Klipspringer Day 3: Exploration and walking bread

An often experienced feeling which usually indicates a succesful holiday is the sense that you have "been here for years instead of weeks". This means that you feel completely comfortable at your chosen holiday destination, ants and loud kids not withstanding, and have hardly any incentive of going back home because you're already there. That was how we felt after getting some critical rest at the second overnight hut...although saying we literally passed out for the entire afternoon is more accurate. In a last ditch effort upon our arrival at the hut we managed to get some more food into us before the whole passing-out-cold-phase really set in and our limbs went on strike.

One should never get too comfortable while out in the African wilderness regardless of any hardships you might have gone through. Feeling as if we had rightfully deserved a little peace and quiet, accompanied by the thought that Africa (and those little pricks of Murphy's Branch) had deemed us worthy of a time-out from any irritations, accidents or dangerous animal encounters, we quickly slipped into a much-needed slumber. Lo-and-behold, but when we forced our now reluctant legs to get up we discovered that the ants had plundered our last loaf of bread - in fact there were so many of the little bastards that it was difficult to see the bread hiding underneath. The high spirits that we found ourselves in after our hardships were momentarilly dashed as we watched our bread walk off into the sunset.

In the end, dinner consisted of some instant soup and various canned goods...of course eaten directly from the can - forget about "doing the dishes" out here, there are not even showers. We climbed on top of a "koppie" (big piles of rock which are common to the area) and although our food was decidedly simple no Michelin-star restaurant would ever match the stunning view we enjoyed while eating quietly. The sudden appearence of several giraffe, who were also having their dinner, made it all the more memorable. We retired to our hut after the sun had set, but instead of boiling away inside as we had done the previous night, we decided to take our chances (and sleepingbags) outside and sleep on the large stone bench next to the fire. As we were on an elevated position we were not so worried about scorpions or snakes crawling in with us, but more concerned about a potential leopard encounter. While an exceedingly rare sight at the best of times, if one of the big cats would come upon us in the dark and our fire had died down we could have a problem.

For most of the following hours I stayed half awake in order to keep the fire going next to us. This would of course mean that I would not get much sleep, but if I were to let it go out I knew I'd have to move inside or stay up anyway. The pay-off was worth it however, as the night air was refreshingly cool after the scorching day-time temperatures and the blanket of stars, Milkyway included, was hypnotising as ever. Unfortunately two things made us move inside eventually: the first was me falling asleep and therefore the fire was no longer managed, and two our supply of wood had nearly run out. I woke up with a start around 1am, noticed that the fire had been reduced to mere charcoal and that we needed to conserve at least some wood to warm up our breakfast. I woke up my peacefully snoring companion, informed her of the situation and we quickly moved inside, painful limbs not withstanding.

In the morning we discovered that we had shared the sleeping quarters with a very curious looking arachnid, a so-called "flattie" or wall spider. It is as flat as a pancake but has very long legs and a very hairy body which make it look intimidating but it is in fact completely harmless.

We begun the final day very much motivated by the prospect of a shower, a good meal and the legendary milkshakes of our park restaurant. We felt as if we had been wandering through this arid wilderness for weeks and my imagination conjured up the image of an eager and worried crowd awaiting our safe arrival back into civilization - but I have probably read Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Lost World" one too many times. Although the length of this final leg of the trail is as long as the previous days, twelve kilometers, we completed it in a record time of just under three hours (where normally it would take 6). Although nobody had apparently organized a welcome-back party I nevertheless felt like nothing could touch me...probably what celebrities feel like all the time. As I walked the familiar road from the reception area towards my house I could not help but look down upon the tourists who I passed, as if I had seen and done things that were far beyond the scope of their insignificant lives.

I'm a bit of a romantic however. Basically all we did was go for a walk in the wilderness.