We left our chalet heading west for today’s hike, which turned into an amazing experience. By the way, although we are in the Cape, there is a further 300 miles or so to travel to reach Cape Town, for those unfamiliar with this part of the world. The term chalet sounds impressive. Ours has all the accommodation one needs and more but something is missing besides the soap not provided. We don’t know if washing is a luxury or we should bathe in the ocean. The area of Keurboomstrand, our temporary home, is quite extraordinary. It’s five miles east of Plettenberg Bay. We thought it would be a place in the ‘sticks’ comprising shacks and huts. The town is small but the housing compares with La Lucia and La Jolla, to drop a few names. It is staggering—a wonderful place in which to retire on the ocean. We mentioned it the day before—many parts remind us of Hawaii.
Why did we choose this area? Next week, we are going into the bush on a five-day bash, whatever that means. We intend undertaking the Tsitsikama Trail, some 70 kilometers, one of the most strenuous in this part of the world. In order to qualify, one has to be able to pronounce the name or it’s a no-go. We believe they are quite strict about it, too.
Onto the hike of the day. Should we ever meet the person who designed and built the trail, we would first shake his hand. Thereafter, we would slap him around for a few minutes. This guy has issues. Not that we are well informed but we think the designer of the trail needs therapy. He must have had a very tough upbringing.
Why do you make half-a-dozen false climbs and then return us back to the beach only to start up again? What happened to climb to the top of a mountain and then descend? Narrow cliffs, beaches covered in pebbles, cobbles and boulders, steep climbs, dangerous paths down into the bowels of the earth—mind you, very nice bowels if one is getting into the dirty details…thick forests and numerous stream crossings. We did not touch beach sand, there was none—completely stone covered. The hike had everything…well, no beach sand.
Today’s hike ranks up with the strenuous and difficult ones we have undertaken. Man, it was tough. However, not for a moment did we not enjoy the views, the challenging terrain and the wonder of being in this part of the world. For a moment, we thought we finally understood why we left South Africa—the hikes are too tough.
We began the day not feeling on top form although the editor seemed okay. The ratio of whining was 5:1. We moaned 5 times for every one of hers. At least, we are improving our average—it had dropped off recently. One should always work towards improving oneself as people tell us.
We will be out of contact for the next week as the ‘bush telegraph’, we understand, is experiencing more difficulties than our internet connection. Have an enjoyable break from us and we hope to see you next week, safely, N’H.
Cheers,
Jenni and Jeffrey
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