KHULUMA December 2019

IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF TRUE ORIGINALS EXPLORE

beyond. There’s the shape of an eland I wonder about their world view and It’s one whole day and several
and silhouettes of people too. Our guide ours; and, what led to their demise. kilometres later, just south of Lambert’s
tells the story of what we know, his Thoughts of the future mingle with Bay, that Oom Herman Burger on his
shadow dancing on the wall much thoughts of the past: what answers farm Steenbokfontein shows us the
like that of the early dwellers in have we missed in our march towards smoothed edges on a rock now believed
the firelight. progress, I wonder? Where did it all go to have been something of a scratch-
so wrong? pole for the elephants that once lived
Occasionally John Parkington, here. Craggy edges resemble polished
Emeritus Professor in the Department I can’t explain the urge to press marble. The rock outcrop is known as
of Archaeology at the University of my hand against one of those Simon Se Klip, named after the VOC
Cape Town and rock art specialist, joins Governor of the Cape who apparently
our groups to set the scene. Our guide, ochre palms, but keep them passed here on his expedition
Johnny van der Westhuizen (pictured in my pockets. northwards in 1686. It was also home
above), shoulders the job today. At the same time, there’s to earlier travellers who left a plentiful
that desire everyone has, to supply of evidence in rock art and heaps
True originals, the San were hunter- lay a hand on monoliths – of discarded seashells.
gatherers at the root of the human whether they be elephants,
tree. We’ve come to understand that ancient trees or rock faces.
their art was linked to a deeply spiritual
understanding of the world. Engrossed
in the cave-talk, I lean in, straining for a
glimpse into the past and straining also
against the guardrail that keeps visitors
at a distance from the fragile markings.
No message returns.

Johnny talks about the shamanic
ritual that was central to the San
existence and its powerful link to
the world they found
themselves in. Through
the practice of
trances, they
sought better
hunting, healing,
rain, and
enlightenment.

kulula.com DECEMBER 2019 99

EXPLORE IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF TRUE ORIGINALS

The Burgers have been on this farm Sometimes I’m alone; sometimes I’m with bleached shells. There’s been Pictures: Clifford Roberts
for centuries and that night, Oom with someone and we talk. some diamond prospecting here; a
Herman’s spouse Tant Kitta nourishes troubling existence for anyone trying
our bellies in her famous plaaskombuis In this cognitive half-light, Grobler to reconstruct a history of those early
(farm kitchen). The walls are thick, and I share a few kilometres, letting the shoreline inhabitants. Their touch on the
white-washed and covered in black and conversation lead wherever, even to world was featherlight.
white photographs, newspaper articles occasional, comfortable silences. She
and historical sketches. reflects on our universal complicity in Twice in the evenings on the trip, I
a vanishing past and loss of the fragile reconnect with their world again. When
As we feast on West Coast delicacies, knowledge of First Peoples. To me, even the group moves to the warmth indoors,
she regales us with tales of shipwrecks hindsight may not come in time to save I step away to feel the night air and look
and ghosts. our future here. up at the stars over the sea. All sound
is lost in the crashing of the waves in
After some fitful rest, aches and pains We lunch at the Muisbosskerm beach the darkness.
quickly dissipate and the rhythm of the restaurant outside Lambert’s Bay, the
walk returns. Oystercatchers, seals, fishing town where we bed down. It’s On the blackened canvas, I seek
gulls, terns and scurrying plovers track a weeknight, so the streets are empty my traditional first point of reference:
our progress. The sea remains angry. when the mist rolls in, creating spooky always the Southern Cross – the
halos around streetlights. constellation I associate with my
Then, at some point, I lose myself late father, a navigator in what feels
again; the repetitive physical activity The mist is still there the next like another lifetime. More than just
itself unexpectedly transforms morning as we set off for Doringbaai, a familiar sight, that cluster shows
an outward experience into inner another fishing village made famous me where home lies; no batteries or
awareness. It’s not an unconscious by the Fryer’s Cove winery in the updates required.
state, just one that feels like spiritual old harbour.
ease. There’s no rush in the pace of And for just a moment I imagine
our group and the peloton of hikers From Doringbaai, sandy beach feeling a connection with those long-ago
stretches out along the white sands. gives way to a track leading along the travellers in this majestic landscape.
cliff line. We zigzag between coves
and caves, the path littered again

100 DECEMBER 2019 kulula.com





CREATURES OF THE DEEP EXPLORE

OctTohpeus twhheale

kulula.com Take a deep dive with a pair
of ocean-dwelling creatures

whose mere existence is
humbling

DECEMBER 2019 103

Thar she blows cinematographers who’ve filmed from the species – from grey whales to sea lions,
fringes of the most impressive display of seals, sunfish, porpoises and other marine
After being hunted to near extinction power in the ocean, where enraged males creatures – from these efficient killers.
in the last century, humpback whales race against each other and collide their Last year, a leading marine biologist, Nan
are making a stunning comeback. 12m-long bodies into each other at top Hauser, even reported that a humpback
Carla Hüsselmann explores how these speed to earn the privilege of a female’s whale saved her from the toothy clutches
marvellous giants are reclaiming their attention. While the female sets the of a tiger shark off the Cook Islands in
migration routes and how they counter pace, all explodes in mayhem around the South Pacific. Whether out of instinct,
climate change her, as the battle-scarred males personal benefit, a troubled history with
boom their intent and blow furious their archnemeses, or some form of
These usually gentle giants are renowned bubbles under the water and bursts altruism, these intelligent whales show
for their mysterious, complex songs of their characteristic plumes regard for other species – a regard our
of low-pitched chirps, groans and howls, from their blowholes, head-butting species didn’t bother reciprocating when
which were used to spearhead the ‘Save and ramming one another, while slashing these protectors faced a battle they
the Whale’ campaign in the 1960s, with their massive flukes. Escalating their couldn’t win.
and heralded the dawn of the modern conflict, some appear to hover above the
conservation movement. sea as they surge skywards, revealing
their long, wing-like pectoral fins and
Famed for the improbable way in which slapping them against the water, crashing
they effortlessly breach the ocean’s surface, backwards into the waves and sometimes
hoisting their 40-odd tonne bulk high above their rivals. This brutal rivalry can last for
the waves in aerial acrobatic feats, they hours and stretch across 30 kilometres
were immortalised as ‘the most gamesome or more.
and light-hearted of all whales’ in Herman
Melville’s Moby-Dick. As intriguing is how they battle their
sworn enemies, killer whales, and even
But there’s nothing playful about a defend other species against these
combative pod of male humpback whales wolves of the sea. Whale researchers
engaged in a mating ritual known as have recorded how humpback whales
the most epic courtship battle in the risk injury rescuing entirely different
animal kingdom. Just ask the handful of

