Easter Richtersveld Tour “Back to our Roots” 22 April -27 April 2011 By Kristin Poulter DAY 1: 22 April After a much enjoyed, hearty country cooked dinner and breakfast at the Kamieskroon Hotel, the group of 5 cars came together with brief introductions all around. After a quick fuel stop and a chat from our leader, Russell, we were off...destination: stone ruins of an old church at Bowersdorp. The short trip to the church was the last bit of tar we would see for roughly a week. After admiring the old building and and an assortment of rusty cars, we hit the dust on the road less travelled, excitement buzzing in the cabs. Lunch stop was at the site of an old prison, now just ruins but facsinating never the less. A short rocky low range descent to the ruins themselves further hyping everyone up for the approaching adventure. Everyone climbed and crept through the prison's stone arches, counting ourselves lucky amongst these relics of a harsher time. A long stretch of dust road was broken by yet another relic from the past. We assumed the "farmhouse" must have been a residence for the miners from a now defunct mine nearby but is now just a frame of crumbling plaster. Other sights on this trail included semi-wild horses cantering around in the high sun and the shepherds who were wandering the arid plains. As we descended toward the valley below we had the sense that we were leaving civilisation behind us and entering into the realm of another kind of existence...one where there are no comforts of modern life...just what we had all been eagerly waiting to get away from...well some of us anyway... The trail continued over a steep mountain pass where most of our vehicles gave each other a high five and along the ridge of a mountain, following a pipe track, leaving behind rough shepherd shacks reminding us again that we had long left the luxuries of the city life behind us. Camp the first night was set up near a river bed just off the dust road to Nababeep. After a braai around a crackling fire, Allan and Nicky showed off their snazzy turbo shower and we spent the rest of the evening admiring the stars and enjoying the peace and quiet (once the buzzing of the shower turbo had ended). DAY 2: 23 April Nababiep is a tiny town overshadowed by a huge church with absolutley no litter and no rubbish bins, so how do they do it? We pulled in at a very organised Food Zone and all felt the need to stock up on things we didn't need. From here we continued on to Eksteenfontein. This arid town is on the fringe of the Richtersveld and we started to appreciate the semi-desert quality of the area. After a brief and interesting stop at the tourist housie to get some Richtersveld reading material, we entered the park. For someone that is mad for quiver trees and interesting rocks, this place is a never-ending series of delights. The road meandered through rugged passes, hell bent on competing over who has the pointiest, most rugged rock formations. We arrived at camp in the "Sun Valley" with plenty of daylight to set up camp, having decided to skip the lunch stop. We went for an interesting walk and discovered, despite the arid land, pockets of spring water and a fully functional wind-mill steadily pumping water into a crumbling dam. We also made a discovery of a rather interesting green stone which we later discovered was flourspar and provided exciting pyrotechnic entertainment in the evening campfire. DAY 3: 24 April An early start sent us packing towards the Fluorspar mine and the Rosyntjiebos. The area around the mine was speckled with numerous crystalline gems, some green, some yellow, some orange. A giant sctratch patch for the Easter Bunny (yes, the bunny does visit the Richtersveld!) A number of us, charged up by the pyrotechnics display, collected the green stones to hold an even more impressive show in future fires. A long meander through the martian like plains of red rock brought us past many shepherd's kraals and even a herd of wild donkeys. The trail rolled on through a craggy riverbed, sheltered on either side by peeling black rocks and shady cliffs. Rosyntjiebos offered it's heart with a pool of clear spring water and a very large tree, which both looked starkly out of place against the rest of the landscape, reminding us that we were still actually on Earth. The meander out of this beautiful place became somewhat tense as suitable camping spots were few and far between and the sun was slowly sinking. But no worries for our leader who journeyed his cruiser up the interesting side tracks and eventually found a sheltered spot in a sandy dried riverbed. DAY 4: 25 April Yet another early start and a very icy breeze saw us over the pass into the valley of the Halfmense. "Pachypodium namaquanum" or Halfmens tree has a single tapering stem that will grow to about 5m in height but this will take the plant about 500 years! These plants are extremely slow growing, around 0.5-1.5 cm per year and they always seem to grow facing north in a row. We were lucky enough to spot some smaller specimens close enough to the road to walk up to and get some close up photo shots, being careful not to touch or disturb these ancient and rare succulent marvels. The trail continued through the mountains, in and out of ancient dry riverbeds, the landscape sentried over by looming succulents and a scorpion or two. The Richtersveld is a chameleon of landscapes. From pass to pass and valley to valley, the landscape and flora are continually changing hue and form. The unfurling colour schemes and formations are fascinating, reminding one that, despite the harshness of the land, this place is a myriad converging rivers all flowing a steady pulse of life, even when they are bone dry. Arrival at the Orange River was a welcome relief to the dry and dusty journey and some of us immediately went for a swim. The mud of the river is extroadinarily fine and sticky and made for wonderful face packs and mud fights. Allan regailed us with his fishing skills and hooked a number of gleaming yellowfish and barble from the muddy depths. Chris and Priscilla earned a well deserved Milky Bar from our leader for always looking immaculate despite the heat, mudbaths and dusty rooftop shenanigans involved in the packing of a Landrover's roof rack. DAY 5: 26 April Today, we rested at the camp, swam in the Orange River, caught and rescued fish, sat in the shade and enjoyed the absolute tranquility of the area. A walk along the river gave us all the ideas we needed for our homeward journey as the river section was largely impassable due to recent flooding and the road having been washed away bearing its rocky teeth that munched many a 4x4 diff. That evening a "breadoff" was underway with Russell and Leah featured as our resident bush-cooks baking bread on the fire. There is nothing like iron pot on fire cooked bread smeared thick with butter and jam just before the evening relaxation time at the fireside. After the evening braai, the fire was stoked up and an impressive flourspar pyotechnics display entertained us until we retired to our tents. DAY 6: 27 April With heavy hearts and a chilly 12 degrees in the early morning, we journeyed back through the pass and out of the conservancy without any major incidents. We want to thank Russell for his excellent guidance and knowledge of the area as well as our team mates for providing such great company in a land where life as us city folk know it, is obliterated by truly rugged tranquility and a new existance threatens to take all of us back to our roots. Kristin Poulter (AKA The Easter Bunny)