Despite a slightly slow start to the week, I ended up having some of the most memorable experiences of my life. I dove into new photography with my camera, met with climate change experts, cooked, tasted local beers, hiked, camped, swam, and lit up from bioluminescence. I explored new places with new friends, and found comfort in forming routines with solid ones. Every day I spend here brings about new growth, and I’m lucky to share it with so many locally and abroad.
On Sunday I took my new camera and a small group up a trail above the Rhodes Memorial to make a time lapse of the sunset over Observatory. We took a picnic and some music and watched the shadows engulf our neighborhood. The next day I got to grab a coffee with Sarah Birch, one of four members of the Western Cape Government’s Climate Adaptation Department. She was extremely knowledgeable about the effects Cape Town will experience from climate change, and got me thinking about new perspectives for my film.
The following day I hosted a braai at my house to say goodbye to a friend – Aidan. However, her plans got rearranged and she decided to stay another week so it turned into a celebration for the hell of it. VAC took us on a tour of a local brewery – Drifter Brewing – on Thursday and we got to enjoy some delicious and unique brews beneath a sunset over Table Mountain.
However, the highlight of the week – and honestly my whole trip in general – was a hike up to the Crystal Pools then camping on the beach of Dapat se Gat near Kogel Beach. A big group arrived at the base of the Crystal Pools in the morning, and after getting our permits checked we took a nice 2.5km stroll up a gorge through the mountains. There are five pools to visit, all deep and terraced along the cliffs; Family Pool, Crystal Pool #1 – #3, and the Top Pool. The first (Family Pool) is small, so we pressed on a few more minutes to Crystal Pool #1.
We spent about an hour swimming, lounging, and cliff jumping at Crystal Pool #1, and we had our first encounter with the locals. There’s one stubborn baboon that refuses to leave the area who would raid our backpacks for food anytime we looked away. Luckily there was another group there for our first stop to scare him off, but we soon chose to continue onward.
Next we scrambled straight up a poorly maintained and crumbling path to a peak where we could see through the entire gorge. We ate lunch in the shade away from the baboon, then descended into the top pool. I walked ahead of the group, picking my way through large rocks and steep trails to get some shots of the pool. Tom made his way down as well, but most of the others couldn’t manage to find the route. I scrambled back up the peak to catch them, but once I reached them they had decided to make another attempt at reaching the top pool. I decided to join them, and made my way back to take photos of them jumping in.
After a few minutes I decided to check out Crystal Pool #2 where others were relaxing. I went back up the mountain on a new route, and ended up going much too far and getting lost for a while. I finally found the trail after about a half an hour, but it was so poorly marked it took me another half an hour just to find my way down. Once I reached the pool I was dehydrated and out of water, but after jumping in for a while felt completely rejuvenated.
Time was flying and the sun was setting, so once Jim, Tom, and Sofia came back down from the Top Pool we had to jog down the mountain to beat the sun and set up our campsite for the night. We got back to the car quickly, loaded up, ran to town to buy groceries, then sped to a parking area for Dapat se Gat. We made it to the beach as the sun was setting and hurried to set up our tents in a protected alcove home to a deep cave and a lightly used fire pit. The sun had set by the time we had constructed our camp, but then came something truly spectacular.
Dapat se Gat and Kogel Bay are home to a type of bioluminescent plankton that glows blue when disturbed. As it got darker, the waves became more and more blue, like crashing lights. It was absolutely unbelievable. The wet sand would light up beneath our feet as we walked, and we were far from any city so the stars were bright enough to see the entire milky way. We spent the night playing with the sand and the tide, our feet and hands glowing blue for a second after every dip in the water.
Waking up the next morning, we were greeted by a pack of 10 hungry baboons. We saw them coming, and crammed into one tent with our valuables. Baboons are very aggressive, but they only ever want food. We cowered in our tent as they ripped through our food bags and cooler for over an hour. The tide began coming in, and we were trapped hoping it wouldn’t wash us and the baboons away. Luckily nothing happened, and once the baboons had their fill we got out and packed up in a hurry.
We took our time getting back to the car, then drove into town for a big breakfast on the beach. After refueling, we decided to make the most of our day and went straight back to the beach to lay in the sun. By the time we got back our campsite and the whole beach was packed with daytime visitors. We swam and lounged, eventually noticing an extensive cave that stretched back about 300m. It began about 10m tall, then sloped and curved back into a point. We made our way all the way to the back where we ran into another group. We chatted and shared some stories before heading back to the beach.
Around 5pm we packed up and hit the road back home. It was an exhausting and exhilarating weekend to say the least, one that I’ll likely never forget. I plan to go back again since I know the camp spot and can’t get over the beauty of that area.
February 12
Highlights
- Dinner at Mimi’s
- The Rhodes Memorial
- Sunset picnic
- Time lapse over Observatory
February 14
Highlights
- Heading downtown for coffee
- Chatting with climate change adaptation expert Sarah Birch
- Getting new ideas for my documentary
- Getting stuck in rush hour traffic for and hour and a half
February 15
Highlights
- Hosting a ‘goodbye braai’ for Aidan
- Grilling and celebrating with friends
February 16
Highlights
- Touring Drifter Brewing with VAC
- Coconut beer (not sweet, actually really tasty)
- Beers under the sunset
February 17
Highlights
- Driving to Strand and Kogel Bay
- Hiking up to the Crystal Pools
- Cliff jumping in the mountains
- A baboon stealing food and ripping through our backpacks
- Jumping into three amazing fresh water pools
- Running down to the car to beat the sun
- Setting up camp on Dapat se Gat
- Enjoying the sunset over the ocean
- Watching the ocean light up blue from bioluminescent plankton
- Playing in the glowing sand
- Watching the stars appear, including the entire Milky Way
Photos significantly out of order. WordPress is being a tool.
Unfortunately I didn’t capture any photos of the bioluminescence myself as I got sand in my new lens early on and had to put it away. Here’s an example of what it looks like, but it’s best experienced in person.
February 18
Highlights
- Waking up to baboons raiding our camp
- Watching the sunrise over Kogel Bay
- Replacing stolen food with a big breakfast in Strand
- Driving back to Kogel Bay to lounge and swim
- Exploring a huge cave on the beach
