New readers ...

Hi ya'll,

Thought I'll put it out there quickly. Our blog now have readers from Algeria and Ukraine (a country I still want to visit :-)).

Thanks chaps and please click the "FOLLOW" button, if you thinks it's worth it.

Also, the USA is 100 reads ahead of South Africa for the first time. Congrats!

Keep travelling.

Suggestions for a visit to Algiers ...

Hi everyone,

Apologies for being absent for a while but I've been busy getting my travel business start-up Expectme Travel started ( you can also find it listed on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ExpectmeTravel?fref=ts).

Back to the post.

I've visited  Algiers at least 10 times over the last 10 years, all on government, business or cultural trips. In that time I learnt that Algiers could serve as the ideal entry point for a visit to Algerian coastal resorts. There is only one caveat: you need to be reasonably conversant in French and/or Arabic or you need to know your way around the country already.

I would therefore be comfortable to visit coastal Algeria through the Algiers entry port.

From the US one should find passage on a British Airways, Lufthansa, Air Egypt, Air France, Turkish Airlines, Emirates, TAP, Alitalia, and Air Algerie (mostly from Europe!). From elsewhere one will have to fly either via participating European, the Middle Eastern airlines or Cote d'Ivoire.

Houari Boumediene International is a clean, modern airport and follows the norms and standards of all international airports in terms of checking in and baggage procedures. There was a time at the old airport where you still had to identify your baggage on the apron before boarding the plane but those times have been gone for many years.

One thing that visitors may have to get used to is the fact that the aged, infirm and special government visitors may receive priority at queing time. This is not unusual in many places but definitely unusual for passengers from certain countries. To be honest, I am very impressed with the practice!

There are enough taxis at the airport, if you did not get a hotel airport shuttle. The people I spoke with in Algeria indicated that hotel airport shuttles are normally on time and otherwise pretty reliable. Most of them speak very little English, if at all. The other taxis are also well operated but thou shalt speak reasonable French.

Driving through some of the narrow streets of Algiers are sometimes unnerving at peak times. Once I was caught in a peak hour traffic jam on the Boulevard de L'Armee de Nationale Docteur Hammouche and I witnessed  a traffic officer pulling a motorist over. I was not close enough to hear what the reason was but it was clear from the interaction that it was not a social call. I watched with great interest while the motorist loudly protested his innocence. Voices were raised by both parties to the point where I thought a more violent interaction was about to occur. There was a lot of swinging of arms and ginger point and this went on for about 15 plus minutes. In most other countries, the motorist would have been pinned to ground, cuffed and taken to the nearest police station to be incarcerated until he calmed  down but not in Algiers. After some more time, the altercation ended inconclusive with the motorist getting into his car and driving off.

I would not recommend for a foreigner to take that same tack with Algerian police though. I cannot vouch for their safety, like in most other countries. This reminds me of a taxi driver that drove me from Jomo Kenyatta International in Kenya in 2006. After watching his driving style for some time, I ventured a question: "What are the rules of the road in Nairobi?" Without hesitation he said: "There are only two rules:1) If you can get your bumper in front of another car at roundabouts and other intersections, you have right of way." When he stopped talking rather abruptly, I enquired as to the second rule. He then continued: "Rule number two is: When a traffic cop stops you, you stop!!" I asked why and he said: " If you don't stop he shoots!". I'm sure things have changed for the better in Nairobi in the intervening eight years.

Hotels in Algiers range from those far-out to central. Although many foreigners prefer Sofitel, Hilton and the Sheraton Club des Pins, I am happier in more authentic local hotels like the Djazeera and Hotel Al-Aurassi.
The al-Aurassi is closer to the port, which one can walk to, if you can manage the steep walk back (but one can easily take a taxi back). The Djazeera is architecturally more authentic and it has a British history when, at some stage, it was called the St Georges Hotel.

The food and security is good as many of the guests are important foreigners.

