It was July 1. We woke up early, had some breakfast, put our heavy backpacks on our backs (Jill her bag in her hand) and went to the Nomad office. Here we saw the truck, our guides and pretty much all the people we were going to spend the next 21 days with.
We signed some forms, had some coffee, Jirka told them he isn't a female and at about 8:30, we were already on the truck, the adventures ahead of us.
The people on the tour were mostly German and Dutch, some English, Swiss and us (meaning me, Jirka and Jill). In general, I didn't like the German much. Especially their need to be the first everywhere and some other annoying things. Well, the German couples were not cool at all. :) I liked the English and the Swiss, Rolf - the father of the Swiss family - was a very funny guy who entertained us a lot. :)
As on every real guided tour, we did some picture-taking stops (you know that - "ok, here's a nice spot, you can leave the truck, take a picture and get back" :) I don't think I like feeling as a tourist that much but we got some nice pics :).
Our first camp site was the Geckos Lodge. It was a nice place surrounded by orange farms and thus with free oranges at the bar. :) We pitched our tents and took the mattresses outside to lie in the sun for a while. And had lunch, of course. The programme for the day was a "guided walk with a local expert". So we were waiting. The local expert was late, just like a right South African ("he's gonna be here just now" :)), but I can tell you - the waiting was worth it.
When Skoki came, I knew I'd like the walk. :) Skoki is a guy who has been living in the Cederberg area since he was born and thus he knows it very well, all the animals, all the plants, everything. He had wonderful dreadlocks (first, he had a hat to hide them :)) and in general he was very interesting. He came and said that he found something on his way to the camp that he'd like to show us. But he had nothing in his hands... He reached his pockets with both his hands and thus we could see he had two snakes in one pocket and a scorpio in the other one. :) I knew I was going to love the walk! :)
Skoki showed us various kinds of plants, told us what they can be used for, and also uncovered the magic of the names local people give these plants (don't be mistaken - he knew the "real" scientific names too!). The people who live in those areas, so close to the nature, just know what they're doing. So they give plants the names that simply describe what they do. Thus we saw an 8-day-healing bush (if you're sick, tea from this bush is going to heal you in 8 days), wait-a-minute bush (that's my favourite... it's called so because when kids are running outside and know that they're supposed to be home soon and that they're going to be late, they want to take a shortcut. But there's this bush, with long thorns that get stuck in the kids' clothes. And the kids thus have to stop - wait for a minute - to get rid of it. :)), and many others. He also told us that the American fish is a big problem, no matter what he really meant. :)
After the walk, we got back to the camp, waited for dinner, and then had some "introducing" talks. We had to say our names and what we're doing and stuff but I didn't remember much as I simply don't remember names. :)
We went to "bed" early as we were quite tired and that was it for the day.
PS: The pictures are to be here soon, too, definitely before any other new post :).
We signed some forms, had some coffee, Jirka told them he isn't a female and at about 8:30, we were already on the truck, the adventures ahead of us.
The people on the tour were mostly German and Dutch, some English, Swiss and us (meaning me, Jirka and Jill). In general, I didn't like the German much. Especially their need to be the first everywhere and some other annoying things. Well, the German couples were not cool at all. :) I liked the English and the Swiss, Rolf - the father of the Swiss family - was a very funny guy who entertained us a lot. :)
As on every real guided tour, we did some picture-taking stops (you know that - "ok, here's a nice spot, you can leave the truck, take a picture and get back" :) I don't think I like feeling as a tourist that much but we got some nice pics :).
Our first camp site was the Geckos Lodge. It was a nice place surrounded by orange farms and thus with free oranges at the bar. :) We pitched our tents and took the mattresses outside to lie in the sun for a while. And had lunch, of course. The programme for the day was a "guided walk with a local expert". So we were waiting. The local expert was late, just like a right South African ("he's gonna be here just now" :)), but I can tell you - the waiting was worth it.
When Skoki came, I knew I'd like the walk. :) Skoki is a guy who has been living in the Cederberg area since he was born and thus he knows it very well, all the animals, all the plants, everything. He had wonderful dreadlocks (first, he had a hat to hide them :)) and in general he was very interesting. He came and said that he found something on his way to the camp that he'd like to show us. But he had nothing in his hands... He reached his pockets with both his hands and thus we could see he had two snakes in one pocket and a scorpio in the other one. :) I knew I was going to love the walk! :)
Skoki showed us various kinds of plants, told us what they can be used for, and also uncovered the magic of the names local people give these plants (don't be mistaken - he knew the "real" scientific names too!). The people who live in those areas, so close to the nature, just know what they're doing. So they give plants the names that simply describe what they do. Thus we saw an 8-day-healing bush (if you're sick, tea from this bush is going to heal you in 8 days), wait-a-minute bush (that's my favourite... it's called so because when kids are running outside and know that they're supposed to be home soon and that they're going to be late, they want to take a shortcut. But there's this bush, with long thorns that get stuck in the kids' clothes. And the kids thus have to stop - wait for a minute - to get rid of it. :)), and many others. He also told us that the American fish is a big problem, no matter what he really meant. :)
After the walk, we got back to the camp, waited for dinner, and then had some "introducing" talks. We had to say our names and what we're doing and stuff but I didn't remember much as I simply don't remember names. :)
We went to "bed" early as we were quite tired and that was it for the day.
PS: The pictures are to be here soon, too, definitely before any other new post :).
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