This was taken last year at the Pretoria Zoo. Kathy had to jump around and scream like a mad person to get this Kodiak Bear to look at us. Finally he did look up for about 2 seconds before going back to ignoring the world.
While driving over the Harties bridge I glanced over my shoulder at the breathtaking drop down to the river and spotted a waterfall flowing down the side of a mountain.
Is there any way to get down there I asked? Sure, said Louis, “Wanna go?”
That had to have been a rhetorical question cos he definitely knows me better than that. I would never turn down an adventure. We took the next left at the stop street and then a right to a boom gate that was barely visible from the road. A man sat on a chair dozing away under a tree and when seeing us rose and walked towards us. We paid the fee and glanced at the notice board which read Crocodile River.
”Are there any crocodiles in the river?” “I don’t think so,” came the amused reply.
"There were even little concrete tables conveniently situated close to each spot."
As we drove down the bumpy road to the river we noticed little picnic and braai spots nestled between the trees. There were even little concrete tables conveniently situated close to each spot. I really like the idea of also being able to park your car right by your spot. “They really did think of everything”
We kept driving on to where the road came to an end and parked the car. After getting out, unpacking the camera and tripod we locked up and set off on the trail to the waterfall. There was a huge sign right next to the beginning of the trail and the in red were the letters GEVAAR. I knew it read danger but nobody else seemed to care so I decided to go along anyway.
The trail was not an easy one. It was formed by curious hikers on a slope between the mountain and the edge of the river making it slippery with tree branches blocking the way and lose rocks in the path. In some places seepage down the mountain had formed puddles meaning you had to tread carefully to keep from sinking ankle deep in sludge. Eventually we got to a rocky section that signaled the end of the path and after climbing over a giant rock we came to the waterfall. It was gushing that day causing a mist to form around it but then the falling water quickly slowed into a flow that quieted into a large pond. From there the river flowed on merrily.
"My mind then flashed back to the ‘Gevaar’ sign at the beginning of the trail and suddenly I didn’t feel so safe anymore."
I looked at Louis who had his camera pointed above my head and when I looked up I saw the bridge that we had just been on and the large wall that held it up. There was a smooth rock surface that extended from the wall to the pond close to where I was standing. In my mind I saw what would happen if the floodgates were opened and the water from the Hartebeestpoort dam was let lose. My mind then flashed back to the ‘Gevaar’ sign at the beginning of the trail and suddenly I didn’t feel so safe anymore.
Louis finished taking his photo’s and soon we were back on the trail to the picnic site, me in the lead this time and moving quite quickly. “Hey, Miss Nimble, could you take my tripod?” I heard behind me. I looked back to see Louis struggling to get over a large tree branch that was growing over the path. Sometimes in life (and they are rare instances) being as small as I am is an advantage. Quite proud of myself and my new nickname I went back and helped him with his tripod. Back at the beginning of the trail I took a minute to read what danger the sign board was warning us off and it basically read .
“Danger, Water levels are prone to rise quickly due to water being released through the floodgates.”
Boy was I glad to be out of there but with no regret to having had the adventure.
We were quite tired when we got back to the car and after a drink of juice we were on our way again, insistent that we would be back again for a longer visit and even a braai so that we could discover and enjoy more of what the Crocodile River had to offer.
How to get there:Travel over the bridge at Hartebeestpoortdam towards the Cultural Village. At the big intersection, turn right. Go over the Crocodile River. The entrance is immediately on your right. |
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Words by Kathy Beetge
Photos by Louis Beetge
This picture was taken early one morning in 2006. I dragged my wife out of bed at around 4:00 in the morning to get to Harties at about 5:30. It was extremely cold and extremely pretty. I highly recommend you do it sometime. Meanwhile here is another desktop.
Getting lost and meeting people that vanish is enough to make anybody freak out. Let's just say that Friday was quite an adventure.
As we drove into Gillooly's Farm, the sun was just starting to work it's mid morning magic and we looked forward to the 7km hike. Walking through Gillooly's I was disgusted by the amount of trash strewn about everywhere. Obviously a relic from the previous day's public holiday, as these premises are usually quite clean.
