Deutsche Zeitung
Deutsche Zeitung
(German Newspaper)
24 March 2006
Vol 1 – How I got here
Okay children, gather around for another roarin’ tale of Dan’s worldly excursions. Today’s episode covers the harrowing wintry travel from icecaps of Iceland across the ocean, 4 islands and 6 countries, and his final arrival in Deutschland. Come join our hero in his adventures and encapsulate yourself for the ride of a lifetime!
Was that good hype?
Actually, the trip was quite the adventure; one of my friends from Keflavík told me he was taking the ferry through to mainland Europe, and that started the research project that spanned almost 8 months. The first big hurdles involved finding whether it was cost-effective for me and the US Government to take on such a journey. Then I had to factor in the number of days I’d be allowed to travel without burning up any of my vacation time. Finally, I had to find the best route that would provide for some new, not-before-seen lands that fell within the authorized travel route. Here’s what I came up with:
First off, driving is almost always more cost effective to the government, since they didn’t have to ship my car and pay for a plane ticket, too. So that was okay. The main concern was whether I’d be coming out-of-pocket for expenses that might not be reimbursed. The biggest was fuel, since we only get $0.15 per mile, and the going fuel rate in Iceland is roughly $8/gallon! (I’m still working this issue now.) But I went online and booked my ferry tickets and then all my hotels along the way. The original plan was to leave in mid-February. However, I got an email from one of the ferry companies stating that their ferry would not depart now until the beginning of March. Well, that caused a huge chain-reaction resulting in, finally, the changing of all my other tickets/reservations to match the new dates. Finally, I had to set up with my new base the projected arrival so they would have temporary lodging available when I got there. Easy stuff right? Now into the adventure…
I left the base on 6 March in the early morning and drove across the southern coastline of Iceland. Some of the roads were snowed- and iced-over, but the new studded tires I put on, and having the Jeep in 4-wheel drive, helped cruising the roads easy. Along the way, I stopped at several of the places I’d visited during the year, only because this time everything was iced over. Waterfalls, rivers, caves; all were really amazing to see in their winter blankets!
I stayed the night in the small town of Höfn at the Youth Hostel, enjoyed the hot tub swimming pool there (yeah, 28F outside in an outdoor pool, heated water at about 110F), and a brisk walk around town. Met a German couple at the Hostel, who ended up on just about every leg of the water-bound journey. Great folks to chat with, and enjoy a couple brews with.
Next morning took the treacherous route north to Seyðisfjörður; the roads were horrendous, again leading me to be thankful for the studded tires. I haven’t figured out how they expect people to get to this port, when 75% of the islanders live on the OTHER side of Iceland! Anyway, made it there with no problems, and enjoyed an evening stroll around the town, taking night photos of the lit-up church and boats. And, another evening swim in the hot pool… ahhhh…
Next day I had plenty of time before the boat left, so I took a cruise around the area to take in some of the East Coast sites. I hadn’t explored this side of the island before, but wish I had done. There was so much to see, and the landscape was gorgeous. Eventually the time came to get on the boat, and with ticket in hand, I drove the Jeep onto the ferry, and the water adventures began.
Over a day was spent on the ocean going to the en route Faroe Islands. The Smyril Lines offered room accommodations with a nice porthole view of the ocean, along with dining and games. I just made a bee-line for the tax-free store and picked up some foreign beer.
Arrived to Torshavn at 1100; by the time I got off the boat and to the ticket agent, I had my new tickets by 1200. (I changed the room so I would have my own space.) From there, I drove to Westmanna. Along the way, I stopped at several small towns and villages. When I finally got to Westmanna, after going through a mountain tunnel and many winding roads, I quickly noted how quaint the village was. Just a small boating town, really. Most of the streets were small, one-way roads, barely wide enough for the Jeep to scrape through. I went to a nice diner on the edge of town and had an awesome meatloaf-type meat dish with a bacon topping, some sort of gravy sauce, potatoes and a mix salad. Time was limited, so I headed back towards Torshavn, taking an alternate route home over the mountains (instead of through them). Inside Torshavn, I had enough time to check out the local lighthouse.
Onwards to the Shetlands. The boat ride was extremely bumpy, but after a few beers, I managed to get a couple hours of sleep, arriving to the Shetlands at 6AM. The next ferry wasn’t until the late afternoon, so I headed from Lerwick south to see the Sumburgh lighthouse, the Guendale Watermill, and several Shetland ponies. The I drove north of the capital to see the highland areas. Finally, I made it to the ancient capital of ??????????, checking out the castle and old boating town. Back in Lerwick, I visited the walking market, Fort Charlotte, and several shops. For lunch, I dined at the local Indian Restaurant, enjoying some spicy Vindaloo Chicken with rice. Mmmmm
Finally departed the Shetlands en route to the Orkney Islands. This ride was only about 4 hours, so just enjoyed the ride by watching a movie (Chicken Little) and investing in some more foreign beer. We arrived late to the Orkney Isles, where I had reservations in Kirkwall for the night. The hostess hooked me up with my room, and though it was close to midnight, she asked if I wanted to partake in some beverage before the hotel bar closed. I was tough twisting my arm for a pint of Guinness, so I dropped off my bags and meandered into the bar. The hostess’s father started talking me up with some gibberish drunk language I couldn’t understand, and I could tell his daughter was getting frustrated and embarrassed. She had called a taxi for him (at his request), but when he started chatting with me, he told his daughter to send it away. As it was already closing time, I tried to persuade him to take the taxi, and he finally succumbed. I helped him out and his daughter told me where the taxi would be. As we went down the stairs, I looked outside and didn’t see a taxi. “Dad” said it was just up the street, so I helped him walk down the road a bit. The further we got though, I started questioning if he knew where he was going. Oh yeah, just up here a bit. I assumed he was just walking home instead of hailing a cab, but he instead lured me down to his other watering hole, a Texas style bar that served until 2AM. I told him I wasn’t up for it, and left him to piss away his evening and went back to the hotel to talk with his daughter instead. When I got back, she asked if everything was okay, and I told her the story. She apologized, but explained that he’d be alright. She gave me another pint before closing down the bar.