In Algiers one will find a mixture of many cultures. In summer, one will find girls in burka and hijab mixing with girls wearing mini skirts. One will also find many female drivers, who drive like their male counterparts during peak hour traffic :-). Persons used to middle eastern muslim countries, will find this aspect most uncommon.

On the beaches, near the Sharaton, one will find the occasional local girl in a bikini - another unusual sight in a majority muslim country. I suppose one can easily write these anomalies down to the French influence on Algerian society.

Obviously, when using Algiers as an entry point one may take note of its museums, the Jardin D'Essai du Hamma (Botanical Gardens), the Basilica Notre Dame d'Afrique which is perched overlooking the Bay of Algiers (a functioning State supported Roman Catholic Church - another anomaly in a Muslim country), the Casbah is a living museum with tours conducted daily, amongst many other attractions

.

The best tourist Mediterranean beach resorts are found near the town of Oran, which one can fly or drive to from Algiers.

I can go on ad nauseum about Algiers but I suggest you go and experience it for yourself.

Cederberg ... an interesting wasteland

Hi y'all,

I have my sabre at hand because I've not written for a few days. My excuse is that I spent the long WE with family and friends in a wonderful house called "Benjis on the Beach" in Gordon's Bay. The company which consisted of close family and friends were fantastic and I hope we can do this soon again.

Now back to my post:

When my family asked what we are going to do in the Cederberg, I was full of the normal explanations: looking at ancient San paintings, braaing (barbecueing), swimming at the rock pools, admiring the diversity of the Cape Floral Kingdom, drinking local wines, admiring interesting rock formations, etc. But, to be honest, and this was pointed out to me, we could do all that and more closer to home. The real reason for going to the Cederberg reserve (nothing to do with a first nations reserve, rather an ecological one) had to do with technology overfill - mine. I had become tired of my cellphone and laptop and had to flee to a place with no wireless connectivity. My family, luckily, understood.

The question of how we were to react in an emergency wass easily answered: Places like the Cederberg possess time-honoured alternative reaction systems. As for other 'emergencies', they will simply have to wait!

The excitement build as we prepared for our trip. Bookings were made and a vehicle rented (there was no way I was taking my reasonably new sedan up an extreme dirt road pass on the way to Krom River! For added excitement, we planned to enter the Cederberg via a a road that passed a campsite named Algeria. The excitement is generated by going up a single track dirt track mountain pass that I traversed in a bus a few years earlier on a work-related excursion! I could simply not adequately explain how uncomfortable the descent made us feel when the brakes on the bus bound as they often did during the journey. Going the other way was therefore a visual aid to my family to help me relating that tale. I was actually scared that we would look like a bunch of sissies to my two sons if I explained it without them also going through the same pass!

Vanity can be a terrible thing, especially in a family context!

The Uitkyk (means "Lookout") pass is noted in the mountain passes of South Africa's excellent website (http://www.mountainpassessouthafrica.co.za/find-a-pass/western-cape/item/29-uitkyk-pass,-cederberg.html/ featuring an HD video of the pass from the top) and although it is short (4.1 km), it get pretty steep from a certain point down and was the scene of much trepidation during a previous work-related trip to the Cederberg. It is rated as a 4x4 dirt road. The pass, that marries the Southern and Northern Cederberg, has amazing vistas. I would suggest, you find convenient spot and pull off the road before taking pics otherwise you may become an involuntary part of the scenery.

To get to the turn-off marked Algeria on the N7 between Cape Town and Namibia, you'll have to traverse at least to approximately halfway between Citrusdal and Clanwilliam. If you're coming from the Cape Town side you then turn right onto this road which, if memory serves well, is tarred for the first couple of kilometres then it reverts to its natural state and stays that way all along to Krom river self-catering oasis.

Right here I'll apologise for having lost all the pics of our trip to the Cederberg. Apart from moving house many times we also lost a camera by forgetting it in a rented car - sadly we never recovered it! The camera contained pics of our magnificent trip on the Premier Classe train between Cape Town and Johannesburg (will tell about that in another post).