104 DECEMBER 2019 kulula.com

CREATURES OF THE DEEP EXPLORE

The gruesome history of commercial whalingw5FB‘fr6aToeoh3shrbtmDeBweuo6Tdaiuynos9ehetsvrhem1lw6euayitindeh9cnncwmaigeain1ck1ins1hnt2etfe8mt9eauhgts,hhtth0llteaDsrhmoeoelheo0ylsusu1ocewN,ahtr9rsfaentbceaLbogihe6ntnnhagrabrahrhewd0tgpcitoinneenuoohskowat1pgrenle,pheosd9yPtrerhDsnuaona,ey9abeapqdtmtuns,s9cxsalrhruirsedetitshola,pebfieuosrpi2donclexeacarwamr.wruodmen9adedwreancoaganneow.tnwmetshrxoendFdewsdlleiaadyntirufawlrlownlhso2olierevibwkni,mmhrioirhaca0aetap.aancthtooln5pnTrhissl1ammowodiow3deheon9tnpncroxhehapegh59diBtoennpemapara4l5wwtsslleel,n1uwoloj6,stiooesshemn9tafwsivthsusnfriagta7iinheaevneahrigilwno5neimcnedrdlatntnudi,gpohaenlDlhgcbaSesneaalmelrgiehauyinnesosrrsMrw.nsaigrptumhunwBcwtkbortaeeassoiteosgipyuahahslrrentp.slemsienatantaretnieTmAhesehr,nluwdw’eecaehs,etfedsfetsserwkhFroobaiiaoittpndnmneccauucyiaihyisocgloaltslgbhtSshiitisdtufcodnhnahcalteoeowrhik-eaengsresimwrrue1niednmdaihhnwtse9uwihaoidinsheagstblss7otfaahflgdlpyuopueA0uoeRlntaohifphrmoiilspnfeiiloleedanetwran,i,lgvcrnnxisotraatrcoeislhpegt.ehmmwanonaixgthna,ewenresdiplaeaeanlireyendte.Ulstacncsdehcowstcnt1Ceptnutetedohueloe9udweirsheioewmsgrirwt0rtrnewndmintrmihico9nsrhyifctahWnaertsio:asnaoWhllwalgi2rdl,ldssnhaaeleh7ha,i.leteestdalsaostIe6erakxrtlnhtuos1hiadialpahnan4eegu9bitn.lwpetgsio42hn1onodUmoDso02wtdC0tignnleishuo1v.oiotwr.irhanln5oeDhwmeeudnoksnaetdselsooded.phdsuatWwtrereaeucldultgvttsdnodoohNsheaewcyrwyoaedwertoleklhddywmpnrniaitinantnuhyeaadarhglgbsweeaasnseo,laACrsdsiiaswnwtsrttohhwthlolhthmhauuhevoaaenbteedpullrtriesalneiiicdc.nngo,Iatyiln. t

kulula.com DECEMBER 2019 105

The great comeback Natal from
summer feeding
The commercial whaling industry grounds in
drove humpbacks – and other whales Antarctica to
including the sperm, fin, sei and winter breeding
blue – to near extinction last century. grounds in
Approximately 220 000 southern Mozambique. ‘From
hemisphere humpback whales were the work done by the
slaughtered from the 1900s to the Whale Unit’s previous
1970s – and it’s estimated that only director Professor
about 500 remained in southern African Findlay, we knew that
waters, says Chris Wilkinson, marine the humpback whales were
biologist and technical manager for recovering at about nine per
the University of Pretoria’s Mammal cent per annum, so I knew there
Research Institute’s Whale Unit. This were going to be a lot of whales,
is an absolute tragedy, considering but I wasn’t quite prepared to record
how integral they are to our oceans’ the large number we spotted! I had to
health. ‘Whales not only drive essential quickly get more data sheets printed
ecosystems and maintain the ecological to record them all, which wasn’t easy
balance of our oceans, but also have considering that the nearest A3 printer
an important influence on the climate was in Richards Bay, 150km away.
because they’re crucial to ocean carbon This year we were far more prepared
absorption,’ Wilkinson explains. and broke last year’s record, with each
For years, Wilkinson’s been tirelessly tower tracking over 100 groups of
tracking the health of southern right whales in one day. That is tracking 10
whales in Hermanus and started groups an hour, taking four observations
investigating how humpback whales and angles with the theodolite
were recovering from whaling, as part per group! From 7am to 5pm,
of his master’s degree in Conservation the guys in the towers were
Science through the Cape Peninsula constantly shouting out angles
University of Technology (CPUT) under and writing.’
the supervision of leading marine
biologist Professor Ken Findlay. Earlier It’s important to realise
this year, one of his surveys garnered that the whales passing
attention worldwide when he reported Cape Vidal are a fraction
a remarkable rebound in the humpback of the entire east coast
whale population. He and his team population and that the
estimated that more than 30 000 may projected estimate of 30 000
be migrating across the western Indian is taken from the Cape Vidal
Ocean, based on extrapolations of sightings and extrapolating it by
previous years’ data. the four migration paths this population
takes, he explains. ‘Further analyses
For two months in 2018 and this are currently happening on the raw
year, the giants were counted from data that will eventually provide final
observation towers as they migrated numbers,’ says Wilkinson.
past Cape Vidal in northern KwaZulu-

106 DECEMBER 2019 kulula.com

CREATURES OF THE DEEP EXPLORE

Why whale p ma erswa‘WhwnaooiWBrhchcefsehuaeifiuccictflatsocathheonlrhtskrsoehifWbcygfledaiaeglnosgirndhometnttbetcedooahnitrelafmarloieesorwe.nsrtoyrtBbieseeanhathmoffinaoaltcacealnhstrrhlyrtactsneieeehhcaaissdsoladeanentcipeottsooalrgcdlahabnaleauunnyaetio’tdlcnnn’ce,tdr,mettrtgbitdwptgaaceehooooipordliannaaetnmneslohitrtgdranpeombutmei)dngnhnhto,orr’orekoeiehennettoncstersorhoxopeenegypae,uepneaahoabt.wwsdlvhnuitaWsaoaceuoehaertoinncnwmrnchtagrdamaiesamweplanimrolernsntsCobshswsaiicnoeonrohpti,laweceosrnhsnthrtdehrrh,eiifhietsllaenolpeltdhaeriipbekoWnlh(erntmal–seomedhoa,aiitiocmcsueaolonretspkroeomhngrr.tepaaeilalenePhdwocdatltrnswimglauptifipotthe,aoihhtirooslnhbcasnounaieeohntaau,tstra.nyi,.illerthpw‘ytpnketTfpehopfhltdtiosehanaroaaueee,,roeencnkalrriitbmnfmccirefkesrhofeoeaw,tsetiifohroastlseguaehmhtrunsscprhrehdeaeemniltptceaa.lutsshpeeabnIhbrtam.nleeotletsaacnnIhtidpmtocetsansu’hausullrtsrtfmeaitadrsbubcm,wpnvttosianoabsntlui,oanknnaceae–sgtmrtagtnrhdyritedogits.ohkoibt!fhiascnB’ohtonsldrnceoiexrereefiewuainiilmoiccdfmdrttri,irechainisenotpntaveenhdhimyolndemnatsleeoeoenc,ainb!ttmrws,r’tmshueeihuottnoetoaarerrocrirfntbtntinuaeolueooiiegnogclunrpkisttettheltthrs,sydhos,stiel.,fatl,ot

