After attending a talk and archaeological tour of the Pinnacle Point caves last week, we were lucky enough to squeeze into a couple of open slots on Fred Orban's renowned Oystercatcher Trail which starts just down the road at Mossel Bay.  We joined 9 others (a group of 5 and two other couples) who were doing the slack pack trail, and with apologies to my Xhosa friends, we just "clicked" - it really was a great group and a great hike.

We were led by the famous Xhosa guide Willie Komani who was assisted by South Cape Rangers' Chris Carr.  We were a bit slow on the first day, so unfortunately, we didn't quite reach the planned end-point at Dana Bay.  Instead, we stopped about 4 km short at Pinnacle Point (some of us scrambled down to one of the caves below with Willie - don't worry, it wasn't one of the caves currently under archaeological examination).

We saw all kinds of wildlife - oystercatchers (of course - including a couple of chicks and eggs), terns, gulls, fiscal shrikes, sunbirds, swallows (forecasting good weather as they sat in a row on the telephone line), cormorants, as well as dassies, tortoises, a couple of snakes, bats, lizards, skinks, agamas and numerous plants which Willie had a million-and-one uses for....

Throughout the trip, Willie told us about the traditional medicinal uses for the various plants we came across - or he explained the feeding habits of the varied bird life - that is when he wasn't walking straight up to nearly invisible oystercatcher nests (they lay their eggs in a little hollow in the sand), or pointing out pairs of wrestling snakes from 50 metres away.  Chris, meanwhile, spoke about the efforts underway to stop people from feeding the dassies in Mossel Bay, and enthusiastically shared his knowledge of the flora & fauna in his own affable and good-natured way.  Both of our guides were knowledgeable about the archaeological work in the area - and showed us numerous middens where seashells had been discarded by previous inhabitants, and where there was evidence of ancient stone tool use.  Between the two of them, we were certainly in good hands.

As usual, I tracked our route with Sports-Tracker and snapped some photos along the way.  My battery was draining pretty quickly so, with the exception of the last day, I split the tracking into two parts each day to ensure I didn't lose it all if the battery ended up dying.  Click on any of the tracking images below to see the route details on Sports-Tracker, including photos - or go to the respective Flickr Sets for the photos themselves.

After a cool drink in the clubhouse, we were transported to Boggomsbaai where each couple (or family) was shown to their own charming & cosy Sandpiper Cottage, followed by a communal dinner & drinks at the Sandpiper Sports Centre.

The next morning, we were back at it.  First breakfast at 8:00, then at 9:00 we were whisked back to Dana Bay for the start of that day's hike which would see us walk along the entire crescent beach, returning to the Sandpiper in our bare feet.  There was time for some great body surfing along the way and a dip in one of Willie's secret swimming holes.  The water was a bit tea-coloured due to the recent run-off, but that didn't stop us - it was a welcome cool down from the unrelenting heat of the sun!  And then, we spotted the dolphins...

Once back, we showered before heading to Sandpiper Sports Centre for drinks and a bit of an archaeological appetizer as Fred Orban gave a run through of Curtis Marean's work at Pinnacle Point Caves, as well as a peak at Peter Nilssen's presentation before dinner.

The next morning, we hiked from the Sandpiper Sports Centre, down to the beach and all along the coast, passing by Vleesbaai before stopping for lunch at Fransmanshoek - and you guessed it, more great body surfing (some were a bit thrown off by the sports angler attempting to reel in a shark on the nearby rocks, but I figured so long as the line remained taut, it meant there was one less shark to worry about!).

After lunch, we continued along the coast until we reached the Gouritz River where a boat ferried us to the other side where our transport back to Sandpiper was waiting.

Day 3 was a long, hot day - even though some found it a bit gruelling, I think it was still everyone's favourite - it had a bit of everything: rocks to scramble atop of, beach walking, cartpaths in Karoo-style farmland near the Gouritz - you name it.  It really was majestic.

It was a great trip from beginning to end - and Fred kicked off the celebration by offering up couple big platters of oysters (from Munro's in Little Brak, of course!) and champagne during "prize giving", followed by dinner on our last night back at the Sandpiper Sports Centre.

Thanks Fred, Willie, Chris, Annemarie and the rest of the Sandpiper/Oystercatcher team - as well as the other hikers (Blair, Jane, Gareth, Thomas, Liam, Rainer, Cherry, Mark & Katherine) - for making it such a fun and memorable trip!

If you've ever visited the Garden Route from other parts of the country (or the world), perhaps you've inexplicably felt all of your stress evaporate (particularly if you're lucky enough to have a window seat as you fly in over the Outeniqua Mountains!) and suddenly felt that somehow you were coming "home".  Well, it all makes perfect sense:  this is where it all began!

Dr. Peter Nilssen (with assistance from Fred Orban) gave a fascinating lecture/presentation at the Pinnacle Point Golf Estate's clubhouse, followed by a guided tour of the caves where evidence of humankind's existence has been uncovered, dating as far back as 164,000 years ago (with speculation it could even be as far back as 180,000 years ago). 

Peter originally discovered the caves whilst conducting the Environmental Impact Assessment (as mandated by law for any new real estate developments) for the golf estate in 1997, so it was great to have his perspective and insight.

Fred, meanwhile, runs the internationally-reknowned Oystercatcher Trail which has received rave reviews from the likes of National Geographic Traveller Magazine, Getaway Magazine, the BBC's Julia Bradbury in her "Africa Walks" series, and many others.  Julia, who filmed her 4-part series in 2009 (occasionally rebroadcast on BBC4) and gave this interview when she was in Mossel Bay.

The Golf Estate's website has a bit more information on the Pinnacle Point Caves, and the efforts underway to have it declared a World Heritage Site.  Scientific American has a very interesting & informative interactive presentation (based on an article which appeared in the July 21, 2010 issue of their magazine) that is well worth a run through.  There is also an earlier, Oct 17, 2007 article, which speaks about the significance of these early people's seafood diet - and of course, there are reams and reams of much more scholarly research available on the entire subject.

If you are interested in a guided tour (indeed, this is the only way it is permitted to see the caves) and a highly informative, interactive talk on the context and their significance, be sure to visit the Points of Human Origin website for more information.

If you're interested in a bit of a preview see these YouTube videos of Peter Nilssen's presentation and Arizona State University archaeologist Chris Marean's work at the Pinnacle Point Caves.

The gallery of photos below gives an idea of the stunning natural beauty found as you climb down the stairs - (180 steps each way, but it feels like more on the way up!) - to the caves beneath the golf course (click to enlarge or view as a slideshow).