62 AMERICANWAY
DECEMBER 1 2008
S O U T H A F R I C A
JENNASChNuER
is a frequent contributor to
AmericanWay
.
site. The paintings were made by tapping
a small tool loaded with pigment against
the rock. While the San used several col-
ors, including yellowmade of yellow ocher,
white from clay and ostrich-egg shells, and
black fromcharcoal, just the stainof the red
ocher, made by mixing ocher with sweat,
tears, or animal blood, remains. “They be-
lieved you had to give something of your-
self,” says Jacques.
Nearly a quarter of the paintings that
pepper the Cederberg mountains are of
eland, an animal that was particularly sa-
cred to the San. “They would prove fitness
beforemarriage by killing their first eland,”
Jacques tells us. “They believed it was the
smartest, andGod’s favorite, animal.”Along
with several eland images on the oyster-
shell-shaped rock at Bleeding Nose are
paintings of mongooses, giraffes, and the
site’s namesake figure, a shaman with a
bleedingnose.
THE WAVES KEEP THREATENING
to douse
everybody walking out to Bird Island, just
offshore from the seaside townofLambert’s
Bay. They crash over the giant concrete
forms piled up to protect the harbor and
landhardon the causeway.
At first, it’s nearly impossible to hear
anythingbut the power of the ocean. Then,
with the waves safely dodged, the squawk-
ingbecomes audible. ThoughBird Island is
alsohome tocormorantsand, at times,pen-
guins, it’s theCape gannets that try to grab
all the attention. It’s hard to ignore them.
Between4,000and6,000pairsof thebirds
use the island as home base; their guano
sits thickon theground.
In themorning, after adrivedown thefi-
nal stretchof the coast (anda stop towatch
a squadronof pelicans feedingandavisit to
one last roadsidegift shop topurchase local
crafts, including tinyguinea-hendollsmade
from seed pods), it’s back to Cape Town
traffic. Though it’s a relatively calm day
weatherwise, TableMountain is, as always,
creating its own weather. It’s shrouded in
stormy clouds and seems to say, “Nothing
left to see here; go home.” Though there
wasn’t a single lion or elephant spotted
along the way, there are no regrets on this
trip, no feeling that the true SouthAfrica is
still out there, waiting. Surely, Grietjie Ad-
ams, a star of thewest,wouldagree.
The BleedingNose rock-art site at Bushmans Kloof Wilderness Reserve and Retreat
