Clarens Weekend Part II - Meiringskloof Nature Park,

Salt and I, being the annoyingly early risers we are, aimed to arrive in Fouriesburg (30 minutes from Clarens) by 6 am on Saturday morning.

Minor hiccup: by the time the SHEET of ice on my car window melted, it was already past 6 am.

Besides the RIDICULOUS potholes that made sand roads or even Johannesburg streets seem appealing, Fouriesburg is a quaint little town. But don't even get me started on this Nature Park... OMW... for just R25 per person, you’re basically getting a ticket to heaven on earth.

With all my research, I had remembered reading somewhere about a “chain ladder”. Well, tomorrow isn’t promised I thought…. new me…new life….no problem. On arrival, I got a teeny weeny anxious, and asked the sweet little man at reception if he thought I could climb it.

'Yes, no problem' he said.

Spoiler alert…. I did not!! But more about that later.

We chatted further with him and decided to do pretty much all the trails…. which starts off at reception. You hike down some steps and are transported into a completely different world of unique and damp flora. It was where eerie meets fabulous.

We came across our first cave, which is more of a crevice and less of a cave. Do not underestimate the beauty and size of this crevice though! One can understand why it is called a cave. Just to stand there in all it’s awesomeness and hear the dripping of water. Pitch a tent and call it home forever.

More walking and some climbing because why settle for one crevice when you can have a whole buffet of them?

Each "cave" flaunts its unique beauty like a peacock strutting its stuff, leaving us feeling as fresh as a daisy despite the 2 hours already walked.

Ah, the moment of truth arrives: the dreaded chain ladder looms before us. Fueled by a cocktail of exhilaration and bravado, I was ready to conquer this towering beast. After all, it looked perfectly safe, sturdy even, with its cemented foundation and manageable height.

But alas, Salt, the voice of reason, expresses doubts. "I don't even want to do it, mom," he says. Undeterred, I needed to just try a few steps to test the waters. Yet, with a little shake here, a little shake there, and I leap off the ladder faster than you can say "vertigo." "Fine," I said, "if YOU'RE not happy, let's take Jacob's Ladder instead."

At least I convinced myself that I was an adventurous spirit being mercilessly tamed by a cautious sidekick. And so, the chain ladder is abandoned, but fear not, for Jacob's Ladder awaits, a slightly less daunting challenge.

Honestly, Jacob’s ladder I found fun, but scary. It was difficult though. At first you must go proper rock climbing. This goes on for a few meters. But there is always another rock to pull you up or place your foot on.

As I “summited” before my very eyes, was a solid rock. I turned to Salt and said "I can't do that, and I refuse to go back down the rocks we just climbed.” We are here forever!!

That was when he pointed out that there were indents made in the rock for us to use as grips. So I decided going up was preferable to having to go back down! I conquered the final stretch!! Not awfully high, but certainly not without its moments of frozen panic.

After that, it felt like we were walking across the top of a mountain…..which we were. But I felt like an explorer of sorts. At this stage, I should mention that during this entire by now, 3 hour hike, did we see another living soul….bliss.

Eventually we got to the Water Tunnels. Another sublime experience. There is a descent to get to some rocks in a stream, which, with a helping hand (my trusted Salty), can be stepped over to get to another dreamy rock formation and waterfall.

This is where we were unsure whether we needed to literally walk through water to exit the cave, or whether we needed to go back out and continue.

We chose to go back out, tried to continue, and were unsure whether we were going in the right direction of an up until then, very well marked trail. By then, we decided to back track and find an alternative route back (aka NOT down a chain or rock ladder!).

All in all, we walked around 5 hours.

We drove back to Clarens, had lunch, and ventured out to our afternoon hike. This was again in The Clarens Nature Reserve, but a combination of similar, but totally different hikes!

My Hiking Hag Ratings:

AREA - Fouriesburg

COST - R 25!!

LENGTH - GUESSTIMATE 15 KM FOR ALL 3.                            

ELEVATION - Not sure, but really not torture.

MARKERS - Well marked until we came out of the Water Tunnels, but at that point I was ready to spend an eternity there if we had got lost.

SIDE NOTE    

For me, there was only one scary part in the midst of an otherwise serene hike.

I am afraid of heights…believe it or not…and I had yet to have a “moment” on a hike. But, there was a short patch, not more than 10 meters, where you have to walk along a crevice, where I thought I might have a panic attack, but alas, I rose above it. So not too bad.

AMENITIES - There are campers and lodge dwellers. Definitely needing to try that!

Places to eat - Only in the Town.

ABLUTIONS - Clean

PARKING - Absolutely!!