In the morning, the staff had prepared breakfast, and I had the Orkney Haggis, British Bacon, Sausage, Egg and Fried Tomato. After eating my fill, and chatting with some other visitors (who were in town for a presentation of classical music in the local church), I headed out to see the sights. I went by foot through Kirkwall, spying out the old castle ruins. Across the street in St. Magnus’ church, I heard some music, so I meandered over to see what the deal was. Inside, the choir and orchestra were practicing for the evening’s concert. Kewl, I thought, I get to see a free pre-show! I sat in the back and enjoyed several overatures of strings and winds, and a delightful rendition of some songs I’ve heard before, but can’t name right off. Anyway, I didn’t steal too much time there, and eventually made my way out to investigate other towns on the islands. Along the way, I came across the small island of Lamb Holm, where I found a WWII POW bunker where captured Italians were held. The Italians, being very religious, asked their captors if they could have a church in which to pray. The Orcadians allowed the Italians to convert the bunker into a church. The art and architecture involved was amazing, and it still stands proud today. From there, I roamed around several other small islands, and discovered some earlier versions of Stone Henge, called ????????????. The hotel folks recommended I also see the view from Scarradale Hill, from where you could see many of the other islands and even The Old Man of Hoy rock formation. I followed the road up the hill, but found that I also had to hike up quite a bit to actually reach the top. Since this seemed worth it, I traversed up the high-wind plagued trail, having quite the rough time climbing over many of the large moss piles. Getting to the top, I looked about, but couldn’t get the view I was promised. Because of the weather, I could barely make out the towns below, let alone see the views of the other islands. I know, it’s probably awesome in the summertime. Anyway, I finally made it down to Stromness, from where I’d embark on the final ferry going to Scotland. I drove about the town for a while, and explored on foot some small shops and a tiny diner.
The final leg was a ferry of just over an hour’s journey. I got to see The Old Man of Hoy along the way, and the evening lit town of Scrabster. Hotel Forss, other Americans, Scots at dinner, Anne the hostess, Watermill houses, Scotch, dinner (Gnocchi). Next day, pics of waterfalls and mill, began driving journey down Scotland to Eilean Donan Castle, then down to Loch Lomond via the Highland mountain passes. Road closed due to snow and downed trees, alternate route via Stirling (McDonalds). Road to Youth Hostel (Castle) snowed in, but Jeep made it through. Trapped for 3 days. Washed clothes, checked email, sleep.
Cereal in morning, rolled out south for LONG journey to Birmingham. Finally got into Shire Oak around 3PM, met up with Mosedales. Many beers later … tequila, after shock, parrot, evening at pub, darts, etc. Lichfield Cathedral. The plastic bag incident. Dog at bar.
To Denver. Darren on leave from RAF; St Patrick’s Day celebrations. Drinks at Jennin’s Arm. Dinner with Dunthornes. Magic tricks. At base – stereo. Brunch with Marriotts.
Drove down to Folkestone area for hotel stay awaiting Chunnel to France. Posh hotel, arrived to wedding departure via helicopter from the hotel’s launch pad on their lawn. Rolls Royce limo at entrance. Walked around town and along Waterfront. Enjoyed a kebab before heading back to the hotel for some much needed recovery. 😉
The next morning. drove out to the Chunnel and headed out on the train to France. Once in Calais, I began the final leg to Spangdahlem, via Belgium. So, 15 days, 2200 miles and 9 countries later, I made it to my new assignment. And this journey’s tale comes to a close.
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Deutsche Zeitung
(German Newspaper)
2-5 June 2006
Vol 2 – Rock-am-Ring Weekend
HELGA!!
I’ll explain that in a minute… maybe…
So, planned for a few weeks to go to this weekend long rock fest up north from where I live, and most of the folks I know were on board. Granted, it took a while to actually pick up the tickets, but once I got them, I found that only one other person (my friend Holly) had opted to go. Everyone else said “I’m too old” or “I don’t want to camp” or “It costs too much”… whine whine whine… So, we went to pick up our TWO tickets – price: €130.00 each. Well, you may think that’s expensive, but soon you’ll realize it’s well worth the price.
The weekend was just announced that we’d have Monday off (we went more than 30 days without a DUI!), which made planning a bit easier. On Thursday night, we went up to the campsite – roughly 45 minutes north of the base – and found that there were already many folks out there. Lucky (as we found out the next day) we found a sweet spot to set up the tent, though it took a bit longer than anticipated, and a part on the tent broke, so we didn’t get out of the campsite until after midnight (finally got to bed around 1:30AM and had to get up for work at 5:30AM)! But, again, well worth it for the spot we found. As we pulled out of the park, though, we realized quickly that Holly’s BMW might not be the best for all the mud in the lot, so we made sure that we could swap vehicles the next day and bring the Jeep instead. Our only worry was that the tent would either not be standing (due to the make-shift repairs) or stolen. Fingers are crossed.
Next day, another friend, Larry, lent us some of his camping gear, and we picked up some extra sleeping bags from the Outdoor Recreation shop on base. After a quick trip to the commissary to pick up some food supplies, we rolled out around 2PM for Nürburg, where they have a race track called Nürburgring. Here, they set up 3 main stages for over 100 bands to play during the grand event called ROCK-am-RING!! Good thing we opted for the Jeep, because the parking lot was inundated with mud, so thick that even stepping in it might loose ya a shoe or two. So, popped the Jeep into 4-wheel, and tried to find a spot. At one point going down a “lane”, we came to a bottle neck of cars, so Holly spotted for me. As soon as I made it past, I saw a large opening and decided to have some fun in the mud … tires spinning, mud flying, cars getting decimated, Jeep getting quite dirty … fun!! To our joy, we found the tent in one piece and where we left it. And, where we parked was only a short walk away. BONUS! After 2 or 3 trips to the Jeep and back, we got all the supplies to the tent site, set things up, organized the sleeping quarters, and broke out the lawn chairs to relax for a bit.
A short time later, we’re approach by one of our neighbors, who quickly introduces himself (Dan the Man from Luxembourg), and his friends from around the camp area. Great group of kids, and a riot during the non-concert downtime. He pointed us in the right direction to find where to get the wristbands for the concerts (about a half-hour’s hike uphill, by-the-way – probably the only drawback, but led to many moments of great people-watching). Before leaving camp, Holly made up some special concoction (Absolute Currant vodka and Cranberry juice) – one for the hike and one for inside the venue. So up the hill we go … after getting our wristbands, we made our way to the security point, passing tons of tents situated right along the roadside, as well as hundreds of fellow concert-goers (okay, fellow drunks) heading in our direction. We make it to the security point and are told the plastic bottles containing Holly’s concoction are not allowed inside – so, we strategically finish off the bottles while simultaneously sign up for a car raffle (a sweet 1970s European car). Now that we’re feeling good and pumped for some music, we go inside the racetrack arena. Our first concert event we highlighted was to see KoRn, followed by Tool. Let me tell ya, if I hadn’t known there would be other bands during this event, I’d have said (and I did say) that those two concerts alone were WELL worth the €130 tickets. They were fricken awesome!! Following Tool, the announcer guy came on stage, and in German told us all that “IF Guns ‘n Roses arrive, they’ll play at 2AM”. What’s this “IF” crap? Well, for those of you that have tried to see Guns ‘n Roses in the past know they’re notorious for not showing up to concert events – even their own!! It was already after midnight, and Tool and KoRn had made us forget that we also wanted to see Jamiroquai (started at 12:40), and with working all day, and not sleeping much the night before, we elected to head back to the campsite. Turned out (because we could hear it from the half-hour away distance) GnR did arrive and played, but found it funny – the next day when we read the local rock-news – we saw a photo of Axle on the stage, and can you say “Fat Axle”? He was HUGE!! Not to mention Slash didn’t play with them, so I wasn’t too disappointed.