Ocean optimism? changes in recovering whale population reproductive rates of the endangered
growth rates may be a valuable indicator North Atlantic right whale,’ reports
It’s a victory worth celebrating: the of ocean change.’ the WWF on their site. In fact,
rebound of the humpback whale as few as 300 North Atlantic right
population is undoubtedly an ocean Humans have created more whales remain.
conservation success story. However, gargantuan modern threats to whales,
it’s only one species of whale, including pollution, climate change, ‘South Africa has two populations
conservationists caution. The majestic poor ocean governance, increased of humpbacks, the C (east coast)
creatures now face another battle for shipping activity and ship collisions, and B (west coast) populations, so
survival: 6 out of the 13 great whale fishing gear entanglement, and oil and these are proudly southern African
species are classified as endangered, gas development that disrupt whales’ whales, and every effort must be
even after decades of protection, reports feeding and breeding grounds, migratory made to protect them on their
the WWF. patterns and even damage their hearing. migration past South Africa,’ says
Wilkinson. ‘More marine protected
‘Many of SA’s whale populations are Overfishing has also led to a decline areas (MPAs) need to be proclaimed,
showing signs of recovery from severe in the fish stocks they need to survive, shipping lanes and ships’ speeds
whaling pressure over the last 250 years, and climate change’s warming water need to be monitored while whales
mainly due to the removal of the impact temperatures and acidification of the migrate, and there should be no
of whaling,’ says Professor Findlay, sea will have a direct impact on their seismic surveys during whale migration
CPUT’s Research Chair in Oceans habitats and abundance of food sources. season. For us to do anything to disrupt
Economy. ‘If the animal’s environment As the polar ice increasingly melts, ship or threaten this amazing recovery
isn’t degraded, then the removal of the traffic may increase too as more routes would be absolutely catastrophic and
impact should result in a recovery. That are opened up, leading to more pollution, undo all the good work we’ve done as
said, there are recent changes in some garbage and noise. a global population.’
whale population growth rates, which
suggest environmental changes, so that ‘The shift in food availability due to Don’t allow history to repeat itself.
climate fluctuations has already hurt the

kulula.com DECEMBER 2019 107

Eight legs g d 2016. And the big-eyed, boneless critters
are YouTube stars, seen using coconut
Arms that think, skin that sees and shells as mobile hides and stealing fish.
(ahem) the ability to pick World Cup What is it about these playful, leggy
winners? Janine Stephen pays tribute creatures that’s so fascinating?
to octopuses – the squidgy, smart
chameleons of the sea Let’s get physical

A week ago, all I knew about octopuses Octopuses burst from tiny eggs and grow
was that they had eight arms, eyes with exponentially. They have bulbous ‘mantles’
horizontal pupils like goats, and that they which contain all the important organs
could make ink, somehow, and squirt it. I’d and look like alien heads. They have
gathered these were smart animals, but had three hearts, blue blood and funnels for
no idea that they had as many neurons as jet-propelling themselves across the sea
your average pet cat. floor – or, in captivity, squirting saltwater
at those who annoy them. The octopus
Ever since the 1950s, scientists have has done away with an exoskeleton, an
been trying to get a grip on what it’s like to evolutionary choice that results in what
be an octopus. In 2010, a ‘psychic’ octopus one expert calls ‘a body of pure possibility’.
did more for human-octopus relations than It can pour this body through any space
any who had gone before when he predicted slightly bigger than its own eyeball (it’s
winners during the 2010 Football World Cup. a shape-shifting escape artist).
The animals are curious, use tools and feel Most of its 500 million
pain; their smarts are recognised in the 2012 neurons are in its arms,
Cambridge Declaration on Consciousness. which can ‘think’ for
They inspired two non-fiction bestsellers in themselves, making
it a multitasker bar

How to speak cephalopodcocmepTphoThlsraecehpeltxyeoettOohrnrcpphIAcoeenueouatvrlodaUcsv2iavrposr’e0nsutoe.mue1isuadLvssa8esmeiiedssks,trssotheMosmirymnaainistsabftaryqitOeiuennloeucot.a&ycmieitfvndntedauWovGtd–aslepnugeanrtouA3emayahstdrs0reenrrhegavedic,0bdisaonsdoilur,ainstugeanktmmhniptstetlsilyeeoetoeijmsgmoysncitsfiynhu,ositcsosesvatrahotetassnenoeunf,tanramdotrmdttrhdelirfhegteibeeusnshoeibineengtnm.cirsrttlrrflaMSaetoeoaiocoluntpcnelwanenlpyeirgnotbesseuntebs,lnethsosactaaeeohtoee.serrniasreTfnwtadtddretvhthloesosltii’dgm.oo‘amhiuatrsuiusteahbesbioervinoePgmr.saaeturirlT.lnelseaotiorhnev,esiuiScngonteesrpthohliuisorsuasueotrcppntm-ytofweihuahosmihpiascrnnncAota,ent,oidieOvtefc.dolsreenlaEl.eirluccalmaiidagp.tsaerbheecanelooaesnsrgrumwahrrcnclgtyaeeeaiyaesfirpxftslaetcetslatt-sesruh,rehnaedfsawriadtrnai.teenoercrtszdclhrce.uheeeanddstne.theragiatgls

108 DECEMBER 2019 kulula.com

CREATURES OF THE DEEP EXPLORE

none. And it can camouflage like a boss, has seen this magical ability in action. He Money or the box?
changing not only colours, but also texture was surveying corals in northern warm
in under a second. The physics of this waters, and had strung a tape measure Research described in Other Minds by Peter
involve pigmented cells that cover the skin over a stretch of reef to count and identify Godfrey-Smith explains how octopuses
and can expand and contract, reflective each coral he saw. On the way back, he can pull levers or navigate mazes to find
cells, and papillae to make the skin surface noticed an octopus with an arm reaching food. They can open boxes with different
out to what he’d first thought was a coral latches, and boxes within boxes, and jars.
bumpier or smoother. In a blink, colony. Except the ‘coral’ was actually They’re not like puppy dogs, however,
an octopus can look like an octopus in disguise and the two were easy to please. Two learned to squirt
a lump of rock or mating (octopus reproduction involves the saltwater at lighting to short-circuit the
feathery seaweed. male popping a modified arm containing bulbs and ‘turn off the lights’; many squirt
University of sperm parcels inside the female’s mantle people, sometimes playfully, sometimes
KwaZulu-Natal – or bizarrely, in some species, removing for revenge. And some plug outlet pipes,
marine biologist the arm and leaving it with her, a smart seemingly deliberately, and flood the place.
and coral expert move when females occasionally strangle
David Glassom their mates). ‘I had probably taken him for Laurence Thorne is an aquarist at the
a coral first time out,’ says Glassom. As Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town. The
aquarium keeps just one of the largely
extraordinary? Octopus eyes are colour- solitary animals at a time, and releases
blind. So it’s their skins that do them after six months. ‘It would be a total
the thinking. handful trying to care for more than one,’
says Laurence. ‘They can be like naughty
children – when you try to clean the tank
or net out any debris, they like to make a
game of “grab every moving utensil and not
give it back”.’

