An Overview of the Mehloding Adventure Trail
27th December to 2nd January 2007
By Jo Goddard
This hike took place between Christmas and New Year, 2006/2007, and the participants were Terry (Hike Organiser) & Lesley Youens, Dave & Rose Lupton-Smith, Sally Jones, John Meyer, Dave Myers, Tonie and Bertha Lazarus, Ian and myself.
BACKGROUND TO THE TRAIL
 The Mehloding Adventure Trail is located in the relatively unexplored southern Drakensberg, at the junction of the Eastern Cape, Kwa Zulu Natal and Lesotho Borders and is accessed via Matatiele, a small town 70 km from Kokstad. The four day guided hike is managed by the Mehloding Community Tourism Trust on behalf of the communities living along the trail. The concept of the trail is to provide means for these local communities to generate income through sustainable use of the local environment and by promoting their cultural heritage as a tourism attraction.
To achieve these objectives, the trail is led by local guides, registered with the South African tourism authorities, and accommodation is provided in lodges managed by hostesses drawn from the local communities. The lodges are traditional in terms of architecture, construction materials and the food served therein which, although basic, was ample and delicious. At every lodge, the hostesses were charming, the accommodation was very clean, there were hot showers and flush toilets and – most important – the opportunity to purchase a wee drappie or two from the local shebeens!
TRAIL DESCRIPTION
We all met up at the Masakala Traditional Guesthouse situated just outside Matatiele , where we were met by Robert, one of our guides. From here, we were transported to the first overnight lodge, Malekhalonyane Chalet, which is situated in open grassland with mountain views. Some of our party travelled in a bakkie, but the rest of us were transported in a rather clapped out car driven by one of the locals. It was about 40 kms to the first overnight lodge, and we bumped and wheezed along the rutted roads, hoping for the best. After a while, it started to rain, so we made a stop to take our rucksacks off the roof. We then had to ride with these on our laps, but this was nothing compared with the fact that the driver had no windscreen wipers and visibility was virtually nil at times! When we mentioned this to the driver, (whose name was Peacemaker) he did stop and get some fuses out of the glove compartment, which he examined for a few minutes, then put them back. Fortunately, he was an able driver, so we eventually arrived at the lodge unscathed. Rather than deliver a blow by blow account of each day’s hiking and evening entertainment (?) I would prefer to mention just the highlights , so here goes.
DISTANCES AND TERRAIN
The trail lasts 4 days, with distances of 14 km (Alt: 1 591 m), 19.5 km (Alt: 1 560 m), 12.5 Km (Alt: 1 663m) and 12 km (Alt: 1 685 m), respectively. Although there are a few steep climbs, the trail is moderate in difficulty. A large part of the trail is through grassland, sometimes on stock paths, with quite a lot of contouring. There are some interesting sandstone outcrops, especially on the last day, but unfortunately we were unable to appreciate this most scenic day of the trail as we were being met with a bakkie at lunchtime, about 4 kms from Qacha’s Nek. There are 2 rivers to cross on the first day and one on the third day, as well as a few streams. Some river crossings necessitated removal of boots. Most of the time, there are Drakensberg mountain views, and the lodges are situated to take full advantage of them .
FAUNA AND FLORA
Unfortunately, a large part of the trail is infested with Acacia mearnsii (Black Wattle), an unwelcome and extremely invasive tree from Australia. In some places, it grows to the exclusion of indigenous trees and shrubs, although the last day of the hike is virtually wattle-free. Work for Water has been working on the problem, and there are a few places where some impact is evident, but a mammoth task lies ahead.
Another problem is man-made erosion, due to excessive firewood collection and overgrazing by cattle and goats. Firewood is transported by oxen pulling the wood along on ‘sled tracks’. This has the effect of creating wide tracks, which are denuded of grass and other vegetation and gradually deepen to form deep dongas.
Indigenous trees seen on the trail included Rhus dentata (Nana Berry), Leucosidia sericea (Ouhout), Protea roupelliae (Silver Sugar-bush), Olinia emarginata (Mountain Hard Pear) and Diospyros lycioides (Transvaal Blue Bush). Wild flowers included Agapanthus, cyrtanthus, helichrysums, crassulas and dierama.
Fauna were represented by a sighting of two mountain reedbuck and that was all.
BIRDS
Although rare birds are listed as one of the attractions of this hike, very few birds, either common or rare, were noted, despite looking out for them. This could be due to habitat degredation, as the clumps of black wattle were particularly sterile as far as wildlife was concerned. We saw more birds on the road from Matatiele to Masakala Guest House than we did on the trail, with good sightings of Crowned cranes, Stanley’s bustards, Ground hornbills, White storks and a Hamerkop. Birds seen on the trail included Redwinged starlings, Cape robin, Southern boubou and White storks.
CULTURE AND HERITAGE
These aspects of the trail were represented by Bushman paintings, initiation ceremonies, traditional food and architecture, local village life ( including shebeens!) and the simple smiling hospitality of the hostesses we encountered at the various lodges.
BUSHMAN PAINTINGS.
These were encountered on Days 1 and 2. The paintings on Day 1 were not as clear as those on Day 2, which were relatively well preserved and well worth a visit. All southern African rock paintings were done in open shelters, such as those we saw, and not in dark, subterranean caverns, as in some other parts of the world. Because rock shelters are frequently rather shallow, paintings are often exposed to the elements, which accounts for the poor preservation of many painting sites.