Back at the camp it had become quite chilly, but we pulled out the lawn chairs anyway, relaxed in the hoodies, and chatted for a while with our neighbors. Around 4AM, with local tents still blaring their music and the occasional “HELGA!” being yelled out, we attempted to hit the sack. I can’t tell you for how many hours I shivered before falling asleep out of necessity, but woke fairly early the next day to more music from fellow tenters and again, “HELGA!” ringing out loud. That’s okay, though, that’s what the full feeling of this event is all about! Now it was time for some breakfast, and good-thinking me decided to bring oatmeal and an electric kettle for hot water … I have an in-car transformer for power, so thought, no problem! That is until I tried to turn it on and nothing happened… turns out the transformer puts out 150 watts of power, but the kettle requires 1500 watts!! Doah! But Holly had the backup plan – PB&J sandwiches… Mmmmmmmmm…….
After breakfast, we contemplated showers (which were available for €2.50), but found the lines too long. Later, we were told by Dan the Luxembourg Man that “you are not a real rocker if you shower!” So we stuck with that mentality for the weekend… Most of the morning we chilled out at the site, chatting with neighbors and overall doing ABSOLUTELY nothing! I can’t tell you how liberating it is to have ABSOLUTELY nothing to do, no where to be, no where to drive, NOTHING, but drink, yell “HELGA!”, give the sign of the snail, and BS. Ahhhhhh….
Now, day two of concerts started about 4:30 for us. First on the agenda was “Cradle of Filth”, of which we caught the tail end of, followed up “Soulfly” – awesome music! We stuck around for “Danko Jones” – holy cow, it was almost worth staying just to see what a jackass this guy was!! I won’t go into specifics here, but talk about EGO! We got hungry and the main concert was only a couple hours away, so we ventured out for some food (Mmmm bratwurst sandwich) and tried to muscle our way into the crowded venue that was packing up as we spoke. Although this was the main attraction I had come to see, we conceded to the crowded masses and worked our way back a bit and watched from the big screen TVs instead. The moment came, and some intro music signals the band’s arrival… soon the electric guitar began to play and the crowd went nuts as METALLICA made their way on stage! First song was “The ecstasy of gold”, and when they finished, James built up the crowd:
“Give me an M”
“M!”
“Give me an E”
“E!”
“Give me a T”
“T!”
“Give me an A”
“A!”
“Give me fuel, give me fire, give me that which I desire!”
And broke into “Fuel”! After that, they started in on playing the entire “Master of Puppets” album, as 2006 marks the album’s 20th anniversary … too awesome! After they finished, they cleared the stage, and of course, an encore was required. They came back out for “Nothing Else Matters” and “One” (two of my all-time favorites), followed by “Enter Sandman”, “Wherever I May Roam” and “Of Wolf and Man”. These guys are AWESOME live, and as Holly pointed out, it was great to see that they truly enjoyed playing, especially after 23 years!!
Well, that capped out the evening for me, but we also wanted to see if we could catch Bloodhound Gang before they finished. Turned out we were a bit late, which led to mass groups of people leaving the arena at the same time. Needless to say (though I must say anyway), there was quite the bottleneck getting out. Getting back to camp, we elected not to stay out as late which might help avoid the chills, and went straight for bed after a late night deli-sandwich. This time I had popped in some earplugs and Holly listened to the IPod. Let me tell, ya, I slept GOOD…
Next morning, oh, around 9:30AM, we finally awoke and made some obligatory PB&J followed by a quick camp site inspection – most of it was tore up pretty good: beer bottles everywhere, trash all over, tents ravaged. Just your typical Rock-am-Ring site. 🙂
The first of the Day-3 concerts Holly wanted us to catch was Flipsyde. I had heard them from one of Holly’s CDs before, but man did they put on a great live show! During the concert, Holly showed off the hoodie with the band’s logo on it, and the guitar player, Dave Lopez, noticed in shock that anyone had heard of them. After the concert (for which we had front-row access), Dave came down to talk to some of his friends, and Holly went up to get an autograph – too awesome!
After a few of the local drinks, we wanted to check out the pavilions and side attractions – we noticed a quad-track and some kind of Suzuki obstacle course, so we meandered over there. I went over to ask how much it cost to ride the quads, but the lady there had noticed I had a drink in hand that I passed off to Holly and said “it’s free, but you must be sober to ride”. Dang it!! So instead, we went over to the Suzuki track and found it was also free (but someone else drives), so we signed up and got in line. This was actually a lot of fun, and I learned more things I could probably test out on my Jeep – steep incline hills, 45 degree side turns, driving down stairs, oh, the fun that can be had!
After that was done, we made our way back to the campsite for an attempt at some rest before the long evening events. Back at the site, though, we ran into some crazy Italians, a Pole and some odd constructed device which later turned out to be a beer funnel. Well, they captured our attention and we ended up hanging out with them for a while, and later returned to the concert with them (or tried to). We decided to finally try out the shuttle, but told them we’d wait for them at the top. I had to get some more cash, so went down the ATM while Holly checked some items at the locker site. It took me a lot longer than I thought to get cash, as the line was very long, and we actually had to interact with a person instead of a machine. Anyway, I caught back up with Holly, but no sign of the other group. I had to put away my camera (couldn’t take in something that looked like the press would use – they had to pay to bring in their cameras!), pick up some more drink, and weaseled on in. I don’t recall what other bands we saw (and after as much drink as we had, I’m surprised I remember what I’ve told ya thus far!), but I know we planned to see Depeche Mode, and actually made it to the start of the concert, but both of us were pretty beat, so opted to miss this one. Like was said earlier … we got our €130 worth from the first two bands. All else was a bonus!
We stayed for one more night, and in the morning, packed up the tent and gear, played a little more in the mud (oh was the Jeep dirty!), and made our way back home – smile on faces, snail raised high in the air, and “HELGA!” exclaimed every-so-often on the return trip home…
…and they lived happily ever after.
THE END
(Oh, one post-story note: when we got back to the base, the gate guard looked at the Jeep, in all its muddy glory, and ask “What the hell happened to your Jeep?” My reply? “Rock-am-Ring happened to it!” lol
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Deutsche Zeitung
(German Newspaper)
July 2007
Vol 3 – Back in Deutschland!
Well, been back for a month now – lettin’ the liver simmer down from the reintegration of beer in the bloodstream! 🙂 Been off on a couple of adventures – one, to Germany’s highest waterfall, was a fateful event for my phone… the cell decided to take a nose dive into the falls, never to be seen again… 😦 But aside from that, the rest of the adventures have been fun and relaxing.
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Other notes:
28 Jul: Drive to Jimmy’s in Wiesbaden to stay the night – evening out
29 Jul: Mr Jo calls at 0600 – tell him we’ll meet in Heidelberg. Matt arrives 1000. Pick up from Frankfurt, drive to Heidelberg to try to meet Mr Jo.