He’s positive the aquarium’s
octopus recognises him
and it ‘goes without
question that
there are

kulula.com DECEMBER 2019 109



CREATURES OF THE DEEP EXPLORE

distinct personality differences’. He’s had have seemed like gentle old men, fixing me arms out of a hole, patterns them in black
an adventurous occy, and one that was shy. with big, soulful eyes, while others have stripes, and ripples them like a sea snake.
Another was confrontational and stole a had the swagger of confident teenagers, Somehow it knows that sea snakes are
pair of feeding tongs and broke them in half. challenging me with narrowing eyes and what damselfish really fear.
As with all animals, patience is required full bodies on display.
when getting to know them. ‘Eventually, In the octopus garden
they may put [an arm] out to feel you. Since ‘I spent ages holding my breath and lying
they “smell” you through their skin, an next to one den, watching a particularly One South African spot rich in octopuses –
octopus holding onto your finger or hand is huge octopus. Every time I had to float and vast amounts of other life – is the great
a little bit like seeing a dog for the first time to the surface to take another breath, kelp forest off the Cape Peninsula. It’s the
and allowing it to smell your hand to get to the octopus would emerge further out, domain of naturalist and underwater
know you. Because they do smell, you; they unfurling one or two arms and reaching filmmaker Craig Foster. He’s famously
distinguish between one person and the towards me. After going up and down spent time beneath the waves with a wild
next.’ The current occupant, Olly, is more about 10 times, I ended up lying on the octopus who, after months of patient
responsive to him. ‘When I walk up to the lagoon floor next to the octopus, watching introductions, allowed him to observe
tank to open the service door (if it’s awake as it wrapped one of its arms around my her behaviour and world. He calls her ‘My
of course, it’s not a morning octopus) it’ll arm, “tasting” me with its suckers. It was Octopus Teacher’ (she was once known as
start coming out of its cave and reaching a surreal experience. When I eventually Super Star and appeared on Blue Planet).
towards the side that I’ve gone to.’ had to surface again, I had to gently – and
then slightly forcefully – desucker it. That Other many-legged celebrities have
M t the neighbours suction power is strong! I wonder what it included Paul, the ‘mystic sensation’ who
was thinking of me; what it thought I was.’ predicted the outcome of eight 2010 World
Freediver and writer Helen Walne agrees Cup football games, including the final.
that no two octopuses are alike. She’s Octopuses are carnivores, and they He chose the winner every time he was
spent many languid hours watching wild hunt, scrunching through shelled creatures offered two boxes containing mussels,
individuals watch her. ‘I've come across with beaks. Some have venom. But they’re each marked with the flag of the rival team.
some that are shy and wide-eyed and also hunted. The mimic octopus pretends Argentina was so annoyed that they said
retreat into their dens and hide. Others to be all sorts of other predators – so if they’d kill him and put him in a paella. But
threatened by a damselfish, it sticks two fame eluded a Japanese cephalopod in

kulula.com DECEMBER 2019 111

EXPLORE CREATURES OF THE DEEP Finding OctopusocsfeapdyhiSssGatcHolaaorerrpydld‘aKeobTeOe3nIndunnnhd.DcddsCi’WyTetlp.cuowdtosahSlewoadrpanepagnbolpoumnnasaedmJacsecr.ttwsanTekthde.o‘uhomOso.se‘erlOwreTiwntnh.lteoyluinrtMsielvscatdneyser’hres.kcien.B.eecVehTayh‘OT.oreueaefhctroohPttnvtnflaeihhescrtgleeeddmsereaohshrcaeenrcrsfyoc’toprrsttsouawanlhrde4loclPanwigesedabt1nhonlikdryocebeew-,osrFe,igfalrrernieuuaaoitnaeeetnoehtiaslutsstcdtrfowueiskenhsngaaiourPinesdKh,ecipl’nrttv,lgaseesnhtpimOethionrranraNywekaucfegiyPusainoecwtnroRsnrbtadoOrmrtthkmaeaysoeupaDiocneynsuouvlorulutLag.rdtk.iibotAfscedavesHDpmseilMahel,igdnodeaolyuoswnsieoyawimrrf:tccsc.GdnofeerhhodatSkTin’lMtoeiscnhesapraceeiJrdpotneoiresishaessolaeceiOswss:lekuicpeangkl,,RoacayhapiurIrskggttmgtinee’hemhsnffeeosarooerrdeeeg.rpsa.nyauPrnw.is‘ohaursTaadseodGsaasnhgc‘tpriijci,nllsreuhioenlihlamrefnagtocstylraestdcuowiteeSaOhvvtsa-eiroevwleisepdcrdcsswaenzeetiuaeciodnirobctn.hns’nonsypoedpougegt,mtwoerlurfresfe-lstniayersehMnedhytuosceiuFddeeCsatanmtsredsloocrtncteaossihcaerpoobt.totcokitehroemRigernovoeesmeneeianmduFsdnmareai:lconngisafsatinofescdot.ob’otgtneatsrePuhoretSrn,.rahsseuirtobStldtnieteyetacdfuhtmodissrstraVslterrohmeealbo&ea’kptissvwsnyfreecouAeehe‘ymhldOvasnlmolsitee,iMcnuarhlnhtrseaetgssoiyyo,,nTprs’ts.optgogieyhl.’ueyesleessati’rors–

2018. After correctly predicting the results Pictures: Jam78/istock.com, Subaqueosshutterbug/istock.com, UWPhotog/istock.com,
of the Japan group stage games, Rabio was phototrip/istock.com, drewsulockcreations/istock.com
sent to market and eaten.

More seriously, wild octopuses face the
pressures of a changing world. Kelp forests
have declined by 61 per cent;
385 000 tonnes of octopus are dredged
from the sea floor globally and mining
and pollution wreak havoc on our seas.
Foster’s Sea Change Project aims to inspire
the protection of the Cape kelp forests
and the animals that depend on them. A
film due out in mid-2020 will cover the
lessons Foster learned underwater with his
octopus teacher. One thing he can tell us
upfront? ‘She showed me how incredibly
precious each individual’s life is. That goes
for all animals, not just octopus. Every
little periwinkle is different and has its own
little personality and that’s an incredible
thing… you [start to] realise the power of
the natural world and how precious it is and
how it’s looking after us.’ (There’s more on
Foster on page 133.)

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HIGH-FLYERS EXPLORE

D DECEMBER 2019 115
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V
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Thrilling pictures from this
year’s Red Bull Cliff Diving

World Series

kulula.com

ABOVE: The UK’s Blake Aldridge dives from the 27-metre platform at Islet Vila Franca kulula.com
do Campo on 22 June, the final day of competition on the fourth stop of the Red Bull Cliff
Diving World Series in Sao Miguel, Azores, Portugal.

RIGHT: In Raouche, during the tour’s fifth stop in Beirut, Lebanon, Mexico’s Adriana
Jimenez dives from the 21-metre platform on the final day of competition.

PREVIOUS PAGE: Another Mexican, Sergio Guzman, dives 27 metres off the platform on
Stari Most in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on day one of the sixth stop on the World
Series tour in August.

116 DECEMBER 2019

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118 DECEMBER 2019 kulula.com

HIGH-FLYERS EXPLORE

ABOVE: Italy’s Alessandro De Rose dives from the Stari Most on the final day of DECEMBER 2019 119
competition in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

LEFT: On 22 June, Kris Kolanus of Poland dives into the sea from a 27-metre cliff face on
Islet Vila Franca do Campo in Sao Miguel, Azores, Portugal on the final day of the fourth
stop on the tour.

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120 DECEMBER 2019 kulula.com

HIGH-FLYERS EXPLORE

Pictures: Dean Treml, Romina Amato, Pedrag Vuckovic and Hugo Silva, All Red Bull Content Pool ABOVE: Romanian Constantin Popovici swan dives from 27 metres from the Stari Most on
the final day of competition in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

LEFT: Mexican Jonathan Paredes makes the same 27-metre dive on 23 August, the
competition’s first day.

FAR LEFT: The UK’s Jessica Macaulay dives from the 21-metre platform on Stari Most on
the final competition day in Mostar.