"Do we not have any pride left in our country or ourselves."
What is it with South Africans? Do we not have any pride left in our country or ourselves. What amazed me was the fact that there were beer bottles right next to an empty trash can. Sometimes I am ashamed to call myself South African.
Anycase, failing to find the start of the trail, we decided to just start climbing the mountain on the other side of the lake. Wow. What a miscalculation from my side. About a quarter of the way up, I knew I was in trouble because I was puffing like a recovering drug addict. Man, that thing was steep. It just seemed to go on forever. The fact that my 16 year old companion, Mark, wasn't even breathing hard did nothing for my ego.
I think it probably took us about 20 minutes to get to the top. This included time for taking pictures. If you are unfit, this is definitely not a trail that you want to start your hiking career with. We were obviously walking the trail from the wrong end, because all the trail markers were pointing at us. Logic told us that if we just kept following the trail markers backwards, everything would be alright and we would end up at the beginning of the trail. Logic was wrong. More on this later.
" ... The highways shone silver in the early morning light as they slithered their way to the city's bustle ..."
Once at the top, the view is VERY cool. With the 360 degree view, you can see Eastgate Shopping Center, Johannesburg Central and Sandton. The highways shone silver in the early morning light as they slithered their way to the city's bustle. I think on a clear day, you would even be able to see Pretoria, sorry Tshwane.
The rocky trail wound along the ridge and led us past two marked bomb holes. In the picture, Mark is standing in one of the holes. Does anybody know where these holes come from? Who bombed what and when? Let me know in the comments if you have any clue.
"Can you hear that?" I asked Mark. I could hear someone talking somewhere. I walked closer to the edge of a rocky ridge. As I peered over, I could see a man in blue clothes standing with arms spread. He reminded me of the Jesus statue in Rio De Janeiro. I quietly backed off. I guess the top off a mountain is as good a place as any to worship your god and probably better than most.
The trail winds up and down quite a bit and climbing up a large hill, we came upon a grave. At least I think it was a grave. There was a circle of stones with a cross at one end. I guess it could've just been a get together place because there was no marker on the cross. No names to identify anybody. We sat down and drank the last of our cold drink.
" ... I was enjoying the absence of the usual city din."
"Geez, it's very quiet up here," Mark said.
"Ja, you wouldn't say we are in the middle of South Africa's largest city," I said.
It was very quiet. We couldn't hear birds chirping or insects buzzing. Just quiet. I guess some people would say eerie, but I was enjoying the absence of the usual city din.
Rested we decided to see where the rest of the trail led us. We hadn't seen a trail marker for some time. Lesser people would have admitted that they were lost. But not we. About a hundred meters from the cross / grave we saw a board put up by Joburg Water - No Trespassing. Dammit. Time to turn back and see if we can pick up the trail again.
"By the time we top the ridge, they are nowhere to be seen!"
A man, women and two Rottweilers came walking up the trail. Both the man and women quickly grab the dogs and put them on leashes.
"Do you guys know where this trail is going? There's a No Trespassing sign up front," I said.
"This is the right trail. It skirts the building up front. You just need to stick to the path. It's not that clearly marked, but you can still make it out, " the man said.
"Do you mind if we tag along behind you?" I asked.
"No problem. Just give us some space so we can let the dogs loose, " he said.
We tagged about 30 meters behind the couple. They went over a little ridge in the trail. By the time we top the ridge, they are nowhere to be seen!
Gone! We had a clear field of vision for about 200 meters in all directions and the couple with their dogs were nowhere to be found! If one of those two read this article, please tell me what happened to you. You freaked us out.
As you can see in the picture above, the trail wound up another hill. "Dude, I don't have the energy for another climb," I said. Mark agreed so we headed down hill through what looked like a marsh. What should we find at the bottom of this hill? A locked gate.
"Just call the guard that's sitting over there", Mark said.
"I don't think he will have the key. This gate must be locked by the town council."
We stood around debating this for about 10 minutes before the guard spotted us. He walked up to us and unlocked the gate. Boy did I feel like a moron. On the other side of the gate a sign informed us that we must ask the guard on duty for the key to enter.