30 Jul: Bastogne, Belgium – WWII Museum
5 Aug: The Maginot Line, France with Matt, Keith and Larry. Fort Immerhof (near Thionville, France) & Fort Hackenberg (Helling, France)
12 Aug: Malberg
13 Aug: Bernkastel-Kues
19 Aug: Wittlich Pig Fest
23 Aug: Canoe Trip
27 Aug: Luxembourg City Fest with Mosedales, Larry, Tim and Ricky – Movie (Lady in the Water) and dinner at Coyote’s
31 Aug: Game Night at Chet Rea’s
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Deutsche Zeitung
(German Newspaper)
August 2007
Vol 4 – Good Month!
This past month has been a good one. I finally got to go down and visit some of my family in Italy; the first time in over 3 years! We met on the island of Sardegna, during their August holidays, at the home of my cousin’s parents. The place is situated just uphill from the beach, on the west coast of the island. The Tuesday morning I left was an early start, getting up at 3AM, and leaving for the airport around 4AM. The flight left out at 7, and it was pretty busy that early in the morning for such a small airport. (RyanAir tends to bring in lots of customers, regardless of the time, because of their great airfare.) Anyway, the flight over was nice, less than two hours, and I got in a bit earlier than scheduled. My cousin Maurizio was nowhere to be found. So I called him on the cell phone, and, after excited greetings, I asked where he was. He said he was at the airport… I told him I kind of figured THAT, but WHERE? LOL He was at his car and on his way over to meet me. He’d shaved off his beard since the last time I saw him, and in full fashion for a summer’s holiday at the beach: loose collared shirt, shorts and sandles. I was way overdressed with my long slacks, shirt and layered collared shirt, and shoes. Couldn’t wait to get to the house to get changed. 🙂 On the ride to the house, we talked and got caught up on stuff, and had plenty of time since we were stuck behind 3 slow-moving, caravaning RVs on a road too small and windy to pass (except by insane moped riders). Finally getting to the house, the tempurature was already on the rise, and some of my other cousins came out to say Hi. I was thankful that Maurizio spoke English, because it wasn’t until I got to the house that I realized my Italian wasn’t as good as I had remembered it being. Luckily, his son Christof also speaks English, but I tried to always talk in Italian, even if I couldn’t alway understand it coming back at me. Christof’s grandmother offered me a cappuccino, and I went to get changed into something more appropriate. Soon the sun was high in the air, and it was nearing 100*, so Christof suggested we go “have a bath” (go swimming) at the beach. And this started was would be 4 days of excellent nothingness routine of: wake in the morning, have an esspresso, eat a bit of fruit/buscuits for breakfast, go to the beach, come back for lunch (which, by the way were great, as Maurizio had taken up some culinary skills and made home made pasta noodles and sause each day!), let the food settle by taking an hour or three nap, get up and head back to the beach, return in time for a late evening supper, play a game or just talk until it was dark, then go to sleep. Not sure how this type of activity did it, but those four days went by WAY too fast! Before I knew it, I asked Maurizio what day it was, and he said it was Thursday (the day before I went home, the next morning)! Doah!! The next morning wasn’t as early a start, but still 6AM when you’re used to 9 or 10 is early. This time, the whole fam rode (with the exception of grandma and grandpa) – Maurizio, Daniela and Christof took me to the airport and planned to visit the co-located city of Alghero afterwards. So we chit-chatted on the way over and after arriving, checking in and whatnot, we went over for some coffee, perused the shops, and took a final group photo to mark the occasion. After saying our “Ciao”s, they headed off, and I turned for the security line to get ready for my flight home, all relaxed and sunburned/tanned, and ready for the weekend back in Germany. 🙂
The day before this trip, our commander called a sudden “Safety Call”, where the squadron gathered in the conference room to hear information on safety, and probably drinking and driving. He started off with a reminder that there were more DUIs this past weekend and then turned it over to the Chief to deliver his speech on the subject. He started talking about “having a Wingman” and whatnot, then called me out and said “Sergeant Rea, were you a good Wingman this weekend?” “Sure was Chief!”, I responded. “What did you do?” he inquired. “Well, I ensured I had my cell phone on, in case my Wingman needed me and would have responded immediately if called”, I pulled this out of my ass pretty quickly, and must admit, it was a good cover! LOL He then asked me to come up and share my insights on DUIs and Wingman concepts, so I, now confused, made my way up to the front. Before the Chief began rambling, the commander interrupted and said “I think I want to deviate from this for a moment, because I noticed something’s not right with Sergeant Rea’s uniform…” This is when I found out, the out-of-cycle promotion test I took the previous month was good! He gave me my line number [3815.5] for my next rank, Master Sergeant! Should be able to put it on in the March timeframe, if the numbers cooperate! This is a big step, going from NCO to Senior NCO status, and taking on more managerial work rather than just work, which I’m going to miss. I enjoy working, but I think managing is going to be a good experience as well. We’ll see what the Air Force has in store for me with that.
That said, I’m not certain I’ll still be going to Korea, those folks reassure me that the assignment won’t cancel because of that. But I’m checking on it anyway, as there are several Master Sergeant billets for the same timeframe as the Technical Sergeant ones. Who knows, might end up in either Qatar or the UK. But, if I do still go to Korea, with Master Sergeant, I’ll be eligible to bring my Jeep and will get a 2-dorm room out there. So either way, no complaints! 🙂
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Other notes:
1 Sep: Liege with Mosedales and Tim
2 Sep: Bernkastel Wine Fest with Mosedales, Jeff, Tim, Stacey, Amy and Jeannie
4 Sep: Walkin’ Rowdy and Tawny in Dudeldorf; Then Kordel
10 Sep: Day Trip with Stacey (before her deployment), Amy and Jeannie. Trier, Piesport
22-24 Sept: Oktoberfest with Chris Tillett and Jeff Spellman. Met Italians Stefano, Tomas, Max and Peitro. Friday after work (noonish) drove to Augsburg, checked in to hotel; toured Altstadt (old district), had dinner; Saturday, early morning (7), arrived Munich & started drinkin in Hafbrauhaus @ 9:30; after 2 liters, headed out to meet Jim Turro @ Lowenbrau tent, but decided to get lunch instead. Pretzel soup & Weiswurst. Return to Augsburg, walk around, dinner and strip club. McyDs for late night snack.
1 Oct: Car Photoshoot
7 Oct: Burg Eltz and Cochem Burg
8 Oct: Thionville, France; Lux (Find me Guilty)
9 Oct: Trier – couldn’t get there. Went out via Kell am see. To Wittlich – new park. Laura’s Daughter Haley’s going away.