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SUN, SEA, SULKING EXPLORE

Tear-jerker

Thanks to the soft focus of nostalgia, every year without fail many of us indulge in the fuzzy notion that
once we’re on holiday with our family, we’ll inexplicably transform into that tightknit, wholesome,
TV-perfect family – The Waltons, not The Simpsons. Determined to engineer #TheBestHolidayEva,
Rebecca Treesdale faces up to the reality that those who are most likely to make us happy are
also the ones who will make us cry (sometimes with laughter)

kulula.com DECEMBER 2019 123

I gazed across the turquoise ripples of kulula.com
the Aegean Sea and consoled myself with
the knowledge that my in-laws wouldn’t
set foot on this idyllic beach again

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SUN, SEA, SULKING EXPLORE

wasn’t proud of the fact that like a petulant pre-teen ‘Ja, but, Ma, it’s not good for my manne to be cooped up the

I’d run away from our Greek villa and was hiding whole time,’ he’d pleaded with her, grinning conspiratorially at my

out in the powdery white dunes of Plaka Beach on aghast in-laws. ‘They’re from the Karoo – like me, they need to

Naxos island, praying my family wouldn’t find me. It roam wild and free.’

was that or feeling my brain ooze out of my ears as I By this stage, my husband Tristan was squealing with laughter,

listened to my mother-in-law’s interminable chatter while Mom and I had both turned a lighter shade of puce. ‘Willem,

about the minutiae of her gilded life in Golf Heaven. stop that or you’ll be sleeping outside tonight!’ Mom yelled in

The final straw had come when she’d insisted that she didn’t desperation. Admitting defeat with one of those long-suffering

understand why women complained about menopause, considering sighs mastered by married couples worldwide, Dad tucked himself

she’d ‘just sailed through it’. My mom, who hadn’t been afforded this back into his shorts and stalked off into the ocean.

privilege, sat quietly, embarrassed. With a silent scream, I’d bolted ‘What happened at Sandy Bay?’ Tristan asked.

for the ocean. ‘Just don’t!’ I shouted and stomped off like a sulky teen.

I gazed across the turquoise ripples of the Aegean Sea and * ‘You’re brave,’ my best friend had said when I’d told her
consoled myself with the knowledge that my in-laws wouldn’t set
foot on this idyllic beach again. That was thanks to the German about our plans to holiday in Greece with my family and in-laws. It

nudists with their landscaped, gravity-worshipping bits. And, of sounded more like ‘stupid’. ‘You know you’re going to need a holiday

course, because of the incident with my dad the day before. from your holiday?’

As we’d all watched wide-eyed while middle-aged Germans ‘Don’t be so cynical – it’s going to be the best holiday ever!’

roasted their hardy genitalia, Dad had decided that his danglies I retorted, feeling the first wave of anxiety and expectation washing

deserved a dose of vitamin D too. With a wolfish grin, he’d over me. It had to be the perfect holiday: we hadn’t seen our

started to hoist down his frayed blue rugby shorts, only parents in over a year, except via Skype, and I’d never spent more

stopping mid-strip when Mom shrieked, ‘Willem! than a few consecutive days with my in-laws. Also, knowing

Under no circumstances will you expose Hhoalicdkas y it was probably the last time our parents would be able
yourself to these poor people! You know what Mabkhlbiisoneslgaifduufaatlyimafsunilldy to afford an overseas trip, we wanted to organise
happened at Sandy Bay!’ a holiday to remember for all the right reasons.

BANISH EXPECTATIONS PRACTISE ACCEPTANCE

You’re only setting yourself up to be let down when things are Before you go on holiday, quietly acknowledge what you
disappointing or go awry – or your family members behave in the wish your family members were like – then prepare to
way they always have and always will. Things will go wrong and things accept them even if they behave as they have always done
will go right; they’re opposite sides of the same coin, so embrace them in the past, advises psychologist Martha Graham in an Oprah
both unconditionally. Your holiday is about bonding with your family – so just do article, ‘5 Ways to Survive Your Next Family Gathering’. ‘At best you may
that. You don’t need bells and whistles to distract you from this sole purpose, be surprised to find that they are actually changing, that some of your
and potentially exhaust you and everyone else. Simply enjoying domestic tasks wishes have come true.’
like shopping in a local market with your family is better than chasing around
Instagram-worthy, tourist-thronged attractions.

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SUN, SEA, SULKING EXPLORE

After much research, for our two-week reunion we picked the
tranquil Cycladic island of Naxos, prized for its endless beaches,
crystal-clear ocean, artisanal cheeses, drowsy mountain villages
and the mythological Mount Zas.

The promise of tranquillity kept us buoyant as we negotiated
endless airport queues and flights from Joburg and London, a male
tantrum involving an overpacked suitcase, swollen ankles and old
groaning backs and knees, sleep deprivation, tearful hello-hugs,
Athens’ daredevil taxi drivers, and the mad dawn rush to the bustling
docks at Piraeus to board a ferry to Naxos.

Six hours later we sailed into the island’s charming port town of
Chora, welcomed by the gigantic ancient columns of Portara, which
had been built as the entrance to the Temple of Apollo 2 500
years ago. With its whitewashed, cube-shaped houses, medieval
Venetian mansions and 13th-century hilltop castle, Kastro, keeping
a watchful eye over the beautiful blue bay, Chora was idyllic.

HAVE THAT BUDGET DISCUSSION DIVIDE AND CONQUER

Expenses and budgets must be negotiated before your trip to Every single one of you deserves a holiday, so ensure everyone enjoys
avoid unnecessarily tense or embarrassing situations while their due downtime. Preplan who will be responsible for what and
on holiday, advises Rakhi Beekrum, a counselling psychologist how responsibilities will be shared, advises Beekrum. ‘If there are
from Durban. ‘It helps to prepay jointly for the larger essential a few families, adults can negotiate taking turns to babysit kids,’ adds
expenses like accommodation. Figure out what your daily expenses Beekrum. ‘Just remember that as much as grandparents love spending time with their
are likely to be so that everyone is prepared for them and also decide grandchildren, they shouldn’t be merely regarded as babysitters.’ If your toddler or
how they will be shared. For example, will everyone pay for their own teen is having tantrums, take it in turns to deal with them. This includes dealing with
expenses, or will there be a shared kitty for food and entertainment?’ in-laws if they start getting under your skin.

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EXPLORE SUN, SEA, SULKING

Our villa couldn’t have been more comfortable with airy ‘Let’s hope he doesn’t try even out his tan by taking his
bedrooms and views over the gentle sea and the island of broeks off on the beach tomorrow!’ Tristan quipped, regretting it
Paros bobbing on the horizon. We celebrated our good fortune shortly afterwards when I burst into tears.
that night with deliciously fresh Naxian fare – Gruyère cheese,
plump olives, juicy tomatoes, the creamiest tzatziki and *The neighbourhood’s rooster proudly crowed in the dawn
portokalopita, a syrupy, fragrant orange cake that made our
toes curl in delight. of Day Five. Tristan and I had decided we needed time alone
– and our folks evidently needed a break from our ambitious
*The good cheer didn’t last long though. The next morning sightseeing plans. We set off to hike Zas, the island’s highest
mountain. Parking in the sleepy village of Filoti, we climbed the
Dad had gone walkabout and we’d spent hours
trying to hunt him down in the scalding sun, rose-tinged foothills of the 1 004-metre mountain
the exhaustive schedule of sightseeing and expected to find an arid landscape, but
I’d planned for the day in ruins. Mom instead were rewarded with lush green
was beside herself with worry, as paths dancing with huge butterflies
he’d disappeared in his swimming and wily mountain goats that led
trunks and not much else. He’d us up to Zas Cave, which, for
also not taken his medication. I centuries, locals believed was
suddenly realised how tiny and the birthplace of Zeus. It was
fragile Mom had become in the here that Zeus’s mother Rhea
year since I’d seen her – she’d hid him from his father, the
always been the anchor of our Titan Cronus, who wanted
family, but Dad’s long illness and the to swallow him whole like
march of time had worn away at her. he had Zeus’s five siblings
because Cronus didn’t want his
Finally, just after lunch, Dad was offspring wresting power from
returned to us by a kind local woman him. Like father like son, Zeus ended
who’d found him lost and confused up swallowing his first wife too.
about 2km from our holiday villa. ‘I ‘And I thought our families were
told her we were staying near a church,’ dysfunctional,’ Tristan said when we
Dad said, ‘but she told me there are about 500 churches and
chapels on this island. Jis, these Naxians must be an evil lot.’ heard this epic backstory. This time I laughed, charmed by his
Dad’s joke was lost on Mom whose eyes were understandably ability to find the humour in all things.
red-rimmed. He was burnt to a crisp and so sheepishly retired
to his room for the rest of the day. Later, as we trekked up a steep valley littered with scree, we
passed into that suspended time and space that mountain
portals always gift the hiker. Admiring the sweeping views of

