For the most part I live in an area central to one of South Africas bigger tourist attractions and vacationing spots.
Although my town is pretty much a two house dump the surrounding area has many features people supposedly travel far to get to. About 3 hours drive is the Kruger National park, and generally about 2 hours or so away are connected areas that range from the Sabie River, Waterfalls, Trout lakes etc.
Then again I personally don't care one iota about the Wildlife trips, they are tedious and I can see Elephants, Lions and all the others on Youtube anyway. It does not warrant any sort of drive for me and once you get there you have to drive even more to see the things. Madness.
I prefer more interactive things so when the peoples recommended we go for a hike I was more than happy to go. Then they said it is only an hour drive I weighed the pros and cons and determined it would be ok to suffer an hour of utter despair and off we went.
When we got to Mount Sheba there was a monkey waiting and, in the lobby, where we checkin for the hike some old geyser was complaining about how it steals peoples food from the cottages and could be danger for kids blah blah blah.
Unfortunately there were no monkeys on our trail , because the one place wildlife is supposed to be they are not, apparently you need to be ooing and aahing from a car to see wildlife.
Anyway it was pretty interesting how the general drive and this can be a bushy region that I would describe more savannah style mountains, sure it is a bit green down near some valleys but everything is still more akin to a grass field than anything else.
However coming over the ridge of the mountain and descending a bit towards the trails it all just changed. It went from being sunny and dry to mist shrouding the road and then basically jungle.
All on the same stretch of 10km (6 mile) road. Give or take some elevation.
But off we went on a muddy hike and I guess there is not all too much to show once you are in it, heck so many bits look similar that I can see how people get a bit lost in a jungle.
| Off we go | First twig in face | Now we in it |
It started off rather tame but soon we realised this is a place where weak ankles and knees will be the death of you.
A lot of sections aren't particularly high up if you consider that the slope down is quite gradual but if you did not for some reason get stopped by a tree then you will likely not be coming back up.
As you see the rocks and everything can be a bit deceiving like you know they are kinda wet but nothing prepares a person for just how slippery a mossy rock can be.
| First Stop | Taller than it looks | Go Deeper |
After about a kilometer we got to the first "waterfall" and I think because it is winter these seem rather tame, but the way the granite and rock has been eroded away would beg to differ.
The descent also became quite evident since when you look down the "stream" there really doesn't seem to be a way out except for things going deeper and deeper in, quite the illusion to see in person.
| Waterfall 2 | Waterfall 3 | Yummy Water |
| Ouchie | Gold Digging | Outside Gold Hole |
Overall the Hike took 4 hours, it is estimated we walked about 8km (5 miles) and the final ascend to get back to base was the absolute worse of that.
We saw two more waterfalls and spent some time chilling by the water which is so clear you could see to the bottom of the pool. It also tasted nice so I threw my brother's stupid paid water out and filled it with the mountain water that obviously cures cancer.
Before the ascend there were 3 more spots that are actually hard to reach and I slipped on more than one river crossing boulder but fortunately it only gave my shoes a wash.
It seems since this area had its share of gold rushers and they seemingly found a few spots in the side of the mountain where there is some and as any gold digger does dug a hole into the granite.
It would also mean these "Diggings" are some of the highest points on earth where gold has been found at close to 1.8km (5900 feet). I guess that is also why this area general have some interesting nooks and crannies because what I consider "flat area" is just an area at an elevation higher than most of the country.
My town for example surrounded by what I would dub just hills is already at a elevation of 1.1km (3300 feet) and then hills still go up from there , so it is a pretty pointed area.
Anyway, the hike was more up my alley when it comes to needing to travel for something. It had just the right amount of struggle although I think now I would not mind something a bit harder and possibly more dry cause mud and cold are not a nice combo.
Maybe I will go there in the summer and enjoy the claustrophobic humidity the rain forest surely should produce.
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All images were taken by me
