(A brief explanation of the title might be necesarry...it's a quote from a wonderful book I read while in the Kruger Park, written by the former chief ranger of said park, Bill Bryden. This particular sentence was quoted during a briefing of park rangers and SA Army soldiers stationed inside Kruger for counter-poaching patrols. Groups of ranger and soldiers would be out in the bush for weeks at a time, "roughing it" in the remotest parts of the Kruger with only a minimum of supplies...of course they would be sleeping on the ground. Now these bush veterans are used to some seriously difficult situations, but the only question that was asked at the end of the briefing by a young soldier was: "Sir, what about the fucking ants?" Why? Because ants surpase any other creature, big or small, in sheer annoyance factor (yes, even mosquitos) when you live close or inside the bush. They can get everywhere, inside sleeping bags, vacuum packed food, your hair - and more private places...plus they sting. Hard. And when these guys consider them a problem, rest assured that it is a serious problem...)
If you work in a national park one of the consequences you will have to bear is that fact that it will not always be what "you hoped for". As a visitor you are only faced with the beauty and excitement of exploring a true wilderness - as an employee, behind the scenes, you get to experience the other side of things as well. A difficult lesson to learn, especially if you have a romantic picture of life in Africa in your mind (...guilty...), but a useful lesson as well once it is learned. But no matter what happens, at the end of the day I go home to my house on the edge of the wilderness, overlooking what has to be one of the most stunning views you could wish for and, call me sentimental, it fucking calms me down like nothing else.
Difficulties arise when, at the end of a hard day, you do not come home to a stunning view, cold shower (there is no greater gift out here, trust me) and a colder drink. Adding to that is the fact that this has been the hardest and most trying day you have spent out here so far and it becomes very difficult to keep your spirits up. That would be a good description of what the second day of the Trail was like for us: exhaustion, pain...suffering...and with little relief to look forward to at the end.
We set out in the morning after a better-than-expected breakfast of oatmeal and numerous cups of tea and coffee. Obviously my pack was a bit lighter because we had eaten some of the supplies that had been weighing me down yeaterday which enabled me to get rid of that annoying little bag on my chest. Also the morning temperatures are very bearablem, so we felt ready to face whatever Africa could throw at us and not even blink an eye.
Africa knocked us out in the first round.
If you go back up a bit to the picture of the mountain hut you will notice a little rocky hill behind it. It's actually a bit steep, littered with loose rocks which make breaking your ankle a possibility every time you put your foot down. The trail started with a climb of that same hill followed by an even more precarious descent over large boulders...actually there was no trail to speak of, just arrows that pointed downwards and said "Figure It Out". Navigating a steep decline (with several short jumps to boot) across huge rocks is not easy - with a heavy backpack it actually becomes hazardous. We managed it without breaking anything or screaming (much) and we were still very optimistic about the day ahead: the low temperatures and the thrill of the climb were probably responsible for that. We now found ourselves in a valley surrounded by walls of red rock and there was really only one way we could go: forward.
The next part of the day always looked a bit "dodge" to me - in the brochure it describes it as an 8km walk along the Orange River but to avoid boulder bashing (so confused as to what we've been doing so far...) it is recommended to walk slightly "above the river". Alright it is not meant to be taken literally, we can't all walk on water; what it means is that it is easier to walk across the sides of the mountains bordering the river. I was wondering if it wouldn't be easier to try our luck with the boulders anyway because at least you can't fall to your death, but I quickly realized why the brochure advises what it advises: all the boulders were rounded, oval-shaped and smooth (due to the water which sometimes flows over them) and varying in size between tiny-slip-on-your-ass-and-then-break-your-ass-pebble and huge-fall-off-and-you-will-break-your-neck-giant-rock. In other words impossible.Walking along the mountainside was hardly any better, but at least there was the occasional sign and what could be conceived - with a healthy supply of imagination - as a trail. The going was extremely slow however, making those eight kilometers feel like 800 instead. Meanwhile the temperature was rising of course and being surrounded by rocks this meant we were going to be slowly grilled. During summer days the average temperature of the rocks is about ten degrees higher than anywhere else so with averages around 36-40 this meant we were in for a hot lunch. And if it wasn't for the shade offered by some of the bigger boulders we would have been something's lunch.