INVOLVE EVERYONE CREATE JOYFUL MEMORIES

Don’t make the mistake of doing for others what they can do for Keep in mind that nothing will ever be exactly as it is ever again:
themselves: this includes children over, say, six packing their own life is always changing, so we need to make memories while
suitcases and helping out with meals and chores. Ensure that we can – holidays give us the perfect opportunity to make
activities cater for all ages and interests, which should include those timeless memories, says Beekrum. ‘Be intentional about
group, couple and solo activities, Beekrum advises. ‘Kids must be taught that wanting to make joyful memories and bear in mind that nobody will try to
holidays are for everyone to enjoy. Give them choices of activities and let intentionally ruin your family time together. There are bound to be hiccups,
them know how time will be allocated accordingly. Then create family rituals but it’s how we perceive them that ultimately matters. Instead of seeing
that ensure relaxation times, like board-game nights for kids or family walks these challenges as inconveniences, rather see them as opportunities to
on the beach in the late afternoon.’ work – and love – as a team.’

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SUN, SEA, SULKING EXPLORE

mountaintop churches and the distant azure Aegean Sea, *I’d be lying if I said the rest of our island sojourn was all
I remembered how as children we’d rolled our eyes at our
parents’ well-worn lecture about how life goes by in the blink leisure and love. There was the fallout about Tristan’s mom
of an eye. Precious time certainly wasn’t in our favour: the man refusing to cook during our self-catering holiday. ‘Mom just
who’d taught me to roam wild and free across the Karoo – and doesn’t cook on holiday – it’s always been that way. She has
through life – would never be able to walk up a mountain with to cook for my dad every day and she deserves a rest,’ he
me again. The woman who’d once taken such great care of defended. We didn’t even bother bickering about his dad or
everything and everyone now needed to be cared for. mine not cooking or helping clean because they both suffered
from Old White Man Syndrome.
I’d lost sight of the simple truth that a holiday is about
experiencing the rare feeling and freedom of time slowing down There was a run-in with a dopey donkey, the traditional
while reconnecting with and caring for those you love and miss blowout about South African politics and my father-in-
deeply. With my ‘magical holiday’ expectations, I’d felt like I was law’s lunatic driving. Oh, gosh, the list of tiny peeves and
herding cats as our uncomplaining parents struggled to keep up opportunities for bickering seems to go on and on… But,
with us, but I came to realise that it was their unhurried pace that ultimately, these holiday ‘fails’ ignore that one simple truth:
needed to determine the rhythm of our holiday. that we were all there together, and no one knows if we’ll ever
have that again.

I came to realise that it was
their unhurried pace that needed

to determine the rhythm of
our holiday

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COLD WATER REVIVAL EXPLORE

Hydrophile Pippa de Bruyn takes
the plunge and is reborn into the
heart-opening thrill of cold water
swimming as she freedives in the
Cape kelp forests

kulula.com DECEMBER 2019 133

The dangerous, kulula.com
frigid waters

of the Atlantic,
associated with
shipwrecks and
great whites, held

little appeal

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COLD WATER REVIVAL EXPLORE

T he cold is liminal. First, there is the physical shock
as you plunge in: an involuntary gasp and peripheral
vasoconstriction experienced as a near-painful tingling
across your skin. An ache that settles in the wrists. As arms go
numb in cold’s vice grip I visualise my life-energy as a radiant
flame, the heat emanating from my core as the body restricts
blood flow to the extremities. Within five minutes, a bizarre elation
will set in. In 20 minutes, I will emerge frozen; unable to move my
fingers, fumble-dressing before the ‘after-drop’ sets in: an intense
shivering as cool blood from limbs and skin returns to the core.
But the endorphin hit is strong and will remain with me for hours.
It is why I am here, every day, since my first immersion in the icy
Atlantic more than a month ago. What started off as preparation
for freediving the Cape kelp forest with naturalist Craig Foster has
become a kind of addiction.

‘Some might call it an addiction,’ Foster agrees in A Coming
Home, the Green Renaissance film clip about his daily dives
into the swaying kelp forests, wearing nothing but a swimming
costume, mask, hoodie and flippers. ‘But it’s a good addiction.’

I have always loved the ocean, but hated the cold. I dislike
the condom-like constraints of a wetsuit, and did not enjoy
dependence on a tank in my one-off ‘Discover Scuba’ experience.
The dangerous, frigid waters of the Atlantic, associated with
shipwrecks and great whites, held little appeal. Until I chanced
upon Sea Change, the photographic book by Foster and his friend
and fellow marine conservationist Ross Frylinck which charts
their transformative experiences in the ‘golden forests’ that thrive
in the shallows of False Bay.

Page after page featured creatures and encounters as astonishing
– perhaps more – than any I had encountered in the tropical waters
I usually favour. Accompanying the photographs were fascinating
insights; visual proof of astounding mimicry and ingenious use of

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COLD WATER REVIVAL EXPLORE

tools and senses by animals many of us probably consider I proceeded from
‘lower life forms’. The main body of text, lyrical and honest, cold to numb;
spoke about the potential for healing in this ‘forgotten wild no shivering
reservoir of ancient rain’. But what piqued my curiosity most was
that Foster chose to dive without a wetsuit or tank, citing the
essential freedom of entering the ocean on the same level as the
creatures living in it, as our ancestors had done for centuries.

When I contacted Foster for an interview he kindly agreed to
take me into the forest, and prescribed my habituation as follows:
I was to go into the ocean as often as possible. Get out as soon as
I started to shiver. Time the duration. Then try to stay in a little
longer the next time. ‘But take it easy,’ he said. ‘Be careful.’

That first day, I lasted three minutes in the open Atlantic
before traipsing over to the Camps Bay tidal pool where the still
waters allowed me to focus on conquering the cold without fear
of currents. I proceeded from cold to numb; no shivering. When
I finally emerged, 26 minutes had passed; an hour later I was
still shaking uncontrollably, unable to concentrate. ‘Take it easy,’
I heard Foster’s voice. ‘Be careful.’ All it takes for hypothermia to
set in is a drop in core temperature of 1.5 degrees.

