Saturday 2017/01/14
Tsitsikamma National Park
We have breakfast on our wonderful veranda with a view to the surf. Something else is out of the question here! Today we have toast, jam and honey. After the third round the toaster breaks down. Then Wolle realizes that also the electric sockets for all the other kitchen appliances no longer work. Another phone call with the duty manager. Then Wolle realizes, that there's a fuse box. Oh, the fuse for the electrical line failed. What was the English word for fuse? First we have to look it up on dict.cc: fuse. Ok, so again another call to the duty manager, who meanwhile probably thinks that these Germans are pretty stupid.
After breakfast we're heading west along the coastline towards a waterfall. This trail is already part of the Ottertrail, a five days hiking trail along the coast from hut to hut, which can only be accessed with a permit and is already been booked out a year in advance.
Not many people are on the way to the waterfall so early, so we meet only few hikers. The landscape is exhilaratingly beautiful and the roaring surf drowns out all the other noises. The trail is a bit challenging in some places, but it's still ok. It can happen to you that you suddenly face a deer.
After about 1.5 hours we arrive at the waterfall, which flows into a basin which is still several meters above sea level. The water is cold, but it's a gorgeous refreshment after the strenous hiking to this wonderful place. Under the waterfall you can sit on a rocky step, lean against the rocks and let the water rain down on your heas. A great pleasure and so you can always hear one of the visitors screaming joyfully. Big fun! Do not miss it! Don't forget the bathing costumes!
Back after about three hours walk we are a bit exhausted. Well, it was not too hot today, otherwise this walk would have become quite streunous. After many days just sitting in the car, we now will get muscle soreness.
Lunch break. Getting a few things from the supermarket, which has not really much offerings. We decided, we definitely will cook ourselfes today. The place on our veranda is just too nice and the menu in the restaurant is not very attractive to us anymore.
Still not hiked enough today. We're going to a second walk, but only about 1.5-2 hours through the bush – we understand again, why the animals in the park can hide themselfes so easily: the bush is very dense. Unfortunately all the birds are hinding somewhere too, so that there is not much to be observed. It is almost ghostly quiet, only the surf can be heard everywhere.
The surf is also an addition to the dinner, after which we watch the sunset with some glasses of red wine. Beautifully! We're happy people.