After asking the guard for directions back to Gillooly's and receiving a confused look for our trouble, we started walking back.
And walked, and walked, and walked.
We came down from the mountain trail about two kilometers from Bruma Lake. As we walked past Bruma Flea Market, a scary man with long dreadlocks tried to trade us some weed for a picture.
"Wot you gonna do for me, mon?" he asked.
We both ignored him. By that time my mood was pretty foul and my throat was parched. We stopped at a BP Garage to buy some cold drinks and ice cream. I think it was the best Fanta Pineapple I had ever tasted.
Ten minutes later saw us back at Gillooly's and glad to be sitting in the shade of the car. What is the moral of this story? Get a trail map before you go on any hike.
How to get there:FROM N3 SOUTH |
Free
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Starting from this week, I will post one extra photo per week that I haven't used before and that I think is nice. Most of these photos will be my impressions of the place that I live and work, namely Johannesburg / Midrand/Pretoria. From time to time there will also be photos from elsewhere that I have visited.
You can use these photos as backgrounds for your desktop and as such I will supply them in 1024 size. When you click on the photo, it will open a new window which will take you to the Flickr page. Click on 'All Sizes' to download the large version of the photo.
I hope that you enjoy them. Drop me a line in the comments.
Peace and tranquility is the first thing that we noticed about Nkwe. That was until we were almost overrun by the bulls!
The real kind that is. Not the kind that you watch running with an oval shaped ball every Saturday.
Seriously though, this place is very peaceful. As we drove onto the premises, what struck me was the amount of trees. Even though it was dry, the park was still pretty in a stark winter sort of way.
Besides us, there was one other person there that day. A bird watcher who had been to Nkwe 18 years before and came back to reminisce and see how things had changed.
"You wonder how deep it is and how many people have disappeared forever in it's depths."
Walking down to the water hole is the first thing that you will want to do. Trust me. It's like a magnet. You almost can't help yourself. You wonder how deep it is and how many people have disappeared forever in it depths. Typical urban legend stuff.
Then you think back to your child hood and imagine how good it would have been to be able to play cowboys and indians in this place. If your kids still play those games (and I don't mean on the playstation), they will love this place.
The rock pool was empty that day, but usually people of all ages can be found splashing around and jumping into the pool from the surrounding rocks.
Why is that? Why do people feel this irresistable need to jump from high places? Adrenaline, testosterone or stupidity? Maybe all of the above.
Although the weather didn't permit swimming, climbing the rocks kept me busy for a while.
Yes I know I am easily amused.
Having conquered the mountain, I decided that it was time to explore, so I chucked my camera bag over my shoulder, waved my dad farewell and set of on the treacherous journey to chart this territory for my avid readers.
This place really was very pretty. Maybe it was the quiet, or maybe it was the wind blowing though whatever leaves were left on the trees, but I was very content with life at that moment.
"... I see a huge dog running towards me. It had horns! "
My daydreaming was interrupted by a yell from my dad: 'Watch out for him!'
As I look up from my camera viewfinder, I see a huge dog running towards me. It had horns!
Horns I tell you!
Great, all we needed then was for fire to come out its nose and no-one would ever believe me again.
The bull changed direction and headed for the water with the rest of its evil brethren following. The little old lady that walked behind them, yelling and gesturing with a stick, did nothing for my shattered ego.
Feeling that my career as an avid explorer and tamer of new lands was rapidly coming to an end, I headed back towards where my dad sat.
As I walked through the trees I thought about how pretty this place would be in spring when everything started to bloom again. Definitely a place I would like to come back to. If not to explore, then just to have a braai with friends on the banks of the Pienaars River and to lie on my back under the trees and listen to the wind blowing through the leaves.
How to get there:On the N1 travelling north, take the Lynwood Drive offramp. Turn right at the robots. Keep travelling until you go over Hans Strydom Drive. From Hans Strydom Drive, travel approx. 13.6km. The entrance to Nkwe will be on the right hand side of the road. |
R20 per person for day visitors.
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Words and Pictures by Louis Beetge
