Somewhere in the Transvaal, 3rd October 2002

Wednesday 2nd October, a nature reserve somewhere in the Transvaal:

Up at six for a drive through the nearest part of the reserve. We don't see a lot, just a few buck and a few piles of rhinoceros droppings. Later go for a walk up the kopje (hill) behind the house and picnic on the top.

Back at the house we pack up the bakkie (pick-up), and set off for a remote part of the reserve. On the way there we see kudu in the bush beside the road, a herd of giraffe in the trees, then on the lake shore half a mile away rhinoceros and a huge herd of wildebeest. Further along we find zebra.

I take the wheel. The track is now quite a bit rougher, but it's amazing what these 4x4s will cover. Crawling forward at low revs we pick our way over rocks and boulders for hours, and finally we arrive at our campsite in the dark.

Thursday 3rd October:

Up at five. We swallow a quick breakfast of porridge and then pack the climbing rucksacks. Surprisingly the sky has completely clouded over. Rob is nervous. It is the very end of the dry season, and heavy rain is expected any day now. Not only might this make our climb tricky, but it could make the Oliphants River unfordable on our return.

For now the Oliphants is very low, and I get across with my boots on. We beat our way up the kloof (ravine) of a tributary of the Oliphants, and then head upwards to the base of the cliffs. Not for the first time on this trip we can't find our route. The cliffs are half a mile wide, with just twenty routes so far, with purely textual descriptions. We are looking for a climb called Raze The Dead, which is just to the right of the descent gully.

Rob has been here once before and quickly finds a corner which looks like the bottom of the descent gully. Moving a bit to the right he then finds another corner which looks even more like the bottom of the descent gully. This is repeated another time, and another. At the fourth we have had enough of finding the same descent gully in four different places, and decide that the route must be here. The rock is compact red sandstone and looks good.

I lead the first pitch. It's easy, about VDiff. The second looks a bit harder. Rob has to go up a bit from the belay, traverse rightwards across the top of the corner, and continue rightwards over a steep wall to reach easier ground. By this stage we have decided that we are off route. Suddenly, from about twenty feet above the belay and to the right, Rob comes flying off. First he hits the rock to my right and then he crashes into me, before swinging back to come to a rest suspended in his harness over the corner to my right. One of his pieces of gear has popped, but another has held. My leg is pretty sore at first where he hit it, but this eases fast, and we swap positions at the belay. Rob is shaking and has had enough of leading for the time being.

It's really not as easy as it looks. I dilly-dally and go back and forward for about half an hour. Meanwhile Rob is looking at his watch and telling me that we're not a quarter of the way up the
cliff yet. Eventually I waggle in an unconvincing Friend, and with this for moral support make the move. The pitch ends with a pleasant surprise: a cave, large enough for two to sleep in shelter, and not visible from the ground.

The traverse pitch turns out to be the one difficult pitch of the climb, and everything after that is about VDiff, although still a bit stressful, as very poorly protected, despite being covered in holds. I lead a further three long pitches, two of them the full length of the ropes, and a shorter one, before we arrive on top. There is a bit of additional excitement near the start of pitch five when an earth foot-hold gives way and I fall feet first on to the top of a small pillar. I lose my footing, fall backwards, and almost do a backwards somersault over the edge of the cliff.

At the top we are not out of the woods yet. Rob can't find the descent. Meanwhile I have had enough of deciding which way to go after doing all the leading over what was unknown ground, so am happy to follow. All I can think of is water. After an hour and a half wandering up and down the bushy slopes of the top of the cliff we find it. By the time we are at the bottom of the final ab it is pitch black.

Once back in the kloof Rob sees fit to give me instructions for what to do if we meet a buffalo or a leopard. Meanwhile I still can't think of anything but water. Rob drinks from the stream, which is
scarcely moving, and I hold out for the first hour or so, but in the end I give in, and decide that a drink is probably worth the risk of being sick tomorrow.

Rob walks into the water while fording the Oliphants on the way back, but blames this on my walking stick. We get back to the tent at eight, and drink water, then fruit juice, then rooibos tea, then beer. Rob says he thinks we have climbed a new route.