As much as I love water - I never would've imagined I would have my very own waterfall. What sold me on our homestead was the waterfall. The lifegiving water flooded through the property the very first time I set foot on its beautiful soil. Little could I imagine that the homestead where the wonderful waterfall fell would be ours. Little could I imagine that soon after arriving here for good a terrible flood would devastate the valley....and signal the end of the rain for seven years. But that, as they say, thankfully, is history. The drought broke last year - HalleluYah. After many many hours of rain we decided to take a hike up the gorge to see our waterfall. The winter day has been blissful. Apart from the fact that a number of our cats, a dog and a couple goats accompanied us, the wild life were still evident. Beginning with the usually shy Cape Robin, who stared down at us from his safe perch.
It is always exciting clambering over the rocks and through thorn trees to get to where the waterfall is. We never know what else we will find. Today we were delighted to see just how green everything is. Despite the long drought the hardier trees and succulents have survived.
It is always amusing seeing which of our animals join us on the walk. We lose many along the way. The goats delightedly browsing like they have wandered into some upmarket buffet. There is a wierd hierachical system among our five cats. Generally those that begin the adventure with us are soon displaced. However I am always amazed at how persistently they will follow us through rough terrain and over a great distance.
The butterflies once again flit from flower to flower. We found one baking nonchalantly in the winter sun. It was the only butterfly I could catch on camera as the others were constantly flitting between the pretty and unusual wild flowers.
Although the country life is tranquil it is by no stretch of the imagination quiet. With an entourage of cats, you can be sure the usual choir of birds becomes a rather hysterical chatter. It totally drowned out the soft sound of water. Most of the aloes are at the end of their flowering. Around the houses we still have a few blooming which keeps the little sunbirds there. But we were delighted at the variety of other birds in the mountains today. Also the return of the dassie (rock rabbit) and duiker (little deer) that were so prolific before the drought.
Suddenly we were there!
It is rather a precarious scramble up the slippery pools. But animals and small children raced ahead. After all these years I know not to be disappointed when the waterfall is just a trickle. The ground is still very thirsty. The big pools at the top of the water still hold a lot of water. Although, from a distance, it doesn't appear to be wet there are small streams of water trickling down the rock face. It tinkles in the ears like dainty butterflies. We were all able to get wet in the soft mist.
The view from back there is breathtaking. The memories that fly back over the years are bittersweet. So much has happened. The rain and then the drought resulted in terrible losses, for all in the area. We survived. The waterfall survived and whenever it rains it flows again. Usually as gentle trickle but nothing like the cascade that happened before the flood. Not yet
Thank you 