14 Oct: Kordel Park
28 Oct: Halloween Party at Frankenstein’s Castle! Holly, Elliott, Buttonz, Larry, Amy, Farrah, Dave, Hutch
29 Oct: Hiked through Devil’s Canyon (near Irrel) and Waterfall
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Deutsche Zeitung
(German Newspaper)
1 February 2008
Vol 5 – Africa! (5-25 January 2008)
Pre-trip info: My friend Greg (“Wolf”), from Ghedi, had gone down to South Africa, and told me about his adventures. I asked him this year if he could give me some details on what to do down there, as I was planning to go there for my COT Leave (will explain later). He told me to check out the BazBus website, as it was a shuttle company that takes backpackers to 140 youth hostels throughout South Africa for a relatively low price. So that’s when the planning began, and what resulted is found below…
5 Jan – to airport – late evening flight. We were instructed to close our window shades to allow everyone some sleep en route, but I decided to take a peak before the sun rose, and was delighted to see the sheer blackness of space and the clear view of a billion stars in the night sky. The only light came from the sliver of moon visible to rear of the plane. As I continued to gaze out the window, nearing dawn, I could see a thin line of blue/white on the horizon, very slowly turning the sky dark shades of reds, then oranges. It began to appear as if the whole sky was on fire. Unfortunately, before I could see the sun actually rise, I was chastized by the cabin crew for have the shade open while passengers were sleeping, so woefully lowered it back down.
6 Jan – arrived in Jo’berg early, but it took until ~1200 to finally get out to Bob’s Bunkhouse. After getting up to my room, Bob mentioned that I could either go have some lunch down the street, or relax in the pool. The latter sounded great after the long day and night of travel. After a short, but relaxing swim, I made my way down to the town to eat at Mimmo’s pizzaria. After walking off the meal, I returned to the hostel for a short nap that ended up being 3 hours long. Hungry again, I went for some more food, and came back to chat with Bob over some beers near the pool.
7 Jan – first day on the BazBus; unsure what to expect. Turned out I wasn’t the first on the shuttle, and after meeting Joshua (our driver), I got situated on the bus and began talking with the other passengers. I met an Australian, a Norwegian, a guy from France, a German, a Canadian, and an Italian. Needless to say, this was going to be a very multi-cultural trip. En route to Swaziland. At the border, I met Lena (Canadian) and Roberto and Rossa (Italians), who will be mentioned again later. BazBus dropped us off at a local cafe, telling us the hostel would come for us soon. A pick up truck arrived 10 minutes later, and we rode in the back like we used to as kids, have fun along the bumpy road to the game reserve-based hostel. After checking in, we had a nice meal by the fire, and were treated to a massive thunderstorm in the evening. It was so powerful that it knocked out all the electricity, and we enjoyed wine by candlelight while listening to the rain pour down, and exchange stories about ourselves. At one point, a praying mantis flew to the candle and began climbing to the top. It warmed its little hands, but touched the flame, pulling back quick. It licked its hands, obviously in pain, but again, went to touch the flame. This happened several times, when one of the companions, from Britian, came over and “rescued” it from its fate. She thought it cruel that we just watched, but hey, you learn by burning yourself, right? (She, Claire, would end up being our friend of insects, who would hold up the bugs for us to marvel at.) The accommodations for the night were in Rondelas, round houses made of wood with Euchaliptus tree roofs. The rain only leaked through a small portion of the house I stayed in, and all-in-all was a decent night’s rest.
8 Jan – quick breakfast with the early rise, as St. Lucia was the destination for today. Several of us ventured with the pick-up back to the cafe in town to await the BazBus. Claire was along for the ride, along with a couple of elderly ladies from France, and en route, we picked up Luca (from Italy) and Bellvintu (from England). Claire, Luca, Bellvintu and I decided to wander together when we arrived in St Lucia, and found most of what the town had to offer by foot during the day. That evening, we stopped at the local butcher shop and picked up some meat for the Braii (BBQ) later that night. Mine was a choice piece of Rump steak, 500g, and cost only 26 Rand (about $3.00). That night, we ate our meals and drank wine until past midnight. Luca and I shared a dorm, which had three beds – we each took an outer bed and used the center one for our gear. That night, around 1AM, we were awoken by the sound of someone trying to get in. Luca decided he better open the door, and found that we had a late-night extra guest, who checked in late. So we cleared the center bed and returned to our sleep.
9 Jan – Early rise to take advantage of one of the free (7AM) morning hikes. Our guide from the hostel (William) took us to the Estuary to hike through the local wetlands. There we got an education on the wild life and symbiosis of nature, viewed hippos and played with dung beetles. After we got back, I washed up and went for some breakfast at Izzy’s coffee shop in town, enjoying some french toast with honey and an omlette. When I got back to the hostel, I signed up and paid for a trip to the local game reserve, Hluhluwe, however, moments later, Claire and Luca approached me about renting a car to do a “do-it-yourself” trip for a fraction of the price. After making an excuse, I managed to get a refund, and at 1300, along with Bellvintu, the four of us ventured off to the game park to find us The Big Five.
The Hluhluwe park was stunning, wild life right off the roads and right in your face. We had only a few hours before the park closed, but still managed to drive around 5mph to try to capture every moment. Along the course of the day, we found rhinos, monkeys, elephants, hyenas, giraffes, buffalo, zebras, kudus and baboons. We stopped at hill-top for a quick break and to get our bearings before heading out towards the opposite gate. We got to the gate moments before it closed, luckily, as the stay at the hill-top lodge was quite costly had we been locked in. That night we had a fantastic dinner at Quarterdecks Restaurant followed by a vodka session that lasted until 2AM!
10 Jan – we still had the rental car for a few more hours, so the four of us decided to venture into the Cape Vidal wetlands (iSimangaliso). There, we went to Mission Rocks lookout, which gave way to views of all five eco-systems (marine, wetlands, swamps, savanna and forest), followed by a walk along the Indian Ocean beach-front. Returning to the town, we turned in the rental car, and the BazBus arrived, taking Luca, Claire and Bellvintu with it. But it also dropped off Lena, Roberto and Rossa, so new adventures were ready to go. That evening, Lena and I went on the free Night Drive, where we got to see hippos grazing in the night-lit grass and chameleons hidden in the trees (how our guide found them is beyond me). My very inexpensive dinner tonight was peanut butter sandwiches, and I decided to treat myself to a bigger room – queen-size bed AND air conditioning! You just can’t beat $15 a night (versus $9 for the dorm room).
11 Jan – took a lazy walk through town, stopping for breakfast at BJ’s bistro. Back at the hostel I met up with Lena, and we caught a ride to the beach. It was a bit windier that the previous day, but we managed to find a more secluded area between sand dunes that blocked some of the wind. After gaining a nice burn, we meandered to the Croc Park and Cycid Farm not too far down the road. Saw Crocodiles and Alligators, along with some interesting species of plantlife. Ended the tour with a cappucino at the park’s cafe, overlooking the crocs. In the trees around us, small yellow birds were making nests that hung by weak branches, the entrance to which was on the bottom on the nest. We hitched a ride back into town. Back at the hostel, we attended the pool party, which only had William, and Chris, a guy from Sweden. Lena and I decided to take a walk to the local forest, hoping to see some of the monkeys, but just ended up being a decent hike. When we exited the forest, we followed the road to the river, where there were many fisherman casting lines into the water. One guy pointed out a croc just feet from the shore, who was notorious for hanging out to catch the “non-keepers”. I kept my distance dispite his assurances of safety. 🙂 That evening, I enjoyed wine and beers with Lena, Roberto, Rossa, and Zanda (from Germany).
