South Africa Feast

While working for the Institute of Geological Sciences, later to become the British Geological Survey, back in the eighties i was fortunate enough to experience the delights of this of great country. At this time my experience of foreign lands was limited and being a "Souter" from the Scottish Borders had not prepared me for the sheer awfulness of South Africa under apartheid although it was only later that i realized the full extent of the suppression by the National Party with roots embedded in the history of colonisation.

The trip to Cape Town via Johannesburg was well planned with diplomatic paperwork in place should i find myself in a spot of bother, thankfully i did not speak out of turn thus avoiding a term in Nelson's place of residence for many years on Robbin Island. The vibro-corer drilling rig had been developed within the close knit engineering team headed by Jack Pheasant, a good friend and mentor who dragged me out of the border engineering company Aimer's McLeans some years earlier. Sadly, Jack is no longer with us, scummed to the dreaded Leukemia at a young age, after lengthy battle. The work involved, setting up equipment on ship and sailing from Cape Town harbour up the east coast to Mossel Bay for pipeline survey work. On the bad weather days we were back in harbour, with our host arranging all sorts of trips to see the sites. On one of these occasions we were loaded into the custom mini bus and driven to Cango Caves @ Oudtshoorn via the magnificient Swartberg Mountain Pass. The mountains are a magnificent backdrop to the village of Prince Albert. Once considered almost impenetrable, there are now three major gateways to the Swartberg Pass, Meiringspoort
Meiringspoort and the Swartberg Pass are on Prince Albert's doorstep. Both fall within the Swartberg Nature Reserve (whose aims are to conserve fynbos and provide water). Both offer geological and natural splendours and the construction of both were spectacular engineering feats. You can wonder at the folds of the Table Mountain sandstone strata which constantly changing colour as you move through sunlight and shade. Look out for the bright green lychen, an indicator of the sparkling clear, pollution free air. The area can boast 130 species of bird-life. Watch out for black eagles, Baboons, klipspringers. Vegetation includes renosterveld, mountain fynbos, Karoo veld, spekboom veld and numerous geophyte species. Tenacious succulents, pelagoniums and other hardy plants cling to rock faces. On the plateau at the top of the Swartberg Pass and down towards the Oudsthoorn side you will drive through mountains bright with erica's and proteas. My trip was during the summer with temperature's in the 30's but in winter you can see snow on the Swartberg. The journey continued over the Swartberg Pass to the unbelievable Cango Caves, then home to Prince Albert through de Rust and Meiringspoort? An awe-inspiring experience.