It was not all bad however as the scenery kept surprising me with one beautiful view after another and I knew that the lack of trail had at least one positive meaning: this was such a wilderness that not even a small walking trail could be maintained. It was simply unreachable except on foot...even a helicopter would have trouble flying through the narrow gorge. Wildlife highlights of the day included a new troup of baboons which had taken residence in the many cracks and caves of the mountain side and were closely observing us when they weren't throwing insults to the group on the other side of the river. Although it could have been an echo and the baboons just thought there was another group on the opposite bank...they are monkeys after all - sorry, apes...or whatever. Further along the river we found large cat tracks in the sand which were either from a female leopard or a male caracal. But as we are both big leopard enthusiasts we decided (unanimously) that it was a leopard. And to anybody who's paying attention to the tracks, they're actually upside down so stand on your head.
The final leg of The Agony Eight (as I brilliantly nicknamed this stretch of the trail) was a desperate struggle. We knew that at the end of this part we could swim in the river and recover some of our dignity which we had lost somewhere after the 10,000th boulder. We were getting nearer to the bathing spot but suddenly Murphy's African Branch stepped in again. The "path" ahead of us was no more...in its stead stood a forest of tall, thick reeds. The painful realization hit us that we had probably chosen the wrong side at an earlier fork and were now confronted with the choice of going back (aaaaarrrggghhhh!!!!) or, yes, making a path through the reeds. So onwards we went, my brave friend ahead of me, acting as a sort of human machette. If you have ever walked through a tall corn field you know what this feels like, if you haven't than it is hard to describe: you are boxed in on all sides by resilient stems, it is impossible to see what lies ahead because the reeds are at least three meters tall and so tightly packed you can't even see where it all ends. Adding to this were the sharp leaves of the reeds which kindly sliced open any exposed skin - but hey, chicks dig scars right? ...
The going was tough but having come so far and being so close to the end - well, the half-way point anyway - supplied us with the strength to push through. Right until the edge of the river. We were still surrounded by reeds and had somehow (navigating is impossible, as mentioned) walked towards the river - we were now between the reeds and a wet place. Although tempted to jump into the cool water it would get us no further to our goal so we just turned around and now it was my turn to play lawnmower - the path we had "cut" earlier was gone of course, those reeds being very flexible. Our minds had left us at this point and had gone for daiquiries in another universe: we were walking like zombies, cutting a straight path whenever possible, disregarding any bruises, bumps or tumbles suffered along the way...but instead of braaaaaainnnzzzz, we were in need of water and shade.
Seeing the dry riverbed which looked like a beatiful white sandy beach would have made me cry if I wasn't laughing so hard - partly because I was so overjoyed, partly because I was slightly delirious. The dry riverbed ends at the Orange river itself and this was where we could finally drop our burdens (our bags + clothes) and jump in. It was everything I had hoped for and more...the water was cool, almost cold even I was happy to feel, and I could stay here until I got tired of being wet. Our bags were in the shade of a large shepherd's tree and it was underneath the same tree we finally had some lunch in the form
of peanutbutter on bread - critical food after such an experience. The peanutbutter had become peanutmilk and the bread was, well, "complicated" but it tasted fantastic - almost rivalling those raisins we had during our survival day at Campfire in 2005. The picture is of the dry riverbed but further along from the water.The final four kilometers were done in silence but with renewed determination. We had both walked this part before after doing the "3-In-1" adventure trail, which includes canoeing, hiking and mountainbiking, and I knew the overnight hut was not far away. We had completed Day Two, and to acknowledge this achievement Africa
put a huge eland bull (remember, 800kg?) on our path which suddenly emerged from a bush about fifty meters ahead of us. It took a second to stare at these intruders and then made a run for it. Perhaps it was because of the intense mental and physical pressures we had faced today but we really did feel as if we had been given a nod of approval with this (second) eland sighting. Since that moment we have for ourselves re-named it the Eland Trail...I'll close off this day with some pictures we took at the overnight hut.
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