Kei Shy

This woman was waiting for a taxi on the other side of the Kei River on the Wild Coast, having travelled across on the Pont for a R2 fee. She is Sangoma in training, apparently second level according to my friend Ncami from work at SustainEd. Ncami says the first level requires red soil to be painted on the face, and when you progress to second level you must paint it white. She was very patient with me snapping away, and nodded with stern approval at the pictures on my camera screen after they were taken. I always feel very shy to ask people if I can take pictures of them, and actually it was a friendly dude who asked her for me. We met through my complete cowardice, as he packed up laughing when he noticed me trying to sneak up on some enormous Nguni cows lying on the muddy river plain nearby. The laughing part came from me galloping away as soon as they moved a muscle…their horns were massive! He yelled at me to be brave and charge them if they ran at me…

Girls are weird

I sit here and scratch the last bit of scab off my elbow; it’s irritating me as it rubs on my Great Auntie Joan’s antique writing desk. It was quite a substantial roastie actually; a nice deep burgundy rose colour and I acquired it when clobbering my elbow climbing ‘Xena’ (19) during the night climbing session at the Roc Rally in Waterval Boven a couple weeks back. Crikey it was eina, but I tried not to moan about it lest I sounded like a…girl? Continue reading

Hunter S. would’ve downed a handful of change with bourbon

Hey yo, please click on the highlighted link if you’d like to read a three page story.  Raging Bulls of Change. It sure as shit ain’t poetry and it’s too long for a regular blog post, but maybe it’s relevant for some. Plus I have nowhere else to put it.

Green balls of curiosity in Waterval Boven

Green balls of curiosity in Waterval Boven

Garden Service Fail

Garden Service Fail

Garden Service Fail

Balls of Steel

Take 11 minutes out of your day to reassess what scary really means. Jeezlaaik.

Gentlemen to bed, for tomorrow we rise at daybreak, and we battle…at 9:30…ish

There is a movie out there, that is probably not going to make it to any mainstream cinema in South Africa. It is called The Trip, and it is quite possibly the best movie I’ve seen all year. Continue reading

Joey Kinder and Colette McInerney

So, as most of the climbing community in South Africa know, we had Team America travelling round our wintery country the last couple of weeks. Team America, as they were fondly dubbed, comprise Joey Kinder and Colette McInerney.

Joey Kinder @ Umgeni, smiling for a change

Joey Kinder @ Umgeni, smiling for a change

Continue reading