RESTAURANT @ THE HARTBEESPOORT HOLIDAY RESORT
RESIDENT CHIHUAHUA @ RESORT
SHORTLY AFTER WE SET UP CAMP - GORGEOUS!
DUST FROM SILICA MINE, EVERYWHERE, NOT A PLEASURE TO HIKE THROUGH THAT
Wednesday, 09 May 2007
RESORTS AND DOGS
RESTAURANT @ THE HARTBEESPOORT HOLIDAY RESORT
BACK TO THE BUSH
I had arranged to meet my mother around 8am, to pick up our supplies, at Damdoryn. When I spoke to her first thing in the morning, plans have changed, and she could only meet us on her way back from Pretoria. So we had until 3pm before we could head back up to the top. I packed up, and went down to the kiosk, chatted with Martie for a while, and then wondered around the Resort some more. It’s so beautiful and peaceful here. I could stay here longer, but I’m becoming restless, and want to get back to the Berg.
Martie prepared us lunch consisting of sandwiches and coffee. She is such a cool lady, she makes me laugh. She has the cutest little Chihuahua named Nula (a dog), and even though she’s tiny, she makes a big noise when you enter her bubble. Then there was also a big Doberman, but I still don’t know his name. He seemed fine with Dante & Katryn, but Maria was paranoid that he’d eat them or something, so we didn’t see much of him.
Karel offered to take us to Damdoryn where we met my mother, and then to drop us off nearer to the foot of the mountain. I had a quick coffee with my mother, while Karel and Maria went ahead. She’s fabulous, and I always enjoy every minute in her company. She wasn’t so happy once we got to the place where we’d go up. It didn’t seem safe enough, and she gave me a mouthful about letting her worry. She reckons if she didn’t see where we are, she’d be fine, but now that she’s familiar with our surroundings, she’s freaked.
Sorry ma, don’t mean for you to worry, but it’s all good, right? It was getting late, which left us with little time to get to the top, set up camp, and settled in before dark. My pack suddenly felt like lead again, maybe it’s the fresh supplies, but I was suffering a little in the beginning. We were slow getting higher, and once we saw a flat enough spot to pitch the tent, we set up camp. There were no smooth surfaces, mostly rocks and so we pitched the tent on top of a heap of pebbles, which managed to get somewhat even.
Both Maria and the dogs seemed uneasy and a bit scared, so she tried to sleep a.s.a.p., but Katryn felt the need to stand guard most of the night. It was a beautiful night though, I lay awake for hours, just staring into space, listening to music, and loving every minute of being here.
Good Night.
DAY 9: Must be thinking they're Cats
Tuesday, 08 May 2007
WALTER BROUGHT US SOME LOVELY BILTONG TREATS, WHILE WE'RE WAITING FOR SUPPLIES
Thanx Waltie, we owe you one!
HARTBEESPOORT HOLIDAY RESORT
DAY 8:
We woke up a little later than usual, knowing that we were getting some more supplies to continue on our journey. We are running behind on our blogging, but, there seems to be technical problems on Vodacom’s side again, and we can do nothing about it, other than wait another 24hrs.
We spent a long while wondering around the Resort, enjoying the tranquility, and the dogs went crazy after the monkeys. Animals are so much in sync with each other, that I am sometimes awe inspired. People seemed to have lost their ability to sync. Everybody is always in such competition with each other, it’s mad! A comment we seem to hear daily, one I heard just now in fact, is that nobody can stick together anymore, or that good people doesn’t exist. I do believe however, that we’re all on the same quest, and regardless how powerful or inadequate you might regard yourself to be, each individual’s purpose, be it big or small, is necessary in accordance to the bigger picture. I might also add, that if people could experience humankind the way that we do, experience kindness and abundance, people who give without expecting anything in return, they’d see that we’re not at all so far removed being humane.
We met Martie, who is a unique lady indeed. She made us a cup of coffee, when that’s exactly what we needed, and then I spent a while on the deck, pounding away on the desktop, doing some catching up.
The 26th is just around the corner, and we still have so much that needs to be done before then. A little awkward considering we’re hiking around in the mountains, and do not always have access to communication. It’s an amazing feeling when everything you’ve worked towards is finally being realized, and I hope we could do such a mission justice.
