Monday, November 22, 2010

Viva, Red Rocks (and Vegas, of course)!

Joe and I just returned from a wonderful trip to Red Rocks, with lovely company, our friends Leici and Ben. It was my first time climbing in Red Rocks and cruising the Vegas strip. Thanks to Leici and Ben, we were able to meet some great folks from Salt Lake City - Jon, Erin and Mike - who made the long drive to join us in our adventures in "Sin" City. Thankfully for me, the only things we really lusted for was the fabulous climbing and the ever-frugal "yard dogs", the best and cheapest way to get a buzz, while strutting the strip. By the time you start at Fat Tuesdays in the Miracle Mile Mall and end up on the other end of the strip at the Wynn Hotel, you'll be happily buzzed and very hungry.

Joe and I in front of the Vegas Eiffel Tower
That's pretty much how our first night in Vegas started. By the time we deplaned and arrived at the hotel, we were all starving. I really wanted to check out the strip, so we decided, well, why not? I was under the impression that we would first get dinner, followed by drinks. I was very wrong. Needless to say, we didn't get dinner ‘til midnight...

Ben, Leici, Joe and Jon during our exploration of the Strip

We started our second day, climbing at the Magic Bus area of Red Rocks. We jumped on a couple of 5.8 and 5.9 routes that had nice face holds - perfect for me! I realized one thing about getting to climbs in Red Rocks - it's never as easy as it looks. I had quite a workout during the four days that we spent there, mostly from the approaches. Lots of climbing over big boulders, occasional jumping across smaller slot canyons, etc.

Leici belaying Joe up a 5.8 sport route on Magic Bus

Joe on the 5.8 route on Magic Bus

Arun on the 5.8 route

After Magic Bus, Leici and Ben decided to take us to the Black Corridor, a really cool slot canyon, with tons of routes ranging from 5.9 to 5.12a. I decided to take pictures and occasionally seek out the sun since it gets really cold in that part of the canyon. Joe, Ben, Leici and Jon got on some classic climbs, including Nightmare on Crude Street, a 5.10d up a series of huecos, and Rebel without a Pause, a bouldery 11b.

Leici, Ben, Joe and Jon in the Black Corridor

Jon on a cool, bouldery climb

Joe on another bouldery climb with cool huecos

A busy cragging day at Black Corridor

Leici working Friend (5.10d)

We ended our climbing day with some delicious Japanese food, off the strip, where we met up with Jason and Chris on their own Vegas-Red Rocks extravaganza – check it out here: http://zclipped.com/?p=196

Joe always gets super stoked to take me on multi-pitch moderate climbs; it was no different this time around except one thing – no cracks! Joe had been raving for months that I would absolutely love the climbs in Red Rocks since a lot of them have great face holds. Give me face holds over cracks any day (shh…don’t tell Joe!). On our third day, we decided to climb Olive Oil on Rose Tower – four pitches of moderate (5.7) trad route. From the night before, Jason and Chris warned us that the last bit of the approach would require some creative maneuvering around large boulders, prickly bushes, and tunneling through hard spaces. By the time we arrived at the base of the climb, my heart rate was elevated and my thighs were screaming with pain.

Arun on Olive Oil (5.7)

There was a party ahead of us that was moving a little to slow for us. Usually it’s Joe, who wants to overtake slower parties en route. Surprisingly, even for me, this time I was the one who was itching to get on and hustle through this climb. As Joe had predicted for months, I ended loving this climb. I felt confident and strong, and the exposure actually didn’t bother me. The last pitch consisted of a narrow chimney, which in retrospect, I must have made way narrower. There were points where I was literally stuck. I suppose that’s one way to get over my fear of falling! I really enjoyed climbing the chimney pitch, a pleasant surprise to Joe.

Arun and Joe on top of Olive Oil climb, a few hours before sunset

A successful climbing day with Joe encouraged me to get a “Yard dog” of my own that night! Erin and Mike joined our outing to strip this time. Some of the night’s highlights included a poor gambling attempt at The Bellagio Hotel, Joe having to vigorously convince the group about a waterfall, apparently under which we could walk, and a foiled attempt to go dancing at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

The water fountain in front of the Bellagio Hotel, programmed to "dance" to a selection of classic songs

(From top left) Leici, Jon, Mike (hiding), Erin, Ben, Arun and Joe. Our half attempt at gambling: Joe lost $3 and Jon lost $10.