Foster returned to the Cape coast in 2010, burnt out and
overweight, unable to sleep and in pain. By most measures
he was a success, having garnered more than 60 international
awards during three decades of documentary filmmaking.
But Foster felt deeply disconnected and depressed. Recalling
the carefree joy that swimming in the wild gave him as a
child, he made a commitment to swim in the ocean 365
times a year, for 10 years. It took Foster a year to adapt to
the cold; by the second year, he felt his immune system
strengthen and his mind clear. After four years, he started
applying the tracking skills he had learnt while living with
the San Bushmen during the making of the award-winning
documentary The Great Dance: A Hunter’s Story. Realising
that every drillhole, every pockmark, every trail, contained
a wealth of information, he became completely entranced.

‘It was an extraordinary experience, seeing through the
forest’s veil. It felt like I had been jolted back to life. I felt real,
authentic like I had stepped through a door into an ancient
wilderness, back where I belonged.’

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EXPLORE COLD WATER REVIVAL

THE RECKONING In the ocean wilderness,
you are gravity-free; able to
We meet on a perfect morning, talking as we walk the 500 encounter other creatures at
metres from his home to the seashore. When I ask how it feels their level, move together,
to have effectively anchored himself to the southwestern
tip of Africa with this 10-year commitment, he waves at the even to touch each other
striated blues of False Bay. ‘Everything I love is right there.
I can visit the exact same cove an hour later and witness
brand new behaviours, or encounter a species I’ve never seen
before. I’d rather dive in these forests than go on safari to the
Serengeti, or Kruger, or Kalahari. On land, you’re restricted by
physical limitations. In the ocean wilderness, you are gravity-
free; able to encounter other creatures at their level, move
together, even to touch each other.’

Foster explains that his daily exposure to the cold waters
of the Atlantic has transformed his health. ‘I used to suffer
chronic chest infections; in the last seven years I have not
been sick for one day. I had knee injuries that hampered my
ability to run; now I play squash again.’ I am vaguely nervous,
intimidated by the easy strength Foster exudes. At the
shoreline, he drops his flippers and masks and engages in
a brief but impressive stretching routine.

I gamely emulate him for a few minutes before giving
up, emotions plummeting. What am I doing here, an unfit,
flabby 52-year-old with zero flexibility, wasting the time of
the kelp forest guru? I cannot wait for this to be over so that
I can wrap my shame into my wet swimming costume and
be on my way. Telling me to keep my arms still to create
as little disturbance as possible, he slips off the boulder,
graceful as an otter.

Immediately I am in, I relax. It is a mild 15 degrees; the
ocean is still and visibility fairly good. We are floating in
the shallows, surrounded by dense kelp; below me is what
I assume is a rockfish – frilling its fins in the current, it gazes
up, unfazed by our passing. I follow closely as Foster makes
his way to a large outcrop of boulders some 50 metres
offshore. The forest thins out until we are swimming
past tall individual stripes; fish flit below, spiny starfish
are scattered across the ocean bed. I feel an upwelling of
contentment as I glide, borrowed fins propelling me

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COLD WATER REVIVAL EXPLORE

forward with powerful grace. When we reach the granite spent my life oblivious to this wild wonderland hiding just
boulders Foster shows me how to grasp the kelp and, simian- beneath the roiling surface. How blind the incurious.
like, pull myself down. What looks fairly innocuous above the
water line – an array of limpets, whelks, mussels, barnacles – is ‘We crave our wild-born roots,’ Foster writes in Sea Change.
an underwater kaleidoscope of colours: multi-coloured lichens; ‘We have forgotten where we came from, forgotten who we
neon anemones; purple urchins; the pink-tipped open mouths are… severed from the umbilical cord of our great provider,
of sea squirts. Foster takes me deeper into an underground Nature… Wild living is not about returning to forager status.
cave – protected from predators, the arena is teeming with life, It’s about our relationship with what is wild, about knowing
the probing light of his torch turning the scene into an aquatic a small part of wild nature and letting it live inside the soul.’
nightclub. Taking me by the hand, he swims me through,
emerging jubilant on the other side before making our way to I ask Foster how this applies to the many millions trapped
the giant limpet gardens, each limpet tending to its own rock. in high-rise apartments and sprawling shantytowns, crawling
along concrete highways into windowless malls. For whom
Throughout the swim, Foster is solicitous about the cold. ‘wild nature’ is a porn site, or a boxing ring. Craig shrugs. ‘I’ve
When we finally pull ourselves out onto the shore, an hour has been in New York with incredible trackers, and they will be
passed. We have seen thousands upon thousands of species, enthralled with the behaviour of little birds, observing insects,
Foster tells me, ‘many of them not even documented; a lifetime the clues left by squirrels, rats. Even the smallest garden
of discovery.’ I am elated; incredulous: to think that I have or park offers us a chance to connect to what is wild.’ When
Foster smiles, it is beatific. ‘Nature is everywhere.’

Pictures: XXXTBC ON LAYOUTXXX

We have seen
thousands upon

thousands of
species, many

of them
not even
documented;
a lifetime of
discovery

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HER ENDLESS SUMMER EXPLORE

Surfs' up

Thrills and spills on the waves of Sri Lanka as
intrepid Nicci Collier learns to surf with her motley

crew and her pyjama bottoms

kulula.com DECEMBER 2019 143

'Y es,’ says Haseem. ‘Do this he is a cousin of Sajath. He almost shortchanged us when we paid for
there,’ (pointing at me on the our lessons, but otherwise was good to us and very accommodating
board). ‘Here,’ pointing at the of the fact that we couldn’t decide when we wanted to surf and when
waves. ‘This’ consists of me lying on my rash- we wanted to wait for better conditions and when we wanted to go
vested stomach on an enormous plank in the and eat practically fluorescent tropical smoothie bowls down the
sand, flapping my scrawny chicken-wing arms road instead. Sri Lanka is generally relaxed like that. It doesn’t pay to
at my sides, as though paddling, and then leaping be in a hurry.
to my feet as if a big spider has just appeared between my
nose and the board. Granted, had a big spider really appeared, Sajath is instructing Ursula. She looks bewildered. ‘I don’t like
I would be leaping right off the board, and not standing motionless on water,’ she insisted when we first tried to coax her into a lesson. Joe
it, knees bent, feet carefully spaced, arms outstretched, head facing is on my other side, earnestly paddling in the sand and leaping to his
forward. There are a lot of things to think about, not least – judging feet. Dries is not interested in a lesson. Dries knows how to surf. He
by the waves – whether my bikini bottoms are going to stay put. was also not interested in renting a rash vest, for which he will pay
I decide to leave my shorts on. They happen to be my pyjama shorts, the price later in the day.
but my other shorts are scratchy denim and besides, my poor choice
of attire might at least distract from my poor surf technique. I found Dries on a plane. To be more specific, he was in the seat
Haseem and Sajath are ‘qualified ISA instructors’, we’ve been next to me on my flight to Sri Lanka. ‘What are your plans?’ he’d
assured by the older gentleman who persuaded us that wanted to know. And when I told him, he ditched the night he’d
from a street lined with surf shops and schools, booked at a backpackers and joined our motley crew for 10 days
his was the best option. It turns out that of train rides and rainy hikes and snorkelling and surfing. As much
surfing as possible, because there are not many waves back in his
home town of Ghent, Belgium.

