South Africa 2009: Part 2

After a day of rest and interneting (I made that up) we headed out to an area near where we are staying called the Sassies. It is an area that is very exposed (read: warm) and a good place to go after a rain - not that it had recently rained. There is a good density of problems and we had fun bouncing around between them, the prize of the area being Pinotage. While neither Lyn nor I could send, Kevin managed to summit in the blazing sun after failing in the shade. I forgot the camera so no pictures.


The sand dunes of Elands Bay

For our next rest day we decided to take a trip out to Elands Bay to check out the coast. We hiked on the beach for a while exploring the sand dunes and gathering shells that were everywhere. The west coast of South Africa faces the Atlantic Ocean and the water is pretty cold, which precluded any swimming. Interestingly, there was a warm breeze blowing in from the ocean, which is so different from the Northern California beaches I am used to.


Becky and Justin walking down the beach in Elands Bay


The sand dunes


Tide pool

Heading a little farther south, we discovered an area with amazing tide pools and scared some baby seals that were sunning themselves on the rocks. Check out the sea anemones, also very different from the ones found in California.


Crazy multi-color sea anemones carpet


Eroded slab


Paul, Lyn and Cam on the Shosholoza

While exploring, we found a boat named Shosholoza, which is also the name of a famous boulder problem in the Rocklands.


Toll road?

Instead of heading directly back to Clan William, we decided to go back through Lambert's Bay. The fastest way to get there is to take the toll road. Once the security guard lifted the gate, we were quite surprised to find that the toll road was nothing more than a dirt road that followed the train tracks. We chuckled about this - that is until the toll road ended and found the the regular road had more potholes than flat parts!


Once back at our cottage we met up with our climbing comrades and partook in the most South African of activities, the braii (barbeque). On the menu was some local fish (Keel Hoek), bacon wrapped lamb, and the local favorite: Springbok, which is like a deer with crazy horns. The eight of us barely fit around the table of our tiny kitchen, which doesn't have an oven and has the unfortunate propensity to lose all electricity if more than one appliance is used at the same time. It has been a challenge to figure out how to make dinner using the one working hot plate.


Lyn on Creaking Heights [v4]

Yesterday we went out to climb at the Roadside boulders. It should be noted that the 'road' is a actually a donkey cart trail to a town called Whupertal and not one that a car could drive down, making the 'roadside' boulders a half hour hike.

We started off the day on the classic highballs Creaking Heights, v4 and Schwupp, v6. We then went on to work the moves on Caroline, v10 which Justin dispatched with his usual efficiency. After other climbing shenanigans, we capped off the day at the mega-classic Rhino which is an amazing prow of rock that is suspended in the air and (not surprisingly) looks like a rhino!

-Raza

Lyn's two cents: Strangely, I'm finding the Rocklands to remind me a lot of both Colorado and Utah with very similar rock formations, canyons and peaks. The wildflowers are blooming, which gives color to an otherwise very desert landscape. The sunsets are truly spectacular and the night sky has more stars than I've seen anywhere else.

We have yet to eat out and the food we've made at our VERY rustic cottage (named the Sassie Cottage) have been simple, one pot meals. I'm hoping to eat at some local places soon and have heard good things about a couple restaurants in Clanwilliam - I'll report back after we go.

As for wildlife, no personal snake encounters, though I heard that another US climber, Walker, came face to face with a spitting cobra while looking for his lost chalkbag and escaped by running away. No baboon sightings our first day at the Sassie Boulders.

When asked how he likes South Africa, Cameron says, "it's nice." He seems most excited while practicing driving the rental car between our cottage and the house where our friends are staying, about three hundred meters on a private dirt road. No major accidents yet, even with a manual transmission and with everything being on the wrong side.

And climbing: it's pretty fun. There are definitely not as many problems as I expected and not a lot of intermediate grade problems. The climbing areas are spread out and generally do not have a high concentration of problems, which makes for some challenges in determining where to climb. We've still only been to three areas, so this assessment might change. The style tends to be a lot more dynamic than climbing at home.