded into extinction between 12,000 and 10,000 years ago, as the Late Stone Age hunters became more skilled. The melting polar ice caps caused the sea level to rise steadily, and the great plains gave way to coastal scrub, inhabited by smaller animals, and marine birds. Within the last 8000 years the cave occupants became proficient hunter-gatherers and later turned to herding domestic animals for meat and milk, which they stored in clay pots.
Then about 400 years ago the cave fell silent. In 1630 the Sao Goncalo, a Portuguese ship, was wrecked off the Robberg Peninsula. The survivors camped on the beach and spent nine months building two small boats, then sailed on, only to be wrecked again. Miraculously some of them made it back to Portugal. This is the first documented contact between the Khoisan people and the outside world, and the first recorded European habitation of South Africa. Khoisan life was changed forever.
When we announce that we are going to South Africa for Christmas, New Zealand friends look anxious. “Is it safe?” is the standard response. This is our first trip back for ten years .We contact Cedarberg Travel and are glad to find that they are still going strong. We e-mail Mari Jacobs with our details and preferences- a family of two adults, and boys of 20 and 17, seeking a moderately active holiday. Mari takes care of the rest.
At Cape Town airport we’re met by the affable Lionel who shows us to our hired car. Lionel gives us directions to the main road into town. His parting words, which we’ll hear many times in South Africa are “You cawn’t miss it.”(Wanna bet?)Then we’re on the busy highway into the city centre, past the sprawling shanty-towns of the Cape Flats, imagining life under corrugated iron and plastic in this baking heat. Some things haven’t changed.
Table Mountain looms into view – a giant dominating the landscape. Following Mari’s directions we find our way to the suburb of Constantia and our home for the next few days at Silvermist Lodge. From our cool verandah we look out at the Twelve Apostles- a string of peaks to the west of Table Mountain. African doves and wood pigeons trill in the distance. Somewhere a baboon barks gruffly. We’re back.
The first morning is overcast and too windy for a cable-car ride up the mountain, so we head out to the Cape of Good Hope nature reserve, passing through the quaint and picturesque coastal towns of Kalk Bay and Simonstown where we enjoy strolling among penguins and swimming at Boulders Beach. The Cape of Good Hope is home to at least 250 species of birds and a variety of small animals including baboons, zebra, eland, otters, rock hyrax and mongoose. We are intrigued by the myriad of lizards and tortoises. Between June and November a variety of whales are seen in these waters. We wend our way back to town on the Chapman’s Peak Drive- a narrow, winding coastal route with dizzying views.
Our next morning is sunny but the wind is still up, and the cable car remains closed. Guy decides that a hike up Table Mountain will be good for the family, so we drive to the cable-car terminal and set off up the mountain by one of the more direct routes, up the Platteklip Gorge. This is not to be recommended to the faint-hearted (or those with vertigo), as it involves some serious rock climbing at one point. After a certain amount of protestation from some party members, we reach the wind-swept top and drink in the spectacular views. We take a sedate and sensible stairway down and we shop for a sumptuous celebratory dinner.
For those with money burning holes in their pockets we have to visit the Victoria and Albert waterfront. We stroll amongst the shops, cafes and stalls, while Mr. Pierterson &The Guys plunk away on banjo, sax and accordion. I love the atmosphere of the harbour, having landed here several times from the Union Castle liners of my childhood. A small blue fishing boat, the “Carpe-Diem” sums up the mood. The trendy area around the Company Gardens and the national Parliament deserves at least an afternoon. We browse in the bookshops and craft shops, imbibing the rather bohemian atmosphere. I find a second-hand bookshop devoted entirely to African history. We spend an evening at the movies in the once infamous Labia film theatre.
Leaving Cape Town we head inland, through the wine-growing area of Paarl and the small market garden town of Wellington. We wend our way up the Bain’s Kloof Pass to the town of Ceres, home of South Africa’s famous Ceres fruit juices. Another mountain road winds up the Gydo Pass to the small hamlet of Op Die Berg (literally “up the mountain”), and we turn off to the Cedarberg National Park. We are surprised at how few South Africans have been here. True, this is at first sight a desert, a gigantic mass of russet sandstone weathered into some wild shapes. The mountains overlook the vineyards and citrus groves of the Oliphants River valley.
In the baking, silent heat we hit the gravel road and find our way to the oasis of Mount Cedar Lodge. Stepping into the cool thatched reception area we are welcomed by Andre and Jean-Marie Marias who direct us to our desert cottage Puntje (pronounced “Pinkie”). Miraculously a small but deep, clean, crocodile- free river flows past the front door and we immerse ourselves there as the African sun sets behind the mountains in a blood-red, dust-laden sky.
The Cedarberg is famous for its rock formations, Khoisan paintings and spring wild flowers. We leave early the next morning for a walk to the “Maltese Cross”. In his rucksack Guy carries a huge water-melon, which we sacrifice on a flat rock by the cross, and devour thirstily after the two hour hike. We think of the tiny Khoisan people and how they survived in such a landscape. We meet a family from Cape Town who are staying at a nearby camp-site and they tell us about a local swimming hole. We follow a walking track downriver and come upon a small waterfall plunging 10 meters into a deep pool. The surrounding cliffs are a favourite jumping off point for boys and young men. I watch nervously as the boys take the plunge.
Thus refreshed we visit the rock paintings at the Salmanslaagte site. Here the paintings include the so-called “Phoenician ship” as well as large paintings of women and huge yellow elephants. Behind the scenes debate still rages about the meanings of the rock paintings. Some archaeologists see them simply as depictions of daily San life, while others (Lewis -Williams in particular) are of the opinion that they reflect shamanistic trance visions. According to Lewis- Williams the paintings are a link between the material and spirit world, with the rock acting as a portal between the two worlds. The Cedarberg area is home to hundreds of rock art sites, and there are a variety of specialized tours to visit them. Sadly those closest to Cedar Lodge have been defaced by graffiti. It is not surprising that many sites are not widely publicized.
Back at Puntje while the family are packing I clamber up the little kopje (hillock) behind our cottage. It would be the perfect spot from which Early Man could survey the river and the plain. Sure enough I find some flint chippings which strongly resemble the Stone Age flints seen in many museums. Andre confirms with a chuckle that this is indeed a good spot to find San artefacts. I feel that I have made contact with Early Man.
Now we are bound for the Garden Route and the coastal towns of Mossel Bay, George and Knysna. Mari has booked us into the restful Eight Bells mountain Inn near Mossel Bay and we relax in the family atmosphere there, while enjoying a break from self-catering. Our base in the Plettenberg Bay region is Fynbos Ridge Country House, a magnificent cottage overlooking a scenic nature reserve. Our hosts at Fynbos have thought of every last detail and we savour the luxury. We visit craft centres and the ‘Garden of Eden’ forest walk. Sadly our tour of the local township falls through, but we enjoy browsing in Mossel Bay and visiting the old family home there.
There are baboons on the road as we head to Port Elizabeth where we will drop off the hired car and spend Christmas with the family. A bush-fire has done extensive damage to farms and forests along the way. As in early times, man’s place in the sun remains tenuous. But what a place! The “Rainbow Nation” is a superb holiday destination, and we’ll definitely be back for more.
|
|
|
|
