A Little Safari

The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park straddles portions of the northern border of South Africa and southern border of Botswana and encompasses the much of the region known as the Kalahari desert. Being in this place has made reality a childhood dream to step inside a PBS nature documentary narrated by David Attenborough. I can vividly recall being mesmerized as a child by images of the nesting behaviors of the sociable weaver (Philetairus socius) and here we couldvsee them in nearly every large tree! I've included a few pictures but I left most of the photography to Becky and Alan.

Shortly after our arrival Friday evening we took a ranger guided drive through a small portion of the park. Normally the roads are closed after dark, but with the ranger we were given the privilege of seeing some of the Kalahari’s nocturnal wildlife. There were black-backed jackals (Canis mesomelas), cape foxes (Vulpes chama), african wild cats (Felis lybica), steenbok (Raphicrus campestris) and spring hare (Pedetes capensis) among others. The highlight of the evening was definitely witnessing the successful hunting of a dove by a striped polecat (Suricata suricatas).

Our trusty safari vehicle

On our first self guided drive we headed to the far western side of the park, to a camp called Mata Mata. Along this there-and-back drive we had some very special sightings. There were two families of giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis), spotted hyaena (Crocuta crocuta), and my personal favorite, the honey badger (Mellivora capensis). Of course, there were other critters about. We became rather nonchalant about seeing secretary birds (Sagittarius serpentarius), kori bustards (Ardeotis kori), ostrich (Stuthio camelus), springbok (Antidorcus marsupialis), gemsbok (Oryx gazalla), and blue wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus).

We weren't supposed to get out of our vehicle, but we did often. Above you can see Alan trying to sneak up to some giraffe for a better photo.

On our last day we woke up early with the hope seeing some of the famous black-maned Kalahari lions (Panthera leo). While we were unable to see any of these amazing creatures we were fortunate enough to take in more of the surreal desert landscape and I even got some climbing in...

The drive home was long but uneventful. Now we've returned to the 'Ernie' house and I'm glad to be getting back to the fantastic climbing. I've done alot of stuff quickly on this trip and now I feel ready to put some time in on harder climbs.

A giraffe skull

There Are Flowers Here

The rain is gone and we have been climbing again. We've also visited the beach and are currently making plans to see some very big critters. The last arrivals in our party come in on Thursday. Also, I think we're all still very excited about the climbing here. The only downturn is that we may have to pay for our climbing from now on. Most of the farms we climb at have begun charging for our recreating and Rangers have begun hanging out at the entrance to the Cederburg Wilderness and charging us day use fees. The fees are understandable and minimal compared to what we would pay in the States, but it does add yet another expense to the ever growing list.

On a personal note, I've had the unfortunate flair-up of the bicep pain I'd avoided for about a month. Just when I thought I was in the clear I hopped on a thrutchy, difficult problem without a proper warm-up and WHAM! my bicep yells at me. Typical really. Once you think you're rehabbed you neglect the things that got you healthy in the first place. Its not as bad as it was in the beginning so hopefully I can keep it at bay for the duration of the trip. I hope I have the discipline.

Rain and New Arrivals

Today we are sitting out our third day of rain in a row. ARGH! I'm exceedingly antsy to go out and climb. My skin is rock hard and I have fresh muscles to exhaust. There is only so much to do around the house and Internet is WEAK in town so there is not much to be gained from that. Ideally we'd be doing something cool like a safari or brai but those also require good weather.

Alan and Amna arrived a few days ago and Lyn, Paul, and Cam arrive tonight. Hopefully they'll bring us some good weather.

Our first day of rain wasn't too heavy and it was a scheduled rest day anyway. After going to town for groceries Becky and I decided to check out a little more of the property that is owned by the Strauss family (they own the house we're staying in). The coolest thing we found was some amazing rock art in one of the small roofs by a pretty little stream. We did a modest hike too and found some boulders. Nothing mind blowing but some potential for sure.

Hopefully sun tomorrow.

The Fighting Zebra

Peter, harnessing his inner Zebra on 'Springbok'...so good!

We returned to the Sassies' yesterday with several high class lines in mind. The 'Pinotage' boulder is perhaps the finest boulder in the developed Rocklands, certainly the best I've seen so far. It has a plethora of excellent warm-ups with friendly holds, several more difficult moderates of impeccable quality, a beautiful looking highball, and the boulder's namesake, which is one of my all-time favorites.

Its funny, each day we go go out I don't have much preference as to where we should go. This is a somewhat new sensation to me. Usually I have an agenda of sorts. Don't get me wrong, there are things here I really want to do, but I'm not feeling pressed for time. Its all new and its all fantastic. I'm sure that will change over time as I start to project a few things but for now, the Rocklands is my oyster and it is delicious.

Some post domino game artwork

Update

Our back porch

Well, we've gotten our hands on some crutches, courtesy of a kind women in the administration office. There were none available in the hospital but she had some at her home and is allowing us to borrow them. Hopefully this will make it easier for Becky to get around and still enjoy the magic of this place.

Another relatively minor health issue, I came down with a bad cold from all of the travel. I'm hoping I'm over the hump and I'm taking two days off to recover a bit. I'm afraid I'm going to infect the whole house though. There's not a lot of room to quarantine ones self here.

Sunrise out our kitchen window

After waking every morning well before sunrise for most of our first week, I think I'm adjusting to a normal sleeping pattern finally. This, combined with clearing sinuses will hopefully translate to some hard sends in the near future. Off to lunch now, cheap cheap!

From Heaven to Hell

There's no easy way to say it so I'll just state it bluntly, Becky seriously injured her knee today on our second day of climbing. She was trying another of the fantastic problems here, one that involved a slight dyno. She partially latched the hold but came loose and fell hard and awkwardly. Judging from her scream I expected to see a compound fracture. Fortunately that was not the case. Unfortunately, the doctor in town believes she partially tore her MCL. He did not have access to an X-ray or MRI but seemed very confident in his diagnosis. I'm not sure what we're going to do, all I know is that right now we're really upset and a bit bewildered.

We'll try an update everyone when we figure things out. Hopefully next time we'll have better news.

Publish Post

Heaven Is a Place On Earth

Well, we made it. It was a absurdly long journey. About 50 hours from the time we woke up to leave at 3:30am Monday morning (CA time) till the time we arrived at the Ernie house where we'll be staying for the next two months. I got about 8 hours sleep mixed in there somewhere, but I'm not sure. I made a little video about our journey but the connection here is prohibitively slow so I won't be able to share that for a while.

The destination was well worth the headaches. This place is unbelievable. If I weren't a climber, I'd still be in awe. Its a gorgeous place. Its as if Dr. Suess and Albert Bierstadt collaborated with God to make this wonderland come alive. As a climber, I'm having a hard time coming up with reasons for why this isn't the best bouldering area I've ever been to.

I'm thrilled to be here with great friends and I feel so lucky knowing that even more are on the way. For those of you who haven't been yet (Paul, Lyn, Randy, and Alan) you won't be disappointed.

I already miss my Turtle but I hear she recently posed for some advertising photos and may be able to pay my bills when I return...Good Dog!

To wrap it up, I'll leave you all with a photo of Becky on a great problem called 'Schwupp' from our first full day out at the boulders.