12 Jan – I went out early to see if the local forest had more life to offer, and was immediately greeted by the playful vervet monkeys. I went back and found Lena and Zanda and returned to a filming frenzy. What hams these simians are. The three of us discussed the option of renting a car to visit the area, and talked our Italian friends into joining us. We went down to Cape Vidal in search of Bat Caves, but instead found Nyalas. We checked out the beach, but again the winds were very strong, pelting us with sand. So we chose instead to head to the Emdoneni cat park to see some cheetah and other cats. The tour guide was not available, so we were allowed to visit on our own, and free of charge. In the evening, though the power was out (again), we were treated to native Zulu dancing at our hostel. This was followed by dinner at the local pizzeria with William, his sister Fortune, Lena, Zanda, The Italians, and an Irish girl. I made the mistake of ordering a couple bottles of wine, which ended up being the most expensive on the menu. I was releived later to realize the price was only $20/bottle, but 150 Rand per bottle seemed expensive at the time. Dinner was good, and the night trip to the pub next to the hostel (Fur Elise’s Monkey Lounge) was fun. The quote of the night came from a guy from Cape Town: “I saw a crow eating a snake.” I was like, “what the hell are you talking about??” He said, “It’s a sign of the Gods, man!” Of course, he was talking about the beautiful girl who walked in…
13 Jan – Zanda still had the car for a bit longer, so she asked me if I wanted to drive around town with her – we found more monkeys playing down the road, and stopped for some more photos. Not too much later, I was checking out of the hostel, and the BazBus arrived, wisking away the Italians, Chris, Lena and me, along with the elder French ladies. I got out in Eshowe, famous for it’s local forestry, and who’s hostel had the only brewery in the world. I met up with some of the locals and shared stories and beers through most of the evening. I learned more details regarding the Afrikanns and Zulus. I called it a day early and headed to bed, ready for the next day’s adventure.
14 Jan – Morning venture to the mPushini falls. The trail leading down to the falls was in a state of disrepair, and had treacherous roots tripping and grabbing at every step. Worst though were the cicaidas, whos screeching noises were louder than the falls themselves. I got to the first part of the falls, and after several shots, I investigated the remainder of the trail, but now it had become too dangerous to continue. With the earlier rains, the trail was becoming muddy and slick, so I decided to turn back. Once out of the park area, I began to head back to the hostel, but instead followed signs to a local Fort. Inside contained some of the history of the Zulu/Baor/Afrikanns wars. I enjoyed some tea and black-chocolate cake at the fort’s cafe. In the evening, I went with a couple people from the hostel to one of the bars in town, and stayed out until ~10pm, playing pool and enjoying brews.
15 Jan – Walked to the Dlinza forest, which has Africa’s only Arial (tree-top) trail. Some points were as high as 10 meters, and one spot got up to 30 meters above the ground, skimming the tops of the trees. I had a guide following me around, which made me uncomfortable, but when he began pointing out local bird species, and told me about the park, I eased up a bit. After spending a couple hours touring around, I returned to the hostel, sweating from the intense heat (over 100*F!), only to find the power was out, yet again. Deciding that I had seen enough, I cut the tour of Eshowe short (originally I was going to be here for two more days). Without a car, nothing was within traveling distance, so all the plans I had here were wrapped up in the two days. I was excited to eventually get to the mountains, but by leaving this early, I’d need to spend 2 full days in Durban – and city time was not on my original itinerary. The BazBus was there by 2PM, and we arrived in Durban near 6PM. We initially drove through the town center, but my hotel was way out in the outskirts, in more of a suburb. Ended up being a nice place to stay. Met an interesting older Brit, Paul, who currently calls Scotland home, but has been traveling for the past few months. He seemed to have a story about everything, and reminded me of a long-haired John Cleese. There was also a kid from England, not but 18, and just taking some time out between High School and college. And then there were the beautiful college chicks, who were staying here until the university dorms had rooms… so, yes, it was a nice stay. 🙂
16 Jan – took a cab down to the beach front. Nice leisurely stroll and photo ops along the shore, followed by a trip to uShaka’s Marine World. Accosted by sellers of belts and sunglasses, before finally finding a cab home. After lunch, went to the mall nearby, through drizzling rain. I got there at 4, only to find that everything closes at 5. That evening we had a tremendous thunderstorm, with lightning crashing so hard, it shook the foundation we were sitting on! Enjoyed beer and conversation with Paul (learning that he was a zoo-ologist for 20 years, and had some great tales of the animals he’s encountered) until ~9, then called it a night.
17 Jan – didn’t do too much of anything today. Went to the mall again, and to the cinema to see “Alien vs Predator II” (good action, but bad story-line).
18 Jan – early start, with the journey to my much-awaited Drakensberg mountains. For me, this was going to be the highlight of my trip. We arrive at the Amphitheater lodge around 4PM, with enough time to get settled, sign up for dinner and take a walk around the open fields surrounding the hostel. Not only was this place in the foothills of the mountains, it had a swimming pool, suana and jaccuzi, a bar, and some bbq pits!
19 Jan – Went to the mountainous kingdom of Lesotho, passing through border control and literally driving through the actual border (a river that separated the two countries). We got the one of the small villages where we learned about the school system. As we walked around, we had some of the village’s children following us around. We hiked up to see some of the area’s caves and San Drawings (I had slipped in the water at one point, which, though embarrassing, was quite refreshing). We then drove further on, taking some of the local kids with us, to the area’s Sangoma (healer or shaman). On the way there, it downpoured on us, making the roads slick and muddy. Inside the Sangoma’s home, we tried the locally prepared beer, then listened to the healer’s stories. She told us the story of how she became a healer, having to give up her beliefs in Christianity due to the power of her ancestors (she became very ill after she had her first visions telling her she needed to become a healer, and she denied the visions – it wasn’t until she agreed to become a healer that she miraculously became better). [Thank you in Lesotho is Kalee Boh Ha] After bidding farewell to the village people, we began driving back. However, at the border crossing, we had to go uphill, and the roads were so bad that we couldn’t make it up the hill. After many attempts to free ourselves, the driver decided to go back to one of the villages for help (chains for the tires, etc). The rest of us chose to hike up the hill to the border control. When we finally arrived there, the gates were closed and chained shut. Looking at the sign, the border closed at 4PM. It was now close to 5. Now what? We saw police officers inside the fenced area, and they came over to talk to us. Although the border was closed, the police stayed on site for 2 more hours, so at least we had someone to communicate with. They said we can get around the border by walking along the fenceline (only wide enough for a single walker, but not a van). We called to the hostel to see if they could help, and when the van finally arrived, the guards opened the gates for us. However, the passport control office was closed, so we’d be traveling through South Africa illegally!
