Where to find the Cederberg

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This traveller went in search for what was on offer in the protected section of the Cederberg between the quaint towns of Clanwilliam and Citrusdal - a total of 83 000 hectares, about 200 kilometers north of Cape Town.

First on the list of sights were the Stadsaal rock formations and caves at Matjiesrivier where common folk and royalty alike aimed for immortality by inscribing their names on the cave walls. The domed dwellings are grand and bear an appropriate likeness to the stately buildings of austere and public ceremony after which they are named.

The San, who came before the literate lot mentioned above, also were moved to leave their mark here in the Cederberg. Their pictures are a record of their rites and beliefs. Their tools and materials came from the natural environment they lived so closely with: twigs, ochre, vegetable juices, blood, urine. And while the Stadsaal grafitti might not be to everyone’s taste, few people will argue about the magic that rock art holds for the beholder.

After our drive through Matjiesrivier we returned to the Algeria campsite where patient parents watched over their children whose delight in the rock pools of the Rondegat River was inexhaustible.

My partner joined in the infectious fun and set about the job of causing the most impressive splashes, surfacing, exhausted and triumphant.

There are 48 shaded campsites here, so there is ample opportunity for a camp experience second to none. A few more campsites are also available at Kliphuis in the Pakhuis Pass. Our party, however, stayed in two of the self-catering cottages, where we had all the modern conveniences our tired bodies needed after an afternoon of exploration.

The following morning, we were up before sunrise so as to avoid the mid-summer heat on our hike to the Maltese Cross. So while there was much muttering and groaning in disbelief at the hour, when the sun finally announced a new day, we were in better spirits to say howdy and welcome.

The three-hour walk to the Maltese Cross was the highlight of my trip. From the time you first see the cross, she plays a game of hide-and-seek, alternately appearing and disappearing with the bend of the path. (I decided the rock formation was a she, perhaps because she reminded me of the queen piece in a chess set).

When you finally get to the cross, the royalty reference is extended as, appropriately, she’s raised on a dais that distinguishes her from the lesser rock formations around her. The Maltese Cross has to be seen to be appreciated. Photographs do not fully capture her grandeur and beauty.

It is only your imagination that will limit the number and kinds of associations you can make out of the other weird and wonderful rock formations in the Cederberg. I saw, for instance, a troop of giant soldiers – futuristic robots – who looked like they were on a break from a Star Wars film shoot.

There’s also enough wildlife to keep you amused on your walks. We saw grey rhebuck on their breakfast-run and the tiny agile klipspringer demonstrated to us the aptness of his name. A huge troop of baboons chattered loudly around us at one point on our trip, the alpha male sending out a particularly scary and awe-inspiring call.

"Are they playing or fighting?" I ask Dirk Ockhuis, the field ranger who accompanied us on our hike.
"Nee wat", he soothes, "they’re just playing."

The cute baby baboons went on to demonstrate how well they’re learning the ways of their parents by jumping with great dexterity from one rocky outcrop to another, and surveying proprietarily the extent of their playground of mountain fynbos – the laurel protea, silky cone bush, and sand olive trees which dot the lower slopes.

And the Jan groentjie, in his dapper little green waistcoat, flew about from restio to restio, swaying in the breeze, the sun catching the colours on his chest, changing them from brilliant emerald to turquoise.

I searched the skies in vein for the black eagle, that graces the emblem of the Cederberg Conservancy – a group of private landowners who work together with the Cape Nature Conservation to conserve their remnant patches of fynbos and to utilize their agricultural land in an environmentally sustainable way.

"What’s this bush called?" I ask Dirk.
"It’s a slang bos", Dirk answers patiently.
"Why?" I ask, sticking my hands into its spindly branches in search of a good smell.
"Because snakes like to lie underneath them."
"Oh. Right," I say, now from a more cautious two metres away.

The many riches I came across on this trip notwithstanding, I found the Clanwilliam cedar trees, after which these mountains are named, disconcertingly few. Their numbers were decimated to make, amongst other prosaic things, telephone poles. Perhaps we couldn’t imagine a life without modern communication tools, but in our rush to keep up with the heady pace of our era, we have sadly relegated the cedar largely to the pages of our natural history books.

But special measures are now being made to prevent the extinction of the cedar. A cedar reserve of about 5250 hectares was created in 1987, and each year volunteers help plant about 8000 one year-old trees in suitable places within the reserve. Thus we can end this story on a happy note.

VISIT THE CEDERBERG Location: The Cederberg Wilderness Area lies some 200 km north of Cape Town. (Two hours drive from Cape Town). This vast area stretches from the Middelberg Pass at Citrusdal to north of the Pakhuis Pass at Clanwilliam, encompassing some 71 000 ha of rugged, mountainous terrain. Accommodation: Visitors can stay in the self-catering cottages or camp in Algeria or Kliphuis Rates: Algeria camping: R95/tent site Kliphuis camping: R65/tent site Self-catering cottages: R315 for up to four people Enquiries and Bookings: Tel: (022) 931 2088 Fax: (022) 931-2913 Email: cederberg@cnc.org.za More Info: Visit the Cape Nature Conservation website