WHAT DOES THE ART MEAN?
In their excellent book ‘ Images of Power : Understanding San Rock Art’, David Lewis-Williams and Thomas Dowson explain how the interpretation of Bushman art has a long history fraught with misconceptions. For example: Mistaken ideas about the mental capabilities of so-called ‘primitive people’, together with a lack of close attention to the art itself, led to one of the earliest interpretations of Bushman rock art – sympathetic magic. This explanation proposes that the Bushmen made pictures of animals prior to a hunt in the belief that the act of depiction itself or the firing of arrows at the depiction would guarantee hunting success. However, this explanation was more widely held in Europe than in southern Africa. Firstly, there is no evidence that the Bushmen believed in sympathetic magic and secondly, Bushman art seems too diverse in subject matter for so restricted an explanation.
A second explanation is that the Bushmen painted whatever took their fancy, i.e. hunting forays, dances, animals, etc. In other words, their art was regarded as little more than a record of daily life and anyone looking at it - without any knowledge of the Bushmen, their way of life and beliefs – could tell what it means. It was believed that the art is to be translated literally and, even today, this is still many people’s view of rock art, especially when viewing it through Western eyes.
The credit for deeper understanding of Bushmen art and beliefs is largely due to Dr. Wilhelm Bleek, a German linguist, and his sister – in – law, Lucy Lloyd, who worked with /Xam Bushman convicts who were working on a new breakwater in Table Bay. Some of these convicts lived with the Bleeks at their Mowbray home, where the Bleeks took down nearly 12 000 pages of verbatim accounts of Bushman life, ritual and myth. Since then, the work of many researchers has transformed the Bushmen from a relatively unknown people into one of the best documented hunter-gatherer societies in the world. It is now known that the fundamental beliefs of Bushman society, be it in the Kalahari, Drakensberg or western Cape, are widespread and ancient. Indeed, the quantity and unity of Bushmen records mean that we can no longer use ignorance as an excuse for self-indulgent interpretation of Bushmen art, based on guesswork. It is now widely accepted that Bushman art is the work of medicine people, or shamans, which depicts their trance visions and symbols of supernatural potency. Records of San beliefs, together with neuropsychological research on trance states, has led to the understanding of many hitherto puzzling issues, such as the strange relationships between humans and animals, strange geometric patterns, grids, dots and lines seen in many paintings.
Once these concepts are understood, the viewing of Bushman art is so much more fascinating and illuminating than a purely literal interpretation of what one sees painted on the rocks.
Robert informed us that the Mehloding Community Trust is seeking advice on the preservation of the local paintings and on having the area proclaimed a World Heritage Site.
INITIATION CEREMONIES
On 3 occasions, we passed close to initiation sites, where young boys of 18 years or so from the local villages were gathered for ritual circumcision. They then return to their communities as men and village celebrations follow. Robert asked us to pass through such areas as quickly as possible, to speak to no initiates that we may encounter and to take no photographs. On Day 3, our hike was shortened by 2 kms in order to avoid one of these sites.
FOOD, DRINK AND HOSPITALITY
At every lodge, hospitality was outstanding, as was the traditional food, comprising such things as samp and beans, spinach, butternut, chakalala beans, coleslaw, rice, steak, chicken and home-made bread.
Tea and coffee were freely available, and Robert arranged for beers to be purchased from local shebeens. On one occasion, disaster struck when Ian and Terry walked back some distance from the lodge, all uphill on the way back, to fetch beer from a shebeen. On arriving back at the lodge, Terry dropped a bottle of his beer on the concrete floor!
VILLAGE LIFE
We passed through several villages on the trail, allowing us the opportunity to observe African rural life. At one village, the children were fascinated when Ian showed them a photo he had taken of them on his digital camera. The smallest child, a little boy with a cheeky face, had a T-shirt proclaiming: “I’m the Boss!” No land in these villages is owned. Those wishing to live there approach the local chief, who allocates a piece of land as he sees fit, on which they can build a hut, animal kraal, etc.
NEW YEAR’S EVE
This was on our last night, spent at Masakala Traditional Guest House, the place where our adventures began. Unfortunately for her, Sally hurt her leg on Day 2 and had to withdraw from the trail. She and John returned to Masakala Lodge, where they had a relaxing time, apart from an animal being slaughtered on an adjacent property! Sally and John very kindly did some shopping in Matatiele for the rest of us, including wine , beer and some snacks which they shared with us, so we had a very congenial but rather short New Year’s celebration – nobody lasted till midnight ! Thanks for that, both of you.
WOULD I DO THIS HIKE AGAIN?
From a cultural point of view, I enjoyed it and the local people running the trail and lodges could not be faulted. I found Robert, with whom I conversed a lot during the trail, most informative. He was also an excellent leader, and he and Andreas were always concerned for the well-being of the group. However, I personally prefer to hike in more remote areas, away from human habitation and livestock and amongst indigenous vegetation. The pervasive black wattle, goats, cows and erosion got to me after a while. Nevertheless, it was good to enjoy the company of other club members, with the odd game of Trivial Pursuit and an even odder game of Sally’s to while away the evening, not to mention a wee drappie or two at the end of the day, courtesy of the shebeens.
Thanks everyone for good company and a memorable trail!
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