The Kogelberg

This is significant. The Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve was the FIRST Biosphere Reserve to be declared in southern Africa and forms part of UNESCO's world-wide network of Biosphere Reserves.Biosphere Reserves are areas of terrestrial and coastal eco-systems which are internationally recognised within the framework of the United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation's (UNESCO's) Man and Biosphere Programme.

Wow!

And so today's walk will be a a trip along the Palmiet River which is itself something of special interest (the river rather than my walk!). I'm no expert, but a few years ago there was a scheme to dam the Palmiet River to add to Cape Town's critically deficient water supply, but it was turned down on environmental grounds. I may be wrong but I think I remember reading that the Palmiet River is the only remaining river in Southern Africa that is undammed from source to sea, and since in flows through an area of huge ecological importance and exquisite beauty, it is easy to see why the conservationists won their case. This post will support their view!

Actually, I have been planning this walk for years. One way or another it just hasn't happened, and in a strange way, I'm almost sad it is over.

Today I walked through a site of international interest,and apart from a couple of academics with a laptop right at the start, I walked 10 kilometres without seeing another human being, or even a sign that human beings existed. All about100 km from one of Africa's great cities, Cape Town. Not a single person. No-one...

For a European, this is simply unimaginable. It is scarcely likely that most Europeans will ever see an environment that is unaffected by human existence or habitation. To be in an place that, apart from the path ahead, is completely natural, is simply extraordinary. For three hours today, I might have been on another planet, but not one that could have been more spectacular or beautiful to my eyes. I have the impression that what I saw today is essentially unchanged for thousands of years. Apart from the path, obviously man-made, this is a highway to history. Can the people who maintain this path even begin to know the incredible stewardship of their enterprise? Places like this must be our dowry to the future. I'm an engineer, but if anyone built a dam here, I can't help believing that he would be guilty of a crime against humanity.

You don't believe me? Here is my evidence!

And of course, I was following the course of the Palmiet River. For those people who don't come from arid lands, they may not understand the implications of a free-flowing river in this kind of country. There isn't a single dam or weir between the source of this river and the sea. That may be unique in Africa...

And the flora here is also completely unique. There are more species of flora in this small space than in the whole of Europe. this is the wrong time of the year to truly appreciate it, late summer, but still there are plants that take one's breath away. It remains a fact of nature that only the insects and birds will ever see these individual specimens:

Not a single person. Absolutely no evidence of human existence, as far as the eye can see. Incredible!

And then, my own private beach! I took off all my clothes and swam in these cool waters. I didn't have a towel with me so I had to dry myself in the South Easterly breeze that was blowing up the valley. There was a sense of amazing freedom in that act of exposure. No-one on earth there to observe the inadequacies of my aging body. But, in that warm and fragrant air, a sense of unity with my environment. A moment of bliss...

 Of course, despite the euphoria, one is always conscious of the cruel determinism of nature. Here in the Cape, fire is necessary to destroy the living for its own regeneration. The plant below was burnt in a fire just one year ago and, if the fire hadn't happened, it would have died. Do we understand this lesson of nature and does it apply to us?

And so to the apex of my walk. A standard sign! Civilisation in eutopia! How incongruous...

Tired now, both on the walk and in this blog, but this is the magnificent walk home:

Strangely, along the way, not a single human being, no baboons, no leopards, no snakes. Just a few interesting beetles and this rather inquisitive bird. He was completely untroubled by my presence. Clearly he and his kind have seen few human beings and therefore don't fear them. I have since looked him up in my bird book and he turns out to be a Cape Rock Thrush. He seemed to enjoy my company, and I certainly enjoyed his...

And finally, back to civilisation. That's my car next to the admin building, on extreme telephoto. I confess to feeling some relief. Much of the path up the valley was over rocky terrain and although this was not a long walk in terms of what awaits me, it was still a bit testing.

I am going to have to get a lot fitter and stronger!

Just to conclude, I couldn't resist adding a couple of shots of the view from Edenly, our wonderful shared house on the coast. This is sunset. It wasn't a particularly magnificent example, but in the nature of our experience, there is little to beat it! 

If you feel like it, click on the link on the right of this post to see a map of the trail in Everytrail.