Thursday, December 9, 2010

Day 58 - What a wonderful day!

When I walk the Camino, I'll be looking out for the yellow arrows and scallop indicators to find my way. Today I was guided by yellow footprints, very discreetly painted on rock surfaces along the spectacular route we hiked in the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve just outside of Cape Town.

What a spectacular day! As you probably know by now - Thursday is my hiking day. I don't miss it for anything and the summer hikes are my absolute favorites as it often includes stops at waterfalls where we swim in unpolluted, sparkling, magical pools. Just as God made it. No chlorine, no fancy tiles, no steps. Just rocks, water, tadpoles...and us.

Backpack on the back, boots on and walking stick in hand, I set off early morning with three friends and we hiked for 6 hours. We stopped along the way for 'breakfast' and 'lunch', swam in two pools, chatted about a million subjects and took pictures to ensure that not a moment is forgotten!

Join me on a photo pilgrimage of this very special day!

The Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve forms part of an exciting concept where communities are involved in preserving the areas that they live in. You can find out more at: http://www.kogelbergbiospherereserve.co.za/ and http://www.unesco.org.uk/uploads/biopshere%20reserves%20faq.pdf

Wonderful idea!

Here I am with my young friend Yolanda - she has taught me so much about hiking and also joined me on my Kilimanjaro expedition earlier this year. There's a very good chance that she's going to walk the Camino with me in 2012!

My breakfast!

Untouched...spectacular!

This was just too perfect to pass by!

I could almost touch this little guy - he was perfectly colour coded in his environment and superbly equipped to jump over slippery rocks, able to disappear in seconds. A proud (and loud) member of the orchestra that entertained us the whole day.

This water is as pure as it gets. The dark colour is the result of tannins released by our natural 'fynbos' vegetation. Our fynbos has been declared as one of the six Floral Kingdoms of the world and many of these plants are found only in the Western Cape area. Find out more at: http://www.encounter.co.za/article/38.html


Doing anything next Thursday? :)

11 comments:

  1. I've never seen a sign that said "no feeding the baboons"!

    I love seeing your flowers, amphibians, and pure pools of water. So gorgeous.

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  2. Baboons are of the last of the wild creatures that we have close to our city. Unfortunately, when you live too close to creatures that are supposed to remain wild and free, feeding them becomes a major issue. When people feed them they associate humans with food and naturaly they then gravitate to the urban areas.

    This normally ends in disaster and they are often killed. So we try to discourage people from feeding them when they encounter them in the wild.

    At Cape Point it has become a major problem as busload after busload of tourists arive on a daily basis. People seem to think it's just the funniest thing on earth to see a baboon open a chocolate wrapper. And getting the best photograph of this incredible 'African wild animal' sighting seems to be highly sought after!

    Baboons can be really dangerous - needless to say there have been really bad incidents around this interaction.

    In fact, you've inspired a future blog post now!

    Love your photographs as well, as you know! :)

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  3. Hi Emilene,

    Looking at your breakfast i think you will have a hard time on the camino with those pilgrim dinners

    Love the musical surprise you build in

    Servaas (from a wintry holland)

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  4. Hi Servaas! I'm learning as I go along in the 'blogging world'! The musical idea is something I learnt from JJ's blog, not sure if you follow him? If you don't, you SHOULD! He has a wonderful blog and you'll find his contact details on my list of 'followers'.

    I'd love an update on your journal... How is the training going?

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  5. emilene: What a spectacular day, fabulous hike, and wonderful photos! The only thing that can make me happier than experiencing a day like that myself is to see others enjoying it. Your attitude toward Nature is second-to-none, and I am very pleased to know you. Enjoy!

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  6. Your pictures are spectacular!
    Shawn

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  7. You have such beautiful photos! And from here in snowy Canada I'm jealous of your weather.

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  8. It's nice to know that Yolanda may be joining you in Spain. She looks like a very cheerful young lady.

    I remember the baboons at Cape Point. They were all sitting in the road, blocking the traffic!

    Margaret

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  9. Hola, tu blog es excelente, gracias a ti podemos conocer muchos lugares hermosos!!!

    Saludos desde argentina!!!

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  10. Thanks for the comments everyone - I LOVE taking pictures and sharing them with people who enjoy looking at them really is special!

    Esteban - gracias, you have a wonderful blog, I just became your 100th reader! You have inspired me to investigate the Google tranlator widget for my own blog. It was wonderful to be able to read your blog in my own language with the click of a button! You can be sure I will be back!

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  11. Absolutely beautiful photographs!

    I need YOU to take photos of my fiber art. My iPhone isn't doing a very good job. Can you suggest an affordable camera? ::laughing::

    Hey Emilene, do you know if there is a way to be notified when people post on these blogs? I've missed several of your posts!

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Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment, I welcome your input!