Arun and I are playing some blog post tag so I'm taking over from here. After another fun night, the 6 of us headed up to the Gallery for more fun bolt clipping. We started out on a couple 5.10 face climbs on the left side of the wall. The crimps and small, in-cut flakes offered some fun, pumpy climbing at the grade. However, the crowds soon overcame the area and a line formed for the classic 12a Fear and Loathing steep jug haul.

Joe giving it a go on the Gift (5.12c)

In an attempt to get on Yaak Crack in the meantime, I threw my rope down below the Gift (12c), thinking it was the 11c I was looking for. With a little encouragement from Erin, Leici, and Arun, I jumped on it but obviously lacked the right head space...maybe I don’t trust permadraws, traverses or steep climbs? Either way, I didn't make it look fun enough for Erin to climb (crush) it. Despite the half attempt, I joined the crew for a single round on Fear and Loathing.

Joe working Fear and Loathing


Despite the hangs, I really enjoyed the climbing and will be coming back some day for the RP. After wishing farewell to Mike and Erin, we searched out Mediterranean food and my first hookah.

Wrapping up climbing for the day and wishing Erin and Mike a warm farewell

Last day - fourth day of climbing, with two nights of yard dogs, was taking its toll. Yet, we had another canyon to explore on the other side of Kraft Mountain. We hiked by some popular bouldering spots and I pointed out pictographs and agave roasting pits along the way, from the archaeology tour that I had taken during the Climbing Management Conference. Not all of us were enjoying the long hike in, but everyone was enjoying the quietness compared to previous busy days and the beautiful desert oasis.

Joe leading Mr. Choad's Wild Ride (5.11b)

After some searching, we finally made it to Sunny and Steep. Despite the blazing sun, I got super excited about jumping on Mr. Choad's Wild Ride, an 11b, 105-foot bolted climb. It was full on (no grid bolting here) sustained and super technical, despite the occasional rest. "Slopey crimpers" was a common descriptor for many of the holds. Ward Smith from Massachusetts developed the area, taking the time to install glue-in, eye bolts, which will stand the test of time compared to regular expansion bolts. Needless to say, Ward and friends established a fine route. While others climbed a not-so-classic 5.9, I took two hangs on lead. After seeing a lonely set of rap bolts and reading that it was over 100 feet long, I belayed Ben up so that he could belay Leici.

Ben following on Mr. Choad!

Coming down to seek shade, I warned Leici that it would be a finisher to our day, the entire trip, and our sore bodies.

Moonrise over the Kraft Mountain area

We wrapped up the trip with another round at Ronald’s before grabbing a burrito and catching our plane. There will definitely be a repeat of Red Rocks - Vegas hooligans in 2011 - stay tuned!

Sunset and moonrise as we hike out, on our final day at Red Rocks

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Final Days in South Africa - history making of all sorts in Jozi

As we set forth to Johannesburg, I secretly wished that somehow, magically, we could extend our time in South Africa. Alas, that didn't happen. But we had a marvelous time during our stay in the city. Let us tell you right away that at no point did we ever feel unsafe in Johannesburg. We were smart travelers. We stayed away from the few neighborhoods reputed to be unsafe, and enjoyed to the fullest extent the rest of city and surrounding areas. Our first day in Johannesburg was quite hectic as it was game day. We drove in from Nelspruit, checked in with our host family, and promptly left for the game. We managed to get lost and head in the opposite direction of the stadium, thanks to Ricardo (our hostess, Karen's GPS system). Thankfully, we arrived at the park & ride with sufficient time and were in our seats 15 minutes before game time. I won't enlighten you too much with our collective feelings regarding the outcome of the Italy vs. Slovakia game, except that we hope that the refs are sleeping with fishes.

Italy vs. Slovakia at Ellis Park Stadium in Joburg

Right after Italy's first goal, the Slovakian goalie decided to
sit with the ball in the corner of the net, setting off a minor
fist fight as the Italian goal scorer attempted to recover the
ball.

