AASVOELSKRANZGROT –
(Vultures Cliff Cave – Highmoor Area)
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This outing was to
celebrate the new millennium from a different sort of venue, however Margaret
and I did the same thing last year but from two different caves.
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We reserved the cave
for two nights for six people but unfortunately Alison and Jeff had to back out
at the last minute due to a bout of gastric flu so only 4 members of the Ashton
family made the trip, namely Margaret and Keith with youngest son Paul and
eldest son Miles. Our middle son’s
(John) wife (Heather) put her foot down and said there was no way she was going
to sleep in a cave on New Years Eve.
Paul’s girl friend (Amy) also said she was not going to sleep in a cave
with no bathroom etc. not to mention the creepy crawlies and other nocturnal
wildlife.
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We four crazy people however thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, taking with
us plenty of goodies, including beers, sherry, whisky (great with that mountain
stream water) and Drambuie to help us celebrate the new millennium. As we were carrying quite heavy packs (20
kg plus - with all our goodies) I chose the easy route from the Highmoor office
to the cave which passes to the right of the first dam, then rises northwards
before descending to a lovely stream and waterfall west of the old look-out
tower. After quenching our thirst we
hiked north-eastwards to the cave initially keeping the look-out tower to our
left.
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Even with fairly heavy
packs, and not rushing, it only took us an hour and a half to the cave. With backpacks it is quite a steep and
precarious descent in places to the lower cave which is much better than the
higher cave, but the effort is well worth it.
The lower cave is well sheltered but still with beautiful views and is
very close to the mountain stream and magnificent waterfall. The only drawback is the continual roar of
the waterfall. Brave, but silly people
can actually walk right behind the waterfall.
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After lunch in the cave
and a nice rest the younger Ashtons decided to have more relaxation whilst us
“oldies” decided to do more exploring and get closer to the baboons which had
been eyeing our cave. We then had a
good supper in the cave and practised with some of our drinks in anticipation
of New Years
Eve the following night.
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On day two after a good
breakfast we headed for Mount Lebanon, eventually reaching the far beacon in
time for lunch. Here we ate well
whilst admiring the magnificent views (immediate vicinity being extremely steep
and rugged). We returned via roughly
the same route and during the day we saw many baboons, mountain reedbuck and 10
cape vultures plus many other lovely birds, butterflies and insects. After returning to the cave we relaxed in
the beautiful and refreshing stream for a couple of hours before enjoying our
supper and celebrating new years eve, although I have to admit we were all too
tired to stay awake till midnight.
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We made our way back to
the office by lunchtime on new years day.
By then it was very misty and pouring down (including hail) with thunder
and lightning, otherwise before this we had perfect weather.
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Keith Ashton