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HER ENDLESS SUMMER EXPLORE

A century of DECEMBER 2019 145
Muizies magic

is year marks 100 years since the rst record
of stand-up sur ng in South Africa – and
Africa. In 1919, University of Cape Town
student Heather Price befriended two US
marines whose ship had stopped in Cape
Town. She was photographed on one of their
‘Hawaiian-style’ sur oards at Muizenberg,

Cape Town – and the rest is history.
In the 1970s, Peter Wright started the Berg’s
famous Corner Surf Shop (thecornersurfshop.
com), and then Tich Paul of Lifestyle Surf Shop
(lifestylesurfshop.co.za) – incidentally, a great
place to source a second-hand board – started
up a few years later. e two have been friendly
Muizenberg rivals ever since, but today they’re
joined by a host of other surf shops and schools.
According to Mike Blignaut, vice-chair of
Western Province Longboarding, and someone
who has ‘literally surfed almost all the way
around the world, from Central America and
Africa to Indonesia and the way-out places that
you can nd’, Muizenberg is ‘probably top of the

list of places to learn.’
Roxy Davis – nine times SA Surf Champ and

the only South African to represent South
Africa in all sur ng disciplines in the World
Sur ng Championships – runs Surf Emporium
(surfemporium.co.za), also on the beachfront,
with her husband William. Her 16-year-old surf
school is the biggest in the country with about
100 coaches in the summer. e coaching
caters for young and old, with no experience
required – and is, of course, female-friendly.

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HER ENDLESS SUMMER EXPLORE

Sajath is Aladdin in human form – with apologies to the casting director of the
latest remake. Enormous eyes of ebony (a tree that is native to Sri Lanka) and
a mop of black hair and a very cheeky smile. He likes his job because he gets to
meet girls from all over the world, even though he is sort of dating a girl in some
or other European country by the sound of it. Haseem is the height of a very
short shortboard, which is to say just the right height for getting into a tuk-tuk
without needing to duck (around chin height against me). Deeply tanned skin,
thick bushy eyebrows and Georgia Jagger-esque gap in his front teeth. Between
the two of them, we manage to feel relatively confident that we are not going to
drown – even Ursula – and we make our way to the waves.

It’s a tricky entry here at Arugam Bay’s Pottuvil Point, right next to the rocks.
Also tricky is the number of people in the water, young and old, advanced and
beginner, local and foreign. All vying for the same thing: that thrilling rush of
water-walking. Only a surfer knows the feeling, as the saying (trademarked by
Billabong in the 1980s – because yes, the feeling can be monetised) goes. And
that applies as much to the feeling of pure elation when a good wave takes you,
as it does to the dread of whacking headlong into someone with your board.
It didn’t inspire heaps of confidence to arrive at the beach and witness one
foreigner flying off the handle at her instructor for (we gathered) pushing

COLDEST COLDEST ARTIFICIAL FRESHWATER

Chris Burkard’s surf flick, Under an Bristol just became home to Only for the brave, the Great Lakes
Chris Burkard’s surf flick, Under an Artic Sky, Arctic Sky, documents a journey to England’s first artificial wave pool: in America receive enough wind
documents a journey to the most remote corntehreomf ost remote corner of Iceland The Wave. And there are plans for swell in the winter for a skull-
Iceland in mid-winter in search of perfect surifn. Omfid-winter in search of perfect another site in London in 2022. Other numbing surf session. Stoney Point
course, the worst storm in 25 years blows throsuugrfh. ,Of course, the worst storm in excellent artificial waves include is the most popular spot in Duluth,
shutting down the country and turning the sea2r5chyears blows through, shutting those at Kelly Slater’s Surf Ranch in Minnesota, but with temperatures
into a life-threatening prospect. But no need todown the country and turning an inland Californian lake, Tenerife’s around minus 17°C – or worse
head to the Arctic if you like it chilly – the watetrhaetsearch into a life-threatening Siam Park water park with its three- with wind chill – it’s not for the
Llandudno and other Cape beaches drops to apbrooustpect. But no need to head to metre barrel, Wavegarden Cove in fainthearted. Closer to home, and
The World's8°C in summer when the southeaster blows ththeetoAprctic if you like it chilly – the Spain, the Eisbach River in Munich without trudging through snow to
with a river wave engineered in the get there, is Lake Malawi. Conditions
layer out to sea, and that Antarctic upwelling cwoamteersat Llandudno and other city’s Englischer Garden, the UAE’s are windy and messy and the wave is
throwugha. ckiest waves Cape beaches drops to about 8°C Wadi Adventure, and Sunway Lagoon small, but you can get a fun little ride
in Malaysia. in on a longboard on the right day!
in summer when the southeaster

blows the top layer out to sea.

kulula.com DECEMBER 2019 147

EXPLORE HER ENDLESS SUMMER Pictures: LunaticLu/istock.com

her onto a wave that was already taken. It’s a small break, and with
limited space to go around, the odd collision is perhaps inevitable.

But the spills are far outdone by the thrills. Bobbing about on the
warm, tropical water is sheer bliss – let alone that feeling as a surge
of water buoys you up along the surface of the sea and you somehow
manage to execute ‘this there’, ‘here’ where it counts. Dries spots a
turtle. Ursula succeeds, but gets out early. We all sip on refreshing
coconuts spliced open by a man with a panga, under a makeshift
tent on the scorching sand, with his adorable puppy – somewhat
alarmingly – tied to a wooden pole.

I stand to be corrected by the experts, but as a beginner, this ranks
right up there with the famous surf mecca of Bali. There, in gorgeous
Uluwatu, I managed to rent a board one evening, literally half an hour
before closing time, and got a surfer friend to push me into a few
waves. It was no professional lesson, but I managed to stand and I
managed to avoid bodily harm on the injurious reef beneath me and I
managed to become addicted to ‘Indo’ just like a ‘real’ surfer.

It must be said though… I’m not sure that anything really beats
learning to surf at Muizenberg. Now that I’m armed with an official
lesson under my belt, albeit on the other side of the world, I head
to the Berg as soon as conditions oblige. Once the initial cold has
seeped into my wetsuit, I make my way out beyond the breakers,
bobbing on the backline while a seal – and hopefully nothing more
sinister – plays nearby. My board rental allows access to a quick
(water restrictions and all that) hot shower when I’m done, and then
it’s time to pick from the line-up of restaurants and coffee shops to
sate that post-surf hunger and thirst as my body warms up and
the endorphins kick in…

OLD SCHOOL MOST SHARK- BIGGEST MOST BEAUTIFUL
INFESTED
Madagascar, you won’t find surf Dungeons, Sunset, Crayfish Where to begin? Indonesia is home
schools and coffee shops and Namibia is home to Skeleton Factory, even the relatively to many of the world’s most famous
hot showers at all your favourite Bay, a long left wave that runs for unknown Bay View in Hermanus… breaks – and most idyllic scenery,
breaks. Rather, it’s so rural, that kilometres at a time. ‘Probably the Cape Town has its fair share of but tropical paradise and surfing
you’ll literally catch an oxcart best and the longest barrel in the world-renowned big wave surfing. seem to go hand-in-hand. Mauritius,
through the sand with your world – a dredging, hollow, crazy, But it was at Nazaré in Portugal the Maldives, Hawaii, and Fiji are
surfboards instead of an Uber, and wave,’ says Cape Town surfer, that Brazilian surfer Rodrigo Koxa, right up there with the world’s most
paddle out in a little dugout canoe. Patrick McCay. Expect classic surfed a wave – considered to be beautiful surf spots.
West Coast conditions: dry, arid, the biggest ever ridden – which
and harsh, with plenty of seals topped out at 80 feet (24 metres)
and sharks – no Muizenberg Shark in November 2017.
Spotters to watch your back here!

148 DECEMBER 2019 kulula.com