Yay Part 3 is finally here from our intrepid Can Do! Trekking for Trash adventurers. I’m so proud of these guys, if you haven’t already, check out their progress. It would seem they are going to easily exceed their target of collecting 7 tons of litter! Keep up the good work team Can Do! Trekking for Trash!
16-20 October
No rest for the weary…we headed off on the next 4 day/130km stretch towards the Olifants river without a rest day stopping briefly at the mouth of the Groen river to admire the flamingos. The first day started off really well with a long stretch on the beach. We came across a wreck quite early on and found a 4×4 with a camp set up next to it. Around the corner we met Johan van Rooyen. He was perched on a rock scribbling away in a notebook and we stopped to chat. He has recently returned from a 13-year stint abroad in the States and in China where he did his PHD in banking amongst other things. He is now writing stories and the one he was working on when we met him is an Afrikaans tale about integration and reconciliation and follows a meerkat, a mongoose and a squirrel. I can’t wait to read it. Shortly after that the path became sandy. Very sandy. It was tedious. By the time we spotted our support vehicle 8.5 hours later we were exhausted. Erlo had found us a perfect spot to camp on the edge of a koppie with great views of the sea. We had mussel pasta thanks to Chef Mike and got into our tents by 8pm.
We set off early towards Brand se Baai. The further away from the reserve we got, the fewer birds and wildlife we saw. The amount of litter also increased tremendously, especially in the areas where 4×4 enthusiasts stop to camp along the beach. The sea also seemed to change colour, there was an algae-green foam washing onto the shores. We also found a fair amount of waste washed up from the sea including a plastic gallon of caustic chemicals. Luckily it was still sealed. We passed Worsie Vissers house (the well known Afrikaans singer who was killed when his plane crashed in Saldahna) and it was sad to see it all decrepit and boarded up. There was a distinct change in the sea sand the further south we walked. It became denser and darker in colour turning from white to grey to black to pink in areas. This is due to the mineral content found in the ground in this area. Erlo had driven ahead to set up camp at Brand se Baai but caught up with us near the salt pans at the Sout River, before we hit the Namakwa Sands mine road, to say the site was no longer operational. He had however met someone who owned a guesthouse 15km inland, Joetsie, and it was the best news I’d heard all week! 5 days without a shower is pretty long, you start to go vrot. I had also been stung by horse flies on the back of my calves that morning and had developed a bad allergic reaction to them so the thought of being clean and comfortable made the next 10km fly by! At Joetsie the barman showed us samples of all the minerals mined along the stretch we’d just walked. All I remember is that the future of Namakwa Sands is “Zircon”.
The next day from Brand se Baai to “The Middle of Nowhere” was rather uneventful except for the spectacular array of coloured pebbles we found on the road. Deep reds, mustards and pure black. We also had our first sighting of a whale and we continue to see at least 3 snakes a day! The last long haul from “The Middle of Nowhere” to the Olifants river, however, was torturous. The terrain was really tricky, steep rocky cliffs and soft sandy beaches in between. The tide was coming in so we often climbed the rocks around a point at the end of the beach and then saw that there was no way of getting round and had to climb vertically to get over the headland. Scary stuff but we did find some interesting things like what appeared to be a petrified forest on one hill, a number of shell middens which cause great excitement for the two of us and two new types of snake causing near-paralysis for one of us.
The beaches were unlike anything I’d ever seen before! Deep dusty pinks of the sand, murky greens of the foam and metallic blues in the reflection of the water when the waves recede. The colours reminded me of my childhood when those ridiculous tapestries lined the walls and everything from pelmets to dressing table cushions were covered in Biggie Best fabric. We both stopped to make snow angels in the pink sand. I’m not sure where else in the country or even the world you find a pink beach? In one section the sea seemed to have turned into thick milky condensed milk! We wondered if it had anything to do with the inlet gushing into the sea from the mine?
After 10 hours of walking (without sitting down once) we finally reached the river, our vehicle was on the other side. We had no option but to swim across. The tide was very high so the currents were strong, it was dusk (6pm) and freezing cold. Perfect timing to be taken by a shark! We psyched ourselves up and managed to cross without drowning. First river TICK! We hurried to Strandfontein where we were kindly given a room with a hot shower by www.leonis.co.za and made our way to a restaurant in Doringbaai for dinner. We each had 3 huge courses, a well deserved feast.
