Elandspad

Finally we had our first excursion. It was amazing. We went to four significant places: the 8 meter jump, the 12 meter jump, the spring/break area, the waterfall.

So first we had a 2-3 hour hike along the side of the mountain. It was a beautiful sight and in the meanwhile we got to know the other exchange students. You could see that there had been forest fires, as there were black bushes that left charcoal marks on your legs and clothing. We followed the river until we came to a little spring that joined up with the river. That was the “tea break area”. It was basically a little plateau with a few little cascades. This was our rally point, after each hike we would come back here.

So the second hike was following the river closely, that means going over the rocks on the river. We went on for 1-2 hours when we arrived at a little cliff. This cliff was 8 meters high. The exchange coordinator, Mr. Court, said that we could jump off. Of course everyone wanted to do so, but none of us knew if it was safe. Everyone let Mr. Court pass and he showed us where to jump. Once everyone knew it was safe we jumped a couple of times. It was fun, but Mr. Court wanted to show us an even bigger cliff.

To get there we needed to follow the river again. At a certain point we couldn’t advance more by foot and so we needed to swim up the river. After 10 minutes or so we entered a pool with steep sides all around. There was one rock on which you could climb.  After finding the right way up we found ourselves staring 12 meters down at the water. It was important to jump in a specific spot where the water was deep enough and to enter the water streamlined. This time we only jumped once. Not because it was scary or anything, but because the climb was more difficult and slippery. So once we swam and hiked back to the break area we had a 30 minute break. Next we made our way to the waterfall.

This was more a climb than a hike. Because this was trickier than all the previous walks Mr. Court stayed behind and helped everyone at the back. This meant however that the people in front like me and Lourents had no idea where to go. At certain spots I wandered if we went the right way as there was a giant boulder in the middle of the path. We continued to climb up the mountain until we reached a little cave. Here we waited for the rest. When everybody arrived we continued. The path narrowed and we could hear roaring from the end of the canyon. Around the corner we found the waterfall. I estimate it was around 60 meters high. After all this hiking and climbing watching wasn’t enough. We took off our clothes and started to swim towards the cascade. The water was so cold that the air was sucked out of your lungs. After a while in the water you couldn’t feel your body anymore because of the cold. This was pleasant after walking in the sun the entire day. When we approached the waterfall we saw that there was a cave behind it. Obviously we swam through the pouring water into the cave. It was as Lotte described it “just like in the movies”.

After the waterfall we went back to the break area. We had an hour long break before we would go back to the vans. We sat in the shade eating, drinking and talking for a while. When it was time to leave we took all our things and started to walk. This was the only bad part of the hike. Remember that at the beginning we had to take this path? Well this time it was agonizing. Any water that was left was boiling and we had the sun right in our faces. But eventually we reached the end. We took one more dip in the river and then we headed back home.

Can’t wait for the next trip.

Funny names:

Malik

Look

Luke

Louis

Adam??????