Went on the Tsitsikama hike from Monday to Thursday. WOW WOW WOW!!! Slept over in Somerset West on Sunday night because we had to pick someone up there. Went for a stroll through some kind of nature reserve thingy where a jazz concert was taking place in the late afternoon and then headed home for supper. After that it was crunch time...the twins still had to pack almost everything (which took a while - and i think they ate more chocolates and popcorn than what was actually good for them in the process). After they were sorted my bag was in the firing line...they threw everything out and eventually there was a bag of stuff that i had to leave behind. Quite a drive to Tsitsikama and it didn't help that we got a bit lost (as a result of the floodings and tons of closed roads and detours and then totally uninformed staff members who we approached to ask them where to go) and drove around in circles for 3 hours. When we finally got to the place where we had to start it was already 15h00. Hmmm...so we got the backpacks out of the cars and we were on the road Mostly Jeep track for the first day with some beautiful sights!!! So just to get into the whole hiking thing it was mercifully only 6km to the hut. Got to the hut and met John (we were 6 people and i only knew two of the others, the other 3 were strangers, but not for long) coming back from the pool. Really really nice guy who turned out to be my hiking partner for the trip. So spent a few minutes just getting to know him and putting our stuff down and then i headed dwon to the pool where i met Mau (an oldish Italian guy) and his wife Marianne (nice Afrikaans girl). jay...so now we knew each other. 2nd day...back down the 6km Jeep track, and then back into the cars for a drive to the next point and to drop off one of the cars at the end. Okay, so when we finally got hiking again it was at one hell of a pace! Geez! Absolutely no mercy! But got used to that after a little while. Tried to stay together, but it tired out some and some of us had to wait all the time, so John and i went ahead climbing and joking. so all in all did about 12/13kms that day. Got to the hut - beautiful!!! The pools were also so stunning, spent about an hour down there swimming just before lunch. Was so refreshing. Relaxed for a bit, ate, and spread out on the grass, reading. Went down to another pool and swam there too, finding all kinds of stuff to entertain us. ...amazing what nonsense you can come up with when you're bored! Oh...and 4 of us slept outside that night - stunning!!! Day 3 was the only real day of toughish hiking. Climbed a hell of a lot and descended just as much. Had to do about 16km. And me, being the stupid cyclist that i am let my competitive side get the better of me. So John and i raced each other. Eish! on the first hill he got about 200m on me, then we took a breather and got on with it. But then i got the hang of it and going down i took the lead for a bit. Stopped at the river for water and then we went through the most amazing forest! WOWWWWW! had to dodge logs and climb over tree stumps. Then came the big one! Hehe...he was trailing right behind me for a while and suddenly just disappeared. Up up up up...and when i got to the top i was in the clouds! (literally and figuritively) There was mist all around and it was just the most amazing feeling! Waited there for about 5 minutes and when John arrived we had a snack and took a bit of a breather. Okidoke, so now it was down down, and more down! Bit rough on the knees, but jumping and laughing made it all beter. Then went into another magical forest! It was amazing! Waterfalls, trees, dew and all the other magical things that you find in a place like that. ...And there it actually helps to be short... Got to the hut to find a whole lot of baboons there! I think we scared them off somehow. okay....because we raced again we were at the hut way too early and got bored. So found new places to lay down - on the tables with mattresses on them and tried to irritate each other. Lunch consisted of spaghetti, provitas and mousse. Stayed up late around the fire that night talking and laughing, eish...amazing how interresting some people are! 4th day...bit of a disappointingly short hike, about 4km. But was alright and we got to spend some time at the Stromsrivier bridge. Was so sad to say goodbye to Mau, Marianne and John as they were really stunning people. Long drive back with a stop in Knysna for pizza. I wanna go again!!!!!!!!!!! i'm addicted now!