20-21 Jan (see story by Shirlie Edwards, an Aussie on our trips) Highlights: 20th: climbed to 3120 meters to the top of Sentinal Peak, home to the Tugela Falls (highest falls in Africa at 948 meters), and second highest in the world, next to Angel falls in South America). 21st: Hike in the Royal Natal national park, along the river to the bottom of the Tugela Falls. Learned the dice game “Farkle”
Several funny things from talking to an Irishman over beers the evening of the 21st. Did you know Gehzuntheit means “Virgin” in German? (But only if you pronounce it “goes in tight”) I decided I needed two tattoos: one of a rabbit on my head, and one of a rooster with a noose around its neck on my calf; this way I can say I have hair (hare) on my head, and a cock that hangs below my knee! And the Thailand phrase “Pok ma hahn” means “kiss my ass”
22 Jan – said goodbye to the Drakensberg en route back to Jo’burg. Again, 3 days in a city is not what I planned, but the bus schedule didn’t leave many choices. However, I made the best of it. Over the next couple days, I went on a tour of Soweto and to the Apartheid Museum. Aside from that, I took advantage of the downtime and relaxed at the hostel (back at Bob’s Backpackers). Met Irishman – another fun fellow traveler who was not planning to stay in Jo’berg, but who’s flights from Madagascar were messed up, and he had a 3-week layover! I think I talked him into going to the Drakensberg. Oh, and went shopping in the local flea market near the mall.
On the 24th, I headed back to the airport to finish up the trip. Got on the plane at 8pm, and was on my home.
Vol 5.1 – South Africa’s Drakensberg Mountains!
A fellow backpacker’s account of our journey through the Drakensberg Mountains.
(by Shirley Edwards of Adelaide, Australia)
18-22 January 2008
The journey (from Durban to Drakensburg Mountains) took us through Pietermaritzburg, via some gorgeous scenery largely reminiscent of the rolling green hills of South Devon apart from the scattered Zulu and Sotho villages and the stands of eucalyptus trees which seemed to be everywhere. The tribal villages looked neat and clean but very poor. The tiny huts were a mixture of the traditional round, thatched ones and rectangular mud brick shelters with no windows, just a doorway. The people seemed to be squatting on the land and growing subsistence crops of corn. A local South African girl on the bus told us that there is a project under way to rehouse them in better housing with proper sanitation but one wonders if that will work any better than all the efforts put into aboriginal housing at home. At present there appeared to be long drop dunnies around and the women seemed to have to walk for miles to the river to get water.
The mountains in the Drakensberg are grand spectacles and as I sit here by the swimming pool at the Amphitheatre Backpackers(surrounded by these mist enshrouded beauties), wondering whether to swim or jump in the Jacuzzi, or have a crack at the practice climbing wall or indulge in a toasted sandwich I also ponder on why anyone would pay so much extra to stay in a5 star resort ! It is a wonderful way to spend the afternoon of our first day in South Africa.
In the end the toastie won out. So, much energised we set off for a stroll around the property. This entailed walking across huge,open grassland towards some reedy lakes inhabited by a great array of interesting birds. The Long tailed Widow birds were in full breeding plumage, fascinating to observe as they displayed over the water and rushes. Dragging their long tails behind them they looked quite beautiful. We were also thrilled with our sightings of Red Bishops, also courting in their brilliant orange/red coats. Even the ravens and starlings here are so pretty unlike the drab ones at home. We are certainly feeling the lack of a bird book but the owners of the hostel said they will bring one down for us to peruse. Our walk continued up over a small hillock with the bulk of the Drakensberg looming over us in the near distance, thence down to a small, fast flowing river filled with silt (testimony to the amount of rain that has fallen in the past few days).
The second day has been a real adventure. We set off early in a mini bus with 9 other people for a day trip to Lesotho. On the way we passed through wonderfully picturesque scenery of wide grasslands interspersed by soaring pinnacles, mesas and spires of sandstone. After about an hour we arrived at the Sterkfontein dam, at 16 kms long it is the third largest in Africa with the largest earth dam wall .After the drought between 1974 and 1984 the government decided to build the dam to collect water from Lesotho(a major export for Lesotho) to service Johannesburg and Pretoria. It also serves to power an enormous hydro electric plant. Despite its size South Africa is suffering from a chronic power shortage and the whole country is frequently plunged into darkness from power cuts. People are wondering how they will manage to find the power for the soccer world cup in 2010. Yes we have seen signs eagerly counting down the days—876 days to kick off! Anyway at the dam there is a magnificent lookout over the reservoir and a ridge which is known as the Vulture Restaurant. This is part of a project to help preserve the endangered Cape Vulture. The vultures were dying out through eating the carcasses of jackals and hyenas which had been poisoned by the farmers. These farmers have been persuaded to bring the carcasses of cattle that have died to this ridge as food for the vultures thereby supplying them with poison free food. While we were there we were able to see (via the binoculars) a farmer doing just that. Unfortunately there were no vultures feeding while we were there. Apparently the population of vultures has increased dramatically with this steady supply of food.
After sometime we reached Qwaqwa, a former homeland in Orange Free State. In the days of apartheid the blacks had to live there and could not leave without a pass. Now, of course they are free to move around as they please but there is still a large amount of unemployment. When Mandela came to power he set up a scheme for providing decent housing for people in the homelands. Basically this has meant large numbers of tiny box houses all identical, in rows up and down the hillsides. The people do not own them but can live there rent free but must pay for the water and electricity. They seemed fairly well kept though there was a fair amount of litter about the place.
From there it was 20 minutes to the border post to enter Lesotho, the Mountain Kingdom of the Basutos. The roads up to the border were well paved super highways but the other side was like entering another world, third world Africa where little has changed for centuries. The road was mud and stones, very bumpy and windy as it twisted its way through the most magnificent valley you can imagine. On all sides there were sandstone layered rocks all clad in green (it rains a lot here). People live in rondavels, the typical round houses with thatched roofs. They are round so that the spirit ancestors cannot hide in the corners. We visited one which had been built by some year seven students as part of their industrial arts/ maths lessons, a very practical piece of education for them I thought. Indeed the school is sponsored in part by the Amphitheatre Backpackers where we are staying. The history behind this is that whilst the school is sponsored by the Government of Lesotho and has the teacher’s salaries paid they receive no other funding. This meant that until a few years ago the children were writing on torn up cardboard boxes with sticks whose ends had been burned. Now with money provided by the backpackers like us who pay to visit the school has exercise books and pencils. We were there on a Saturday so no school was in progress. We were accompanied by several young boys as we walked up through the village to some caves where we were able to enjoy looking at some rock art by the San people. It is thought to be up to 6000 years old. We were able to make out an eland being chased by the San (bushmen), another eland with depictions of the Nguni (Zulu) indicating that although there were eland in that direction you might have to fight for them! From this higher elevation too we were able to appreciate the view down into the village nestled in a bowl surrounded by sandstone escarpments surmounted by basaltic intrusions.
