I last visited these rock art shelters way back in 2005, and the one enduring image that has stayed with me all the years since have been the paintings in Christmas Shelter. They are larger than normal and very vivid in colour. These sites are closed to the general public and not marked on maps and very much off the beaten track. I really wanted to see them again so we planned a weekend hike there.
The weather was good when we started out, with the most amazing cloud formations. Soon we had found the turn off up a side valley and could see overhangs in the rock bands ahead. We found what we assume to be Willems Shelter 1 and several rock paintings. Sadly the rock is weathering and many of the paintings are unclear and fading. Soon there will be no trace of these amazing paintings at all – I always feel very privileged to have seen them. The second shelter was not as rewarding and we struggled to find any paintings - it is also slowly being infested with bramble, which made the going difficult. Christmas Shelter was in the next valley and involves a climb up to the rock band. Imagine my confusion when we found nothing there – no paintings! We were definitely in the right spot. We even had a look at the surrounding overhangs to see if we had miscalculated, but no joy. I was so disappointed and could not give an explanation for it.
We climbed out the valley on to the plateau which is wide and moor like with the Giant in the distance. We had previously identified a buttress that overlooked the Nzinga River on the Mkhomazi side as being the place to set up our tent. We managed to find a nearby stream in a gully and settled in. We were curious to see that a cairn had been placed at the end of the buttress and wondered what the story was behind it. It was clear it had been there for many years – who knows, maybe the final resting place of someone. We had the most amazing views all around us, and were able to take some interesting photos that afternoon. We could see a huge cloud bank approaching from the South and were enveloped in fog by late afternoon which put paid to any sunset photography.
It rained on and off during the night and conditions were misty when we got up the following morning. The light kept on changing as the sun came up and it was really beautiful with the light and mist drifting around and constantly moving. Unfortunately I was not fast enough in setting up my tripod, so missed out on some epic shots! We had hoped the mist would burn off, but it seemed to hang around and we eventually packed up and headed back to Kamberg. The sun made its appearance now and again and I really enjoyed the misty and cool conditions. This was a short hike but enjoyable nonetheless.
When I got home, I did some research on Christmas Cave. I discovered that the paintings are actually on the cave ceiling and if we had only looked up, we would have seen them. I could have kicked myself!! Needless to say a return trip has already been planned………………..
