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Class 6 Camp to Cederberg

Published: 13 November 2009

Last week the peace and quiet of the Cederberg was temporarily disturbed by the arrival of Class 6 from Stellenbosch Waldorf School. Our camp was run by Elizabeth Martins (better known to us as Liz Bond), who was our school’s Class 7 teacher last year. She led us up mountains, through tunnels, under and over boulders; and back in time as we examined ancient San sites and searched for even more ancient fossils.

We learned to read animal tracks, and were rather worried to discover a puff adder track leading right through our campsite one evening! We were challenged and awed; sometimes hot and sweating; sometimes chilly and shivering; but at all times up for the adventure. The children helped and entertained each other, and no-one was left behind! We even managed a good few minutes of total silence in Wolfberg Cracks – bliss!

Many thanks go from Class 6 to Liz and Quinton and the Cape Leopard Trust; it was great to see you and be introduced to your beautiful wilderness home.

Here is some of what the children had to say:

After a hot, sticky and irritating car journey (are we there yet?) we finally arrived in camp and after setting up, learning rules and stretching our legs, we were taken to see a rock painting in a cave and it was amazing. We also searched for evidence that Bushmen lived there and we found a few ostrich egg pieces, a half made bead, a bone, pieces of flint and ochre, a rock they used for making red. On the way back we were entertained by a troupe of baboons and watched their antics for a while. - Erin Sinclair

The next morning we woke up at 6:00 and teacher Liz arrived at 6:45. We hiked up to the Wolfberg Cracks, the hike was a bit tiring, but when we got up the cracks all the worries and tiredness were gone. I had a very good feeling when I made it to the top. Then we went to swim; it was sooo refreshing. We also went animal tracking that very same day. That day was the best day for me. - Nkhensani Josias

The rocks were very beautiful and all the cracks. When we nearly reached the top the adventure began. We went through a little crack where you can’t see where you are walking. In the middle of one we saw a bat; he was about half a meter away. I could have touched it if I wanted. After that crack we came into a stunning room full of rocks. There were two rock arches and a shelf. Everyone was climbing everywhere. It was beautiful. To get out of the room of rocks we had to squeeze through a little postbox and up a chimney. That was fun. We walked along an  edge that was sooo narrow. It was scary, it went straight down on one side… The one day we tracked a caracal. We nearly saw it but it was hiding by a river where there were thick bushes. What a pity!! But the camp was very nice! - Lijan van Niekerk

After a swim we went back to the camp site and had a rest. Then we looked for animal tracks. For dinner Liz and Quinton came and we ate then went to bed. Next morning it was freezing so Lestát and I woke up very early, woke up Fiona and we made fire under a mini cave. The following afternoon we went for a fossil hunt. We found lots of fossils. We slept outside under the stars. The next morning we packed our stuff and went back home. - Sun-Mok Kim

On the second day we woke up at 6 o’clock and left at 7 o’clock for Wolfberg Cracks (the view was exceptional at the top). All the different colours and rocks, well they were both beautiful. After some fossil hunting we went to our last sleeping place and got smoked out like bees in a hive (the fire), but in the end we went to sleep, and woke up the next morning. Then we got ready to leave and then we said good bye to the beautiful Cederberg hoping that we will see it again some day! - Raquel Theron

I was the first to go through the hole, it was really cramped so I had to move fast. When I reached the other side it was so cool; not that heat pounding down on you. We carried on and had to go through more holes and tunnels, until we came to this wonderful place; everywhere you look you see rocks of so many sizes. … We went back to camp and I knew that the next day would be just as fun. - Lestát Steyn

The following article appeared in the Stellenbosch Waldorf School’s weekly Update (13 November 2009)

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