On the morning of our trip all the arrangements fell into place and we left Stellenbosch on the R44 past Wellington going through Porterville, onto the N7 near Piketberg, Citrisdal and further onto the Algeria turn-off. This road gets one to the Uitkyk pass and the Southern Cederberg.

Although the area's name relates to an abundance of indigenous Ceder trees ( we did not get our ceders from Lebanon), unrestricted logging during the 1800s stripped it nearly bare. The Cape Nature Conservancy area has been established the in order to coax nature back into its natural state of many ceder trees but thus far this strategy has not been greatly successful! Certainly not for lack of trying on the part of the conservation officials. It simply shows that what we can destroy in relatively short time can take a really long time to rehabilitate to its natural state - it does not pay to destroy nature wantonly!

Ok! no more sermons on nature conservation. Let me just fold up my priestly garb and put it away for my next sermon.

Driving up the Uitkyk Pass, instead of down, in a normal road car was a different experience. This time the brakes on our Nissan TIDA worked well and there were no anxious moments. I must warn that a normal road car is not recommended for wet winter visits unless your urge for adventure goes off the scale and concern for the safety of passengers are not high on your list of priorities. The Cederberg is a spring or summer destination rather than winter. It can be pretty cold and uncomfortable during the white season but modern convenience and clothing can provide easy comfort. The road and the area also features high on the lists of off-road bikers.

What did we experience in our time in the Cederberg? Wild outdoors! The Cederberg is as unspoilt as one can get. In parts it looks as if God took a whole bunch of rocks in one hand and had strewn them uncaringly over a whole mountainous region. In other parts, it looks as if considerable thought had gone into creating wondrous formations.

Our lodging was in an old house near Nuwerust and it was surprisingly nicely appointed.

After packing out our stuff, we made a beeline for the Krom (Bent out of shape) river and the famous Maalgate swimming and diving spot which was found on foot about three-quarters of an hour away.

After a long and in part dusty traverse, we found the cool clean water really refreshing although jumping from the rocks into the rock pool posed quite a challenge for me and my acrophobia. I chickened out of the 10m jump and I think my family followed my example not to embarrass me.

After a swimming time at the rock pools at the Maalgate (literal translation "milling or whirlpool holes"), we returned to our comfortable old house to prepare dinner. Normally the meat preparation consist of braaing (barbequeing) over the coals and this is the sole preserve of males in South Africa (down my proud heaving chest, down boy!). At braai time, women congregate in the kitchen to prepare salads and partake in suchlike menial tasks. If they get too rowdy, a loud request from outside for more beer settles the hubbub (or that is how men over here imagine the braai should be like!). The secret is out, and some of us will probably pay the price. The price being no more braais which means no more slaving around hot coals and fetching our own beers! Not a bad trade-off I would say!! Ladies??

On this specific occasion, I had previously bought the wood and wine at the Nuwerust shop, so I did not have to lug it with me from Stellenbosch. My recommendation is that you also purchase your meat there should you visit (wish I had the benefit of my own advice before my own visit!). One will get the tastiest real Karoo lamb at the shop and that, mixed with wild mint indigenous to the Cederberg, makes for a meal for kings! Too many superlatives? Visit the place yourself and find out?

The Stadsaal (Town Hall) rock formation contain San paintings for us tourists but I learnt from a TV programme that there are many other secret spots where more impressive ancient paintings can be found but their location cannot be revealed on pain of death.

Other attractions in the Cederberg includes the impressive Wolfsberg Arch and cracks, the Maltese Cross and the unique flowers that one finds late in the 8th and early 9th months. Rooibos tea is also indigenous to the Cederberg and is in fact a major export item.

Our eyes, as the windows to our souls, took in the beauty of the Cederberg and our souls were fullfilled with God's glorious works, so well preserved by Cape Nature and the farmers in the area.

We left the wonderful Cederberg after a great weekend via the Ceres route. It was better than trying my luck down Uitkyk Pass! The rental was in good order and took us home without any trouble.

Until next time,

Travel safely.