In search of the bunny.

I'm quite convinced now that the easter bunny is a European rotant. Not an African one at least, because I haven't seen it hopping around here, let alone found some chocolate eggs. And I even went looking more than 200 km out of Cape Town but nothing. I did see some very nice sights, let the pictures speak for themselves (below).
I took the opportunity of the prolongued Easter weekend to go camping in the Cederbergen ("bergen" means mountains). I refrained from wild camping for a number of reasons: it was just me by myself - alone, it is very dry and didn't want to start a bushfire, and they have creatures here that can actually kill you. So I chose the certain safety and mild comfort of a camping site. And next to avoiding the aforementioned risks, I also found hot water and some genuine South Africans as company. Very talkative guys that don't shy away from a drink. Actually it would not be a lie to say they really liked a drink, although they were still very well behaved. As so many drunken people do, they started talking about politics in South Africa. The inspiration did not only come from the alcohol in their circulation, but obviously also from the recent brutal murder on a prominent extreme right Afrikaner politician named Eugene Terreblanche. Mr Terreblanche had some terrible beliefs and was also killed in a terrible way. Food enough for conversation around a camp fire.

The trip itself was awesome, although not flawless. I made some rookie mistakes that are simply ridiculous, really. I had decided to go camping on the very last minute, so in my haste to throw my stuff in Shafeeka's trunk I had forgotten a few essentials. I didn't have fire, flash light, mousquito repellant and to top it off: no tent pegs. So I had to improvise a bit to sort things out. Luckily I found some easy solutions quickly. I broke the legs of a broken camping chair I'd found in pieces and used them as pegs. A local shop provided matches, candle and mousquito repellant. So I undid the shameful mistakes. Hikingwise it was not the best trip either. But this time I was not to blaim. The road I had chosen on my brand new map was - just like the desired easter eggs- simply not there. I was looking around for it, walking through the area, following the river along which the road was supposed to run, but could not find the pathway. After more than an hour of crashing through the bushes, whilst tapping a long thin stick in front of me to scare away snakes, I found myself walking through a dried out part of the river bed. I would have powered through if I hadn't been alone, but my sensible side won it over my reckless side and I made my way back. It took me an other hour and a half to lumber through the thicket and through the river but I got back without problems. It was a bit frustrating but satisfying at the same time. Can you have those two feelings at the same time? I think so; I was happy being out there in nature, trying to find my way by myself, but frustrated that I couldn't get to the top of the mountain I had planned to climb.

The Cederbergen area is very beautiful and is yet again very different from the winelands, the Table Mountain area or the Atlantic Seaboard. It is famous for its citrus plantations. In springtime it is supposed to be full of flowers so I will definitely go check that out. And I would like to see some San (Bushmen) rock art there too as they have quite a few sites with those old depictions. You can also visit the rooibos tea plantations there which is an other reason for me to go back.