In our final days in South Africa, we explored all that Johannesburg had to offer. A lot of history has been made here in Johannesburg, the most recent- losses of Italy and France in the first round, thus making it the first time in history where both finalists from the previous World Cup were unable to progress further in the tournament. A more significant history, occurred at the Cradle of Human Kind, a rural area outside of Johannesburg, which has produced an incredible number of fossils critical to the evolutionary history of mankind. At the Cradle, we visited the Sterkfontein Caves, a massive, 20-million-year-old cave that is the excavation site of the world's largest collection of hominid fossils. The small openings of this underground crave proved quite dangerous to small ancestors of modern humans, as they frequently fell into the cave unknowingly and died there. A combination of limestone, mud, and other mineral deposits formed the perfect preserving material for these fossils for millions of years. The two most noted fossils are that of Mrs. Ples and Little Foot. Both are of the species Australopithecus africanus, a distant cousin and precursor to the modern human which date between 2 and 3 million years old. Little Foot, a near-complete skeleton, was discovered most recently in the late 90s and other fossils are still being discovered to this day, making the cave one of the longest standing archaeological digs ever.

Sterkfontein Caves

Statue of the professor who discover "Mrs. Ples" - legend
has it if you rub the professor's nose, you'll get luck, and if
you rub the fossil's head, then you'll get wisdom.

As we returned to Johannesburg in the afternoon, we ended our history lesson for the day on a more somber note by visiting the Apartheid Museum. At the entrance, Joe and I were randomly assigned a color; Joe was "white" and I was a "non-white". Jokingly we tried to change our fates by re-selecting cards, only to end up with the same outcome, three chances later. The Apartheid Museum is an excellent place to learn in-depth about the history, progression, and the violent struggle against apartheid in South Africa and its impact on world human history. We highly recommend a visit to this extensive exhibit.

An exhibit at the Apartheid Museum
featuring generations of certain families
that played a critical role in the history
of apartheid

The following day we completed our history lesson by visiting the township of Soweto (short for Southwestern Township). Traditionally reputed for housing the largest number of impoverished, discriminated against, and disenfranchised black South Africans, Soweto was the battleground for South Africa's anti-apartheid movements in the late 1970's. Home to the first uprisings in 1976, where black South African schoolchildren and youth protested against the integration of Afrikaan as the primary medium of education, Soweto fell victim to the devastating massacre of innocent children and youth that lasted over six months. More than 500 children were murdered during this period. Today, Soweto is world-renowned as the home of anti-apartheid activists, political leaders, and Nobel Laureates, Nelson Mandela and Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu. One cannot visit South Africa, specifically the Johannesburg area, without learning the incredible history that was made here, which even today continues to play a crucial role in the development of global race relations.

A mixture of poor and middle class homes in Soweto

Residents washing clothes in the poorer settlements of Soweto

Children from the poor settlements came to sing for our tour
group

Sunday mass at the Regina Mundi church in Soweto - a
historical place where the first services for the dead children
of the 1976 uprisings took place

All in all, we were saddened to leave South Africa, but vowed to each other that certainly we would return. We are thrilled to have embarked on this remarkable, enlightening, and beautiful journey together. The people and places of South Africa are inspiring and incredible. Yet, we have still so much left to experience and see, and even more rock to climb! We will forever remember the spirit of sharing the World Cup with people from across the globe, making new friends at Rocklands, and those special moments - cheering our hearts out for Italy, feeling the comforting warmth of a huge campfire and playing cards with Thomas, stumbling onto a herd of giraffes in front of our Kia, and ending our journey with the quintessential Saturday afternoon braii (bbq) with our host family in Johannesburg. There are entirely too many special moments to write of, but we will do our best to share them with you in person and hold them dearly in our hearts.

A true South African braii with our host family in Johannesburg


Watching the US vs. Ghana game with our new English mates
at Nelson Mandela Square in Joburg

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Crazy stuff happened...but we won't tell you here!

After the wild drive, beautiful beaches, and delicious Indian food along South Africa's Wild Coast, Joe and I started our journey inland toward Nelspruit and Kruger National Park. Exhausted already from the extensive drive, Joe and I found comfort in knowing that this leg of our journey was going to be the last, long drive! At last, we arrived at our tented safari camp in Mthethomusha at 1:30 in the morning, and promptly crashed. We would call this luxury safari tent home for the next five nights.

