TRAVEL FEATURE - SOUTH AFRICA
CHRIS VENTER
I LOVED IT ... SO GIVE IT SOME TIME
“
Only a few more rustic and broken steps down ,” I am told . “ Just a short distance further . It must be here somewhere .”
I am following my guide ’ s instructions perfectly , “ I think it ’ s just over there .”
I listen carefully to each word and take another cautious step . Big Mike leads me from the manicured gardens of the Lord Milner Hotel into the desert . The hard , harsh , sun- scorched desert . As we navigate , him in the pair of flip flops that he diligently remembered to pack and me bare footed , with my flip flop pair in my bedroom cupboard at home a few hundred kilometres away .
“ How the hell did they build this path Mike ?” I scold
“ What path , Chris ?” he responds . This better be worth it I think as we press on . Big Mike offers a running commentary , describing everything he sees . I hear about half . All I want , is to stay vertical .
Unknowingly , I step onto the biggest cactus ever , laden with unripe prickly pear fruit . Luckily , my bare feet felt only a slimy splatter and no thorns . I pressed on without even mentioning this to Mike . There were chunks of quartz and boulders of granite and slabs of slate and shale that make their presence known too . Each element harshly caressing the soft skin of my bare feet . To break my swearing with each stubbed toe , Mike tries to paint a picture for me .
It ’ s late afternoon . The sun , as plump and vivid as an overripe tangerine , is huge . It ’ s melting down a sky that is faded cobalt blue , just metres from the horizon . The desert air is so clear that the flames on the surface of the sun can almost be seen . This is probably another mirage . There were enough that day as we rode through the Tankwa Karoo .
“ I see it bud . It ’ s just here , hidden
TRAVERSE 145