After a picnic lunch we drove further down the valley in search of a sangoma, a healer. As we travelled we came across people dressed in the traditional blankets, gumboots and beanies. This dress code stems from the arrival of the British. In the times of the Zulu wars when everyone was fighting for possession of the land the Sotho people were pushed further unto the hills where the British found them suffering from cold and so provided them with the above mentioned clothing as part of the so called protection in the days when this area was known as Basutoland. The Basuto saw this as recognition that the spirits were still protecting them regarding the Brits as sent by their ancestors in response to their pleas for help. They wear the dress as a sign of respect to the ancestors. They live a subsistence lifestyle based on maize, beans and sorghum, all of which we saw growing in the valley. Eventually we reached the village where the sangoma lives. By this time it was raining quite heavily so our vehicle could not make it up the hill so we walked, getting thoroughly wet and muddy as we slithered through the puddly slopes. We spent some time in the sangoma’s house where she explained (via an interpreter) that she had become a sangoma when she was 31 years old after having had a dream that all her ancestors told her that she had the gift of healing. She did not want to be one so she ran away to Johannesburg to avoid it. However the ancestors came in another dream, touching her all over her body. When she awoke she found that she had become paralysed. The doctors at the hospital were unable to cure her and did not know what was the matter with her. After a further dream in which her deceased grandfather told her that she was not really sick ,it was a punishment for refusing to acknowledge her gift, she gave in, trained and has been working as a sangoma ever since. She is now 72 years old, a charming old lady with a winning smile who tried so hard to help us pronounce a few Sisotho words.
The final adventure came as we were driving back to the border post. The rain had made the roads very slick. There was a very steep hill that we needed to ascend. We did not have 4WD!! Several failed attempts later the driver/guide decided to go back to the village to seek help. In the meantime we had all gotten out to lighten the vehicle and had walked 2kms uphill to the border which was closed!! What were we to do, no guide, no vehicle and stuck at the border! Eventually the guide did reappear having been towed past the sticky part by a 4WD taxi. By this time we had skilfully negotiated with the border police to unlock the gate. At least now we could get back to the hostel but the customs people had all gone home so we were unable to have our passports stamped, so now we are illegally in South Africa. We are still not sure how we will get them stamped and anticipate all sorts of hassles when we try to leave the country again.
A lovely surprise after supper was a performance by some zulu dancers. The hostel staff were having a belated Xmas party so we were all invited to the entertainment. All the local Zulus were having a ball joining in with the dancing which seemed to involve a lot of high kicks and stamps amidst laughing, jeering and shouting all round. All in all a very full and exciting day.
We woke the next day to brilliant, clear blue skies. What amazing good fortune as we were to go trekking in the High Drakensberg. We were transported with 6 other backpackers to the Sentinal car park from whence we headed up a gentle zig zag path before rounding the Sentinal, a towering sandstone peak with sheer walls. The whole walk thus far was a carpet of flowers of every type imaginable, mostly various daisies, lilies and umbellifers, including a small wild agapanthus. Most startling was a tiny plant with masses of white flowers all around the stem surmounted by a whorl of yellow green leaves (or maybe they were bracts).Someone said they were called Encomus or something like that ).We were thrilled to have excellent sightings of a family of Dassies, a sort of medium sized rodent, much like a vizcacha without a tail. We saw them running down the virtually sheer walls! How do they do it?
Eventually we reached a very steep, rocky gully between the sentinel and another peak. This was our access point to the alpine meadows above on the Mont aux sources so up we scrambled. It was a really strenuous ascent especially as I have gained so much weight and been so inactive whilst in Australia for the past 10 months. I was quite embarrassed by how difficult I found the 250m scramble. However, we both made it to the top to be presented with the most incredible view. Alpine meadows stretching around an area known as the Amphitheatre which is a vast 6km arc of sheer escarpments with a 1000m drop to the floor below. Some brave people sat with their legs dangling over the edge whilst eating their lunch! Towering above us were even taller peaks displaying their jagged spines through the thin mist. No wonder this place is called Drakensberg (dragon mountain).
After lunch we wandered across the alpine meadow admiring the flora, including several lovely orchids. The mist was swirling around giving the upland moorland a very Scottish feel. Our stroll amongst all this alpine glory took us to the top of the Tugela Falls, the second highest in the world having a drop of 948m. A little later we continued across the flat mountain top. I was feeling a bit apprehensive by this time as we were rapidly approaching our descent route—via two chain ladders. As I still have not gotten over my fear of heights I was very nervous. As soon as I saw them I knew I would not make it down. However our guide had a rope and a carabiner so suitably roped up and encouraged to start down the ladder he carefully belayed me down. I was still petrified but at least I managed it. I do wish I could get over this fear as it is so embarrassing! Now all we had to do was retrace the path we had come up by. Unfortunately the weather turned really nasty. The clear skies gave way to a really big thunder and lightning storm, drenching us despite our raincoats. Despite the fear of the ladders it was a walk that was well worth the effort.
The next day dawned bright and clear after the amazing storm of the night before, so we set off with Dan, a guy from Michigan, to the Royal Natal National Park. The Backpacker shuttle took us to the trailhead for the walk up the Tungela Gorge, our destination for the day. What a glorious walk it turned out to be. We were walking independently at a leisurely pace so as to take in the constantly changing vistas. Most of the walk was around a slightly rising contour line through an open grassy with wonderful views to the Eastern Buttresses and the Amphitheatre escarpments where we had been the day before. Occasionally we crossed gullies filled with rainforest, where grew myriad wet loving plants, the kind that people use as indoor pot plants at home. One particularly pretty one was the orange flowering trailing begonia. The trail gradually steepened and narrowed until we were in the gorge proper with waterfalls cascading in sparkling droplets from the high plateau above us. At the confluence of the Tungela river and two surging waterfalls on opposite walls of the gorge we decided to call a halt for the day as we wisely thought that crossing the full, fast flowing river 4 times just to reach the base of the Tungela Falls was probably not going to validate the pain and suffering. The entire hike was about 22kms so we felt that we had really had a good work out by the time we arrived back at the trailhead. Fortunately for us a local South African completed her walk at much the same time so gave us a lift the several kms to the visitor centre where we were to be picked up a couple of hours later. The weather had remained brilliant all day, only raining once we were safely “home” and hosed.
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9 Oct: Trier – couldn’t get there. Went out via Kell am see. To Wittlich – new park. Laura’s Daughter Haley’s going away.
14 Oct: Kordel Park
28 Oct: Halloween Party at Frankenstein’s Castle! Holly, Elliott, Buttonz, Larry, Amy, Farrah, Dave, Hutch
29 Oct: Hiked through Devil’s Canyon (near Irrel) and Waterfall
Journal of Daniel Rea Photography 