Great Excitement over New Map ...

Photo by Sonja Loots

Great Excitement over New Map ...is the caption on Pieter Malan’s review of ‘Hike the Cederberg’ in Die Burger’s ‘Buite’ supplement of Tuesday 3rd September. The Kaartmans are in turn greatly excited by Pieter’s many kind words! Here’s a summary ...
Pieter began by pointing out that the ‘GPS brigade’ will not understand the ecstasy of the ‘map-and-compass’ users at the appearance of a new climbers’ map. “If you are one of those GPS-peepers, ‘taffies’,” says Pieter; “see you at the next swimming hole. If you can find it ...”
“The new map has no equal ... it does for Cederberg mapping what nylon did for climbers’ tents!” – but Pieter warns that you should not confuse it with the touring map, ‘Explore the Cederberg’ – the hiking map is a different, much more detailed animal altogether.
It’s clear, Pieter rightly says, that Slingsby maps do not ‘crib’ information from other maps, hence all the many mistakes in older maps of the Cederberg have been corrected, not repeated. He gives us a feather in our caps for this, “’n kleine pouveer van ’n pluimpie in Slingsby se laphoed ...” – love that lekker taal! –  but Pieter reserves his highest praise “for the work the Kaartman has done with the collection and preservation of almost-forgotten placenames; for that he deserves a jet-black Wupperthal eagle feather ...”
Wragtig.
We’re pleased too that Pieter mentions the huge contributions made by Rudolf Andrag and Alex Basson, as well as those of all the many people who responded to the Cederberg map blog. We’ll be posting some news of the various launches on that blog once we have been to Clanwilliam on 13th September.
Pieter ends by mentioning the purists, who don’t like detailed maps that might lead the ‘hoi polloi’ to their favourite spots but, as he says, for heaven’s sake, there is more than enough Wilderness out there for everyone ...

Photo by Sonja Loots

Thanks for the bouquets, Pieter. We collected some more on our return from the map launch at the MCSA clubhouse in Cape Town. We gave a lift to a gentleman named Eric, who announced that he was a devoted fan. What’s more, he said, he still had a set of the original Slingsby Drakensberg maps, the ones that Ezemvelo KwaZulu Wildlife shamelessly copied without acknowledgment.
“Whenever I go to the MCSA’s Drakensberg meet,” Eric said, “there are always a couple of people there with original Slingsby’s – and they guard them with their lives!”
And then, as always always always happens when the Kaartmans have a function at the MCSA, we were asked if we did not still have, just maybe, lurking away in the bottom of a cupboard, a few copies of those original Drakensberg maps ...
May ‘Hike the Cederberg’ bring you all just as much lasting pleasure; and if you don’t have one yet, you’d better grab your First Edition copy while you still can!

– Kaartman, 5 September 2013: happy birthday, Liz!