Friday, December 16, 2011 (Drakensberg Mountains)

     We got back today from our week long stay in the Drakensberg Mountains, and I think we all thoroughly enjoyed it.   

The thatched roof cottage we stayed in.  Four bedroom, two bathroom, and perfect for our week-long stay.

     The rickety bridge leading from the cottages to the pool and park.

      During the week, we all got to try out tennis, a sport Mom and Dad both played when they were younger.  I really enjoyed it, and we're going to look into buying rackets and balls and maybe using either the school courts or the church courts.

     The ants ruled the cottage, and I was fascinated.  It took them around ten minutes to find a piece of dropped food, and after that it took them a couple of hours to transport it back to their nest, but they didn't give up.  There were a couple of "mutant" ants with big heads which would bite off bigger pieces than the rest of the ants could, and then they would pass the pieces to the other ants to carry.  

      The strength of these little sugar ants is astonishing.  They carried this piece of cheese across the countertop, but it didn't fit in their hole, so they held it vertically in order to fit it in.  They held it that way for at least 15 minutes, with the extra ants still hanging on to the cheese and not helping at all. 

     On Tuesday we took a four-hour, circular-route hike out to Nandis Falls.  It wasn't an extremely powerful falls, but it was loud and cold and beautiful.  We were able to hike up behind it and stand behind the waterfall, too.

This is the view off of the top of one of the ridges we hiked.  I love how the sun and the clouds mist around the tops of the mountains.  The evergreen trees and mountain backdrop helped to remind us of Washington, but we missed our snow capped peaks towering in the distance.

     Lots of relaxing happened at the pool; this isn't actually the pool at Mount Champagne, where we stayed - it's the one in Dragon's Peaks Campground, which is just next door.  They had two diving boards, a couple of slides, and really nice water.In the 41st book of the Bible, in the 6th chapter, in the 31st verse (ok, fine, Mark 6:31), it says: "Then Jesus said, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat." Jesus and his disciples needed a break from all the crowds, and so did we (although perhaps we needed a break from the traffic more than the crowds, but they go hand in hand).  

      Up in the Drakensberg, the road was full of potholes, people sold fruit and baskets on the side of the road, and it was possible to walk for a few minutes and sit down among the ducks and listen to the river.   Definitely a quiet, restful, relaxing atmosphere.  We bought local crafts, listened to the Drakensberg Boys sing, and had fun.

     We