On game day in Nelspruit, Joe and I decided to take it easy, update our blog, and attend the Italy vs. New Zealand match. We are rapidly becoming experts in "game attendance" - waiting patiently to find parking at the park & ride, yet cleverly managing to skirt to the front of the masses to ride the bus and get into the stadium. What was once at least a 2-hour process in Cape Town, we quickly whittled it down to 45-minutes. The Nelspruit game day presented itself as quite the dilemma for Joe as he was uncertain about his allegiance - Italy or New Zealand. Having lived in Christ Church, New Zealand for 6 months during his college years, Joe was ecstatic to experience the Kiwis' only second appearance in the World Cup, but his Italian heritage equally pulled at his heartstrings. Eventually, luckily for Joe, he didn't need to make a decision as the match ended in a draw. Italy's yet again lackluster performance against this underdog, foreshadowed their subsequent destiny in World Cup 2010. Despite the mediocrity of the game, we enjoyed the quaint feel and beautiful sunset at Mbombela Stadium.

Italy vs. New Zealand

Italy's equalizer goal off a penalty kick

New Zealand playing well against the defending champs

Joe, a proud Italy supporter!

The beautiful sunset behind Mbombela Stadium

Our remaining days in Nelspruit were reserved for self-drive safaris in the world-renowned Kruger National Park - an impressive 2 million hectares, three times the size of Yellowstone, of diverse African life forms. We drove around the southern most area of the park, merely scratching the surface. A discussion with an honorary park ranger informed us that most of the game had migrated to this southern region. Unusually dry weather in the north had forced the game to migrate to the wetter south, which contained lush vegetation and better opportunities for food and prey.

Springbok at Kruger National Park

Excited to take Joe on his first ever safari, we were pleasantly greeted by Lady Luck. During our two, full days at Kruger National Park, we were some of the few lucky people this season to have seen the Big 5 - Cape Buffalo, Elephant, Leopard, Lion and Rhino. Whether driving along paths less traveled or staying on the main paved roads, we were indeed fortunate to have our own "private" moments of game viewing, with no one else around to experience the uniqueness of those awe-inspiring, individual moments. As we drove around Kruger, Joe and I started to categorize groups of safari people - crowd seekers and lone spotters; crowd seekers were those people who wanted to see game by finding the biggest group of people parked on the side of the road, and lone spotters were people like us, who found excitement in trying to find the game on our own! Although, at points, we too played the role of crowd seekers in our quest to locate the more hard-to-see lions, especially from the low profile of our Kia Picanto.

Our first giraffe encounter, right on the road!

A similar awesome encounter with elephant population

Our second attempt at seeing a lion...success!

The white rhino is an endangered species

It was so hot the hippos never left their watery haven

Needless to say we had quite the adventure in Kruger! While we attempted to maintain a good schedule for our safari drive, somehow we managed to exit the park after the gates closed, on both nights. As fate would have it though, as we rushed to leave the park in dusk, we had two very thrilling encounters - seeing the stealthy, elusive leopard cross our path on its way to hunt prey, and catching a glimpse of a new nocturnal mammal, the African civet! What a great way to end our safari! We ended our stay in Nelspruit by taking a short day visit to Swaziland and appreciating their local arts and crafts. Along the way, we stopped at one of the most lush forests of Southern Africa, tucked in the high hills of Swaziland.

Friday, June 25, 2010

A wild drive along the Wild Coast

The drive
We embarked on our marathon drive from Cape Town to Nelspruit along the coast with no set plans or reservations, other than a four-day window to get to Nelspruit. No problem, right? Well, it turned out to be an epic 1,800-mile drive. Wildly passed by speeding cars at least 50 times. Passed another 100 trucks, cars, and vans ourselves. Down here, shoulders turn into lanes and the center line is more of a guideline than a rule. Thousands of South Africans walk up and down the road, casually crossing between cars speeding at 140km/hr and stepping in front of our car to hitch a ride. It's all part of the excitement, eh?

