Wilderness

The first stop after Cape Town was Wilderness (the name was so intriguing I had to stop here). My very intelligent Dutch travelling friend and I were greeted by torrential rain, an empty hostel and the information that the primary activity would be to walk along the broken train tracks around the side of the cliff to visit the caveman.

Route to the Caveman

The story goes that the train tracks once belonged to a tourist train that would drive passengers from the village to the cave, where there was a restaurant. They could spend the evening here, then get the train back. For this reason, there are individual rooms and running water available in the cave. A luxury cave, if you will. But it has long since been abandoned since the train stopped running seven years ago, and now the caveman squats there and takes in the homeless. He informed me that he can house eleven people at a time. The caveman himself is very softly spoken and incredibly friendly. He will happily give you the tour and explains that he decorated it all himself, with God’s help. Interestingly, God’s will in this case is lots of sea shells and an Egyptian theme.

The Cave

As well as the caveman, there is a national park here, famous for the birds. After canoeing up the river, you can see why. Everywhere you look there are huge and colourful birds that I have only ever seen in zoos or courtesy of David Attenborough before. The water as well, although shallow, was filled with tiny fish as if there wasn't really room for them all. I felt very zen by the time I left.

Raft to cross the river in Wilderness National Park

The one night spent here, the five of us staying in the hostel ended up going for a meal in the village. The most popular bar and restaurant had a surprisingly vibrant atmosphere as there was live music from a selection of local people. Reggae and country music seemed to be the pick of the day, with most artists playing either Bob Marley or Bob Dylan at some point in their repertoire. The wine was flowing, perhaps a little too much, and on the way back to the hostel, a woman dressed as Cleopatra invited us into a birthday party happening in a bar on our route home. Dancing with the group of family and friends who were all in fancy dress was a really warm and happy experience. People here really are so friendly.

24 hours in Wilderness was a special experience to say the least.