Jen stands on the top of Brandwag rock, overlooking our accommodation site.
We scheduled a visit to Golden Gate Highland Park as a rest stop on the way (a little out the way)
to Little Switzerland. We intended resting as we prepared for another busy week. Three years before, we had
tackled one particular tough hike which we would like to repeat sometime in the future. In the meantime, we had
two steep but shortish, as they say in South Africa, walks. The park is quite beautiful with rondavels
and a separate hotel for accommodation. South Africa provides many fine facilities for people wishing to enjoy
the outdoors. There are rest camps all over the place, many in KwaZulu-Natal. This park is 'next door' in
the Free State.
Capturing the golden autumn period in Himeville, not Golden Gate.
With many facilities available, it does not mean people go hiking often, necessarily. Some people get out onto
the open road in caravans, go camping, fish or just watch the day pass, in bliss. This can be joyful although
we do need a little more vigorous activity ourselves. In fact, from our observations, one is more likely to meet
a foreigner on the trails than locals and then not many of them either. It's surprising how under-utilized the trails,
in fact, are. Perhaps we are missing something although it's clear that the black population do not seem to go
hiking much; and it comprises a sizeable proportion of the whole. Truth be told, in the outlying and poor districts,
they walk long distances to reach a store, school, work or friends. Who needs a hike after a hike!
(Narrative continues after pictures at the end.)
It looks like winter is approaching early this year.
The mushroom shaped buttresses are distinctive.
Making hard work of a steep and slippery climb but not a difficult one (chains this time.)
Looking through the channel at this unusual and interesting park as we head to Brandwag,
the top of the vertical cliff-face on the right.
Looking down onto the hotel from Brandwag summit.
A view of Brandwag from our delightful site as evening approaches.
Welcome back to the Sani Pass area, another Drakensberg highlight.
This site is for the birds:
The lady of the group, ever so gentle. (Mocking Cliff-chat)
'You're the antithesis of the lady above.'
"Who me?"
Bah! I agree.
You annoy me so much I could twist my neck off.
You want to repeat that?
Phew! A change of color.
'Now, now, Boys.'
'Wow! Look at that beauty."
'You don't say'.
'Let's see her again. Wow!'
'That's nothing. Look what I can do'.
'Hey, who are you?'
'We just moved in; we're the new neighbors. Who's that guy with attitude, the one below?'
'Watch for him; he's bad news.'
'I suppose so...'
'Sometimes I try to look at a problem from all angles'.
'But in his case, it's unlikely to help.'
Hey Fellas! This is all academic should that bandit above be hungry.
(Narrative continues below...)
The rest camps are well positioned in delightful areas, the self-catering units nicely equipped and convenient.
Being South Africa, the units are serviced daily, making us feel quite spoiled. One can get used to it although
it does impinge on one's privacy, at times. Lack of adequate maintenance generally, in our experience over the
recent years, is proving to be a problem in the country as well as in other un-named countries, too.
There are an awful lot of distractions on the political front, once again in keeping with universal trends. It
seems it's useful to fight over whether a statue should be retained, transferred, removed or destroyed while
electricity cannot be distributed without frequent interruptions. With unemployment extremely high and in some
cities at over 70 percent, people are unwilling/unable to pay for essential services. We see so much poverty and
squalor that it's hard not to be moved deeply. And yet, 'point scoring' on meaningless issues grabs the attention
of the ruling class, the media, too.
Westerners seem to make the error, our opinion, of lumping all black people into a single group. The irony of
the current situation of xenophobia bursting onto scene in this country is worthwhile of comment. South African
blacks are calling and protesting strongly for all foreign blacks and some other nationalities to be expelled
from the country (rioting and attacking them, too.). We understand that Malawi has retaliated already by calling
for similar action. We wonder if apartheid amongst black people is more acceptable than the ugly previous system.
Unfortunately, we don't have answers to the major problems constantly besetting the world. We can only offer one
bit of advice for what it's worth: "The best way to fix the world is by beginning to improve oneself."
This is by far the most serious of narratives and only a smidgen as we try to keep it light most of the time.
After all, there are many commentators out there dealing with the issues of the day. We try generally to focus
on the beauty one can immerse oneself in including the many interesting and wonderful people that share the planet.
As one learned man said to us a long time ago in simple terms: "Always look up." We received even better advice from
Mannie Edelstein years back when he taught us the real meaning of 'Carpe Diem', something we work on
each day—thank you, Mannie.
Cheers,
Jenni and Jeffrey
Couldn't part without one more 'hardcore' Amphitheatre/Sentinel shot
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