In between the long stretches of driving, some of the country's greatest gems can be found along the Garden Route and Wild Coast. I'm not talking diamonds, but instead beautiful beaches, river mouths, and coastal forests. Based on numerous recommendations, we stopped in Knysna for their fresh, local oysters and seafood along the Garden Route. A must-do! From here, the 5-day rainstorm finally ended as we drove into the night, arriving at Tsitsikamma National Park, the third most visited park in the country. However, we accidently arrived at the wrong side of this 47-km-long coastal sanctuary and back tracked back to the N2 highway. Finally in the right place, we set up our tent and cooked a quick meal while listening to the second match for South Africa—bafana bafana! Despite their attempts to equalize at 0:1, the game turned disastrous when the ref gave the goalie an undeserved red card, and Uruguay capitalized, finishing the game with a 3:0 win.

Our Tsitskikamma campsite below the Indian Ocean night sky

We fell asleep to the crashing waves just a hundred meters from our tent and awoke to expansive views of the turquoise blue Indian Ocean. Camping or lodging at Storms River Mouth is highly recommended! We enjoyed a quiet hike on the Blue Duiker Trail amongst remnant forest giants; the Outeniqua Yellow wood trees where heavily logged starting in the late 1800s, and much of South Africa’s temperate forests have been permanently lost…a familiar story across the globe, whether it’s the old growth of the Pacific Northwest, the native beech forests of New Zealand, or the yellow wood forests of South Africa. Already behind schedule, we joined the main throng of tourists for a quick walk out to the mouth of Storms River. The river’s water, brown from the rich tannins, flowed slowly out of the canyon, clueless of impending clash of ocean waves. We quickly got back on the road for a 9 hour drive to Coffee Bay. Despite a local climber’s recommendation to NOT drive through the Transkei region at night due to poor road conditions and stray animals, we pressed on. The Transkei region was a central relocation area of blacks during Apartheid rule and received very little government services until recent decades. As warned, I swerved around potholes and the “Transkei Big Five” (donkeys, goats, pigs, sheep and cattle) with the mission of safely arriving at our ocean front thatched rondavel by 11:30 pm.

Tsitskikamma coast


Blue Duiker Trail


Bushbucks graze and hyraxs scurry near the rocky shore


Storms River Mouth

Or so we thought. On day 3, another visitor pointed out a flat tire in the morning. We replaced it with the dummy spare tire and briefly blanked out the problem for a few hours to visit a neighboring Xhosa village. Many of the native Xhosa people still live traditional lifestyles: families live in thatched rondavels constructed with mud-dung bricks, teenage boys undergo circumcision ceremonies, and the dowry is paid in cattle. Our tour guide, Cylas, went to college in East London and now organizes visits to his home village. His career goal is to manage a hotel. Nelson Mandela’s homeland is not too far away and even he returned to his home to stay in a circumcision lodge. From here, the local Magic Tyre Repair Shop did their magic in removing the nail and patching the hole. Six hours later, we made it to a backpacker’s lodge in Pietermaritzburg—the home of Alan Paton (author of Cry, the Beloved Country) and the location of Ghandi’s arrival in South Africa where he was thrown off the train for being colored.
Coffee Bay


Arun and a local Xhosa woman


Cylus' little sister


Taking on Bafana Bafana's next generation of football legends.


Inside Cylus' rondavel


The village above the ocean


Cylus stands over a tap for potable water, installed by the government after ongoing issues with cholera


The Sacred Pool, where generations have come to honour their ancestors

The next day, we cruised into Durban’s densely packed Indian district where we walked the markets and sampled some Indian cuisine. We also visited the local mosque, Juma Musjid, the largest mosque in the Southern Hemisphere. A volunteer guide from the Islamic faith center gave the tour, but it was mostly a lesson in Islam. From here, we finished the drive into Nelspruit where we were led to our safari tent tucked between a township and tribal authority nature reserve. Arun drove a few occasions when she could, but it was a bit of a crash course in driving a stick shift. Driving on the left side, the dubious road conditions, and the South African drivers were a bit much. Most importantly, this third leg of the trip ended safely in time for the next World Cup game and visits to Kruger National Park (next post!)

Durban's Indian District

Dr Yusuf Dadoo Street and the minarets of Juma Musjid

Juma Musjid