The Long Awaited Field Trip

Disaster struck last weekend - the weather gods must have been in a bad mood because they posted forecasts for temperatures in the Cederberg (where we were headed for the weekend) in the mid to high 40's Celsius, or over 110F. We had to cancel our plans much to the dismay of all eager to get away from city life for a bit.

Tim hurriedly consulted with staff and our rock art guide, Pieter Jolly, and came up with an alternative outing, keeping the emphasis on art of the San people (which is why we were going to the Cederberg!)

1:30 pm Friday we gathered around the bus with Pieter and set off for the Ixiko South African Museum in Cape Town where we spent an hour or so poring over the excellent rock art displays.

Back into the bus, always expertly handled by our driver, Sipho Mpepho, who has been driving Stanford students since the first pilot program in 2006. Down the peninsula we drove, to Noordhoek where Tim had arranged accommodation for all but four of us at Monkey Valley resort, while the four boys chose to stay in the lodge at the nearby Noordhoek Farm Village. These boys like sticking together.

After checking in and tea/scones, Grant held a class followed by some free time to explore the beach before dinner. Monkey Valley is set in a well established and secluded grove of Milkwood trees, one of my favorite coastal shrubs. They were in flower and the smell, for some, was a little unpleasant!

Our wooden cottages, with evocative names like Hornbill, Leopard, Falcon, Albatross and Dormouse, all seemed to be in perfect harmony with nature. What a treat after the disappointment of the cancelled Cederberg outing. Dinner was nothing to write home about but Pieter followed on with an outstanding slide show of some of his photos of beautifully executed rock art.

Saturday morning we hiked a short way to Peers' Cave which contains traces of human habitation dating back as much as two hundred thousand years. Unfortunately, modern graffiti blasphemes the walls today, but on the plus side, some cave paintings can be seen high up, above the defaced area. It's nice to know something from the Middle Stone Age remains in this much used cave. And it felt good to think that humans were living in this huge overhang so long ago, hunting small antelope in the fynbos, searching out edible plants, collecting shellfish and catching fish from the two water masses, False Bay to the east, the Atlantic ocean to the west.

Back for more meeting time with Grant, a fascinating session on South African humour with tea with delicious muffins. Lunch followed after which we lounged around the pool and deck until it was time to head off to Hermanus, the second leg of our improvised field trip.

Hermanus is a popular coastal village with sea, surf, beaches, mountain, lagoon and glorious walks. The bus took the students straight to Grotto Beach. Saturday was the hot day: 35 C at the coast and 45+ inland. Grotto beach, with stretches of white sand as far as the eye can sea, was the perfect antidote to 2+ hours in the bus on a very warm day. Lots of frolicking before returning to the village and checking into the Hermanus Backpackers.

Meanwhile, Tim, Pieter and I had driven to Hermanus in our own car. Grant and his family did the same and we congregated at the B&B we'd booked into, The Potting Shed. Pieter had been allocated the Loft room - oops, on the hottest day of the year? No, that wasn't going to work. Fortunately the owners were pretty flexible and gave us keys to an apartment they manage which was ok for the night. Not quite Monkey Valley, but it was cool and we were close to the sound of the crashing surf.

That evening we gathered for supper at the Hermanus backpackers. Chicken or Vegetable Potjie was the order and heaped platefuls were dished up to the hungry horde. The last activity on Saturday took place in a large front room at the backpackers that we cordoned off from other guests. It was a game of Double Jeopardy. Questions/Answers were setup by Grant and some of his students, and the whole game masterminded by Anna with a computer and LCD projector. Students got together in three groups and in this complicated game of "What question goes with this statement?" hands went up, voices too, answers delivered, and all the time Claire kept score. Lots of laughs!

During the night we couldn't believe it rained. And continued to do so on Sunday morning which put a damper, literally, on plans to hike in the mountains, although some of us managed a nice coastal walk in between showers. Others walked around the town, and Tim took a group to the town of Stanford to check out a community project there.

We all met for lunch at Bientang's cave. This was the final touch to a very pleasant weekend. Bientang was the last "Strandloper" ("Beach Walker" Khoi person) who lived in this cave, harvesting seafood. The rock shelter is enormous and the cave where Bientang is thought to have lived is tucked into a low crevice, behind the restaurant bar area. Whoever thought students were disappearing behind the bar for 'refreshments' was wrong - they were seeking solace in the ancient cave.

Tim left for the US on Tuesday afternoon - lucky him to be back home for a bit. Enjoy him, all who see him!

And now, what you've been waiting for, photo's of the field trip!

Oh, and one last titbit (we're in South Africa and that's how it's spelt here!) - we learned that on Saturday it was 45.5 C and Sunday 43 C in the Cederberg - big relief we changed the plans!