Although there is not much in the way of quality, developed rock climbing, the peaks are spectacular and we stopped by so that we could do a 30 kilometer (just over 18.5 miles) day hikeHiking Drakensberg style:
to the top of Cathedral Peak, which stands somewhere over 10,000 feet.Cathedral Peak:
A decent day out, to say the least.Typical view on the hike up:
Dave surveying the scene:
By the time we finished, it was possible for me to scratch my name in the dirt that covered my legs. Steve, Dave, and I were so ravenous that we decided to split from the group at the end of the hike and walk to the one and only hotel in the area. This was not just any hotel, mind you, but a full-on posh, resort style hotel. We stomped into reception with our grime encrusted backpacks and Steve inquired about directions to the hotel bar. Without blinking (though clearly somewhat unsettled based upon the pained look on his face) the reception gentleman directed us through some doors to a courtyard and a set of stairs. I spotted a restroom and decided to take a look at myself, having noted the concern on the well-trained reception fellow's face. So the three of us trooped into the bathroom and...immediately busted out laughing. We looked like we had covered ourselves in syrup and then rolled around in the dirt for awhile. It was awesome. We spent the next 30 minutes trying to wash up in the sinks and toilets while giggling hysterically. I scrubbed and scrubbed myself with wet toilet paper (bad idea) trying to make myself presentable, but only succeeded in covering the floor around the sink with a black mixture of dirt, water, and bits of toilet paper.
We finally decided nothing was going to make our situation any better and took off for the bar in hopes of finding some food and a cold drink. It turned out to be absolutely fantastic. The food was scrumptious and shockingly cheap given the setting, so we sat on the balcony overlooking a courtyard and ordered food and drinks for at least 2 1/2 hours, while watching the sun set over the rocky peaks. The waitstaff was highly amused by the amount of food we (Dave in particular) were eating, and would shake their heads in disbelief as we continued to order.
After gorging ourselves, we reluctantly decided it was time to walk the 3 miles or so back to our campground. But not before checking out the pool area. Dave jokingly suggested jumping in, and I thought "Why not?" The water was cleaner than anything I had seen the entire trip and the secondary pool with the waterfall looked particularly enticing. So I stripped down to my boxers and hopped in for a little evening dip. Dave and Steve quickly followed suit and we spent the next 20 minutes trying to muffle our chuckling while we splashed around like the emotional juvenile delinquents that we are.
Eventually we decided it was really time to get back to camp and set off, squishing along in our shoes. For a while we continued to laugh about our evening while we walked back in the direction of camp, but then, after we had been shuffling along the pitch dark road for some time, we realized we weren't really sure how many miles away camp was and that it might be possible for us to miss the dirt track turnoff in the moonless night. Plus there were weird noises coming from the bushes. Suddenly, we were feeling a little vulnerable. Stumbling along in the pitch black in Africa can have that effect on people. It seemed a real possibility that we might find ourselves in the enormous township in which we had gotten lost for two hours on the drive up to our campsite the previous day. Although not such an issue during the day, the chances of three white guys disappearing without a trace in that township were greatly multiplied at night. After much nervous laughter and some heart-stopping moments like when an eerie voice called out to us and I couldn't shake the feeling that we were being followed, we lucked upon our campsite, much to our relief.
No comments:
Post a Comment