It was a fabulous day spent at Karel’s Resort, and thank you guys, for taking some time off to interact, and especially for spoiling us rotten.
I thought to pack in the morning, as we had no idea what time we’d pick up our supplies before we continued. I spent the rest of the evening catching up on emails, and afterwards, I was soaking in the tub for at least an hour – super fantastic! Oooh those little luxuries…
I finally went to bed around 12pm, and slept like a baby.
We woke up a little later than usual, knowing that we were getting some more supplies to continue on our journey. We are running behind on our blogging, but, there seems to be technical problems on Vodacom’s side again, and we can do nothing about it, other than wait another 24hrs.
We spent a long while wondering around the Resort, enjoying the tranquility, and the dogs went crazy after the monkeys. Animals are so much in sync with each other, that I am sometimes awe inspired. People seemed to have lost their ability to sync. Everybody is always in such competition with each other, it’s mad! A comment we seem to hear daily, one I heard just now in fact, is that nobody can stick together anymore, or that good people doesn’t exist. I do believe however, that we’re all on the same quest, and regardless how powerful or inadequate you might regard yourself to be, each individual’s purpose, be it big or small, is necessary in accordance to the bigger picture. I might also add, that if people could experience humankind the way that we do, experience kindness and abundance, people who give without expecting anything in return, they’d see that we’re not at all so far removed being humane.
We met Martie, who is a unique lady indeed. She made us a cup of coffee, when that’s exactly what we needed, and then I spent a while on the deck, pounding away on the desktop, doing some catching up.
The 26th is just around the corner, and we still have so much that needs to be done before then. A little awkward considering we’re hiking around in the mountains, and do not always have access to communication. It’s an amazing feeling when everything you’ve worked towards is finally being realized, and I hope we could do such a mission justice.
It was a fabulous day spent at Karel’s Resort, and thank you guys, for taking some time off to interact, and especially for spoiling us rotten.
I thought to pack in the morning, as we had no idea what time we’d pick up our supplies before we continued. I spent the rest of the evening catching up on emails, and afterwards, I was soaking in the tub for at least an hour – super fantastic! Oooh those little luxuries…
I finally went to bed around 12pm, and slept like a baby.
Monday, 07 May 2007
Beautiful Landscapes, Lions Den, and Relaxation
We woke up really early, and it was amazing to watch the sun rise and set the landscape alight with beautiful colors of red, orange and pink. We each went in our own direction for a while, because when you're in the presence of God, you need to be quiet.
At around 7.30am, we were geared up and ready to go. We followed a 4x4 track down, but this track was heading all the way down, and we needed to get on the next ridge. In front of us there was a game fence, all the way up to the escarpment, and all the way down to the bottom, so we were in a fix. Thought we'd follow this track down, but it was leading back to the suburb, and we needed to stay on the mountain. Maria climbed to the top of the escarpment, and saw that it would be fine if we hiked along the fence, although we couldn't see if we could hike all the way. We were just a bit scared to climb over the fence, as we didn't know what kind of game was kept behind it. These areas are known for their lion camps, and we weren't sure, so we hiked on the escarpment, along the fence. There were times where I had a bit of a crisis, because there wasn't enough room between me, the fence, and the escarpment. All of a sudden, I'm not so brave anymore, but we got through those. We also got lost a couple of times, as there were many foot paths leading somewhere, and we took the wrong ones a couple of times. Eventually, after some frustration and bundu bashing, we got to the Hartebeespoort Holiday Resort, and though it would be great to just have a proper bath and bed for a change. It's a lovely establishment right at the foot of the Magaliesberg. I want to say thanx a million to Martie and Rina for all their trouble in making this a super stay.
You know what's amazing? When one can appreciate the things you take for granted, like taking a bath. Bliss. I cannot thank everyone here at the Resort enough for making this possible.
Well, I'm off to bed now. Sleep well everyone, and sweet dreams.
Sunday, 06 May 2007
SOME MORE GORGEOUSNESS
The white building on top, is where the cable cars used to be, and we slept nearby
Still a long way to go before we're on top
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