Leisurely through the Cederberg Wilderness

The farewell from the whales was difficult for us, but we want to see much more. Our path leads us north, through hilly landscapes with fruit plantations, vineyards, and olive groves to the Cederberg, a wild, rugged landscape. It is now early summer here, we missed the spring blooms when the barren mountains are covered in carpets of flowers, but there is still plenty of greenery and blooming along the roadside, and we are looking forward to two days in the mountains. We have booked a B&B in Clanwilliams and at 'Saint du Berrys' we will be greeted by a friendly hostess, a talkative parrot, three affectionate dogs, and a great breakfast. We have to be careful not to gorge ourselves in South Africa. Luxury problems. On Saturday, we take it easy, sitting comfortably on the shady veranda and planning the routes for the next few days. Around noon, we take a short walk through the town, crossing one of those invisible borders that divide the main road into black and white. Suddenly, the street is full of people, sitting in front of the supermarket, gathering in front of the shops, standing and sitting together in groups in the shade of trees. If you see any white people, they are usually in cars. And suddenly, we feel like foreigners, not afraid, but uncomfortable and uncertain. We do not know the laws, the rules by which people live together here - or not. And it is clear to us again why South Africa is a beautiful vacation destination for us, but not a country where we want to live.

In the afternoon, we set off to visit a Rooibos plantation and factory, as we are in the main cultivation area of this bush. Chris and Annette settled here years ago as retirees, built a guest house with a beautiful garden, and dedicated themselves to Rooibos tea. Annette grew up on the plantation before it was sold to the current owner, and the two of them know everything about Rooibos. That works well for us because we don't know anything. Chris takes us out to the plantation in an old converted truck, and we learn that the bush we always thought was gorse is actually the famous Rooibos. And then we learn about the harvest, the processing, the tea quality, the healing effects, the packaging, the laborious process of seed production....and much more. It would exceed the scope of this blog, but you can book us anytime for lectures!

In the evening, we stay at home, we make ourselves a dinner of bread, cheese, tomatoes, and dry sausage (that's what it's called here ... or something like that), and sit on the veranda. But soon, we are driven away by the wind, which slowly turns into a storm, hot and dry, sweeping through the town.

On Sunday, we take a tour of the Cederberg Wilderness National Park. It is hot and still very windy, and after 100 kilometers of dirt road, it is time to stretch our legs. We take a short hike through the bizarre rock landscape and look for the rock called 'Lot's Wife', which has a big sign and is a natural wonder! But somehow, many rocks look like petrified women, looking around curiously. Anyway, it is beautiful here.

The next morning, we slowly head towards the Kalahari. Although the major national roads are perfectly built, we do not feel like rushing and try not to cover more than 400 to 500 kilometers on 'travel days'. This means that in this vast and sparsely populated country, there is not a highlight every day, but also one or the other insignificant provincial town. Springbok, for example, has nothing to offer at all. We stay outside, at the 'Sperrgebiet Lodge', a small camp in the semi-desert. The quirky but warm operators are from Namibia and try to create a little paradise in this barren landscape. The cottages are, let's say benevolently, 'rustic', and the lovingly planted bushes and trees will probably take a few more years to really flourish, but the landscape, where we can roam freely in the afternoon, is beautifully dreamy. We enjoy the evening in front of our cottage, kindly guarded by the two dogs that live here, and listen to the strange sounds of the desert. Unfortunately, we cannot see many stars, the storm has stirred up too much dust and clouds have moved in.

Tuesday, it actually rains and it is cold. 20 degrees with rain and wind...just like home. We drive to Upington and since we have booked only a tiny cheap room in a B&B here and the city is not really exciting, we spend the afternoon at the 'Kalahari Mall', browsing through the many chic stores and treating ourselves to a big salad. Tonight, we have to go to bed early because the alarm goes off at 5 o'clock in the morning. Then the Transfrontier National Park in the Kalahari calls us.