Lockdown in South Africa Day 44 – Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Cave

This week’s prompt for Socs is cave

It’s Day 43 of Lockdown in South Africa and many people are ready to cave in and ignore the rules.  The problem is so many of the restrictions just don’t make sense so who can blame them.   We are a little better off where I live in this small fishing village at the southern tip of Africa.  There are no queues at the supermarket,  only one COVID-19 infection has been reported and most people are wearing masks and following the sanitising rules.  However, nowhere in the country can we buy cigarettes or alcohol and there are restrictions on some other items like underwear which don’t make sense!  Also the exercise slot of 6 am to 9 am is unsatisfactory.  Here in the Western Cape we would prefer to a later slot or a morning and afternoon slot as it is still very cold and dark until 7 am.  So far it hasn’t been too bad as the real chill hasn’t set in yet but come June and it will be darker and colder in the mornings.   Today was the first day since 1 May that I did not go our for a morning walk.   Confession time – I only woke up at 8.  It was overcast and chilly, the Earl and Lollz did not feel like moving so I decided to clean house instead  – well that is exercise even if not as enjoyable!

But enough about the Lockdown – let’s talk about caves!

Nestled high in the Cedarberg Mountans near Clanwilliam in the Western Cape is the Kagga Kamma Nature Reserve.   It is a great place for a weekend getaway of hiking, game viewing and visiting rock art sites.   When the Earl and I visited a few years ago we stayed in a cave!  There are ten  man-made cave-like suites that were constructed to integrate with the natural Sandstone formations.  I am sure the cave-dwellers of old did not have quite the luxury that we had though!  It was great fun and I can highly recommend it.

Kagga Kamma “Caves”

Entrance to our  cave

I grew up in Fish Hoek, a small sea-side village and a suburb of  Cape Town.  One of the things that Fish Hoek is famous for is Peers Cave where the remains of early man were found by  father and son Victor and Bertie Peers, in the 1920s.   They found a shell midden, spear head, small leather bags and several skeletons.  They dated back 12000 years.  The earliest occupants of the area were known as the San people and the discovery of a human skeleton fully intact and dating back to the stone age was the first found in South Africa. It was also the largest brained type of man thus far discovered.

 

It is a relatively easy hike to Peers Cave which is still unspoilt to this day.  It has been a while since I’ve visited but I used to do it fairly frequently when I was younger.  The view across the valley is spectacular.