After a tiring but exciting day of paragliding and kloofing, the only thing to do was make myself even more exhausted with a full day of canoeing and hiking! Lisa and I had heard about a beautiful trail leading to a lovely waterfall and that acquiring a canoe to get to the start of the trail was not going to be a difficult feat. So after a hearty brekkie and after sloshing on as much insect repellant and sunscreen as is humanly possible, we were off!
Canoeing proved difficult whilst going upstream, as the canoe itself was old and clunky and the mish-mashing currents prevented us from moving straight ahead with any semblance of ease. We had to constantly correct the canoe, but at least we were comforted by the knowledge that the current would in our favour on the way back.
After a solid hour of canoeing and about ten minutes of non stop laughing when we had to lug the canoe through a particularly shallow stretch of river, we made it to the beginning of the trail! After only around ten minutes of hiking we reached a beautiful stretch of river which is made passable with the presence of a pontoon.
One has to use the ropes to pull the pontoon across the river. It isn’t at all hard but if you move too quickly you can cause the pontoon to lurch if it hits any rocks. Luckily this did not happen to us, but we did see some other hikers almost get thrown into the water. Once across the hiking began! I should definitely note that the hike itself is not at all demanding for anyone of a reasonable fitness level, but so amazingly rewarding. I spent the entire hike putting away my camera only to take it out again five seconds later! This continued all afternoon.
After not too long we reached the beautiful waterfall everyone had told us about. It was beautiful, and a lovely spot to relax and eat our packed snacks before the hike and canoe back to Fairy Knowe.
The hike and canoe were just as lovely on the return trip, and luckily our canoe decided to behave itself a bit more the second time around. If you can set aside the million mosquito bites we got during the course of the day, it was a pretty much perfect experience.
THE LOWDOWN
Camera: iPhone 5
Cost: 150ZAR for full day canoe hire (approx $15 AUD)
Hostel: Fairy Knowe Backpackers
Pack: Sunscreen and lots of it!
Thanks for continuing to read about my travels and adventures! This blog of mine hit over 1000 followers last week which absolutely blows my mind! I have started a Facebook page for this little blog where I will be posting more stories, photos and updates about my upcoming travel, so if you want to stay even more in the loop, feel free to check it out (www.facebook.com/travellingtheworldsolo).
I also wanted to share that last week I did some more flight booking and this chica is heading to Greenland in September! So I am just a little bit excited and stoked with that upcoming travel plan.
Finally, I have decided that around this time next year I will be heading off around the world indefinitely; and I would love for my fellow travellers/wonderful readers to tell me about their favourite places in the world, or any places which I absolutely must visit. Otherwise, maybe you could tell me something you would like to read about? Maybe you want to hear about adventures in Iran, or winter in Siberia or maybe about a trip to Lalibela in Ethiopia? Whatever it is, I am dying to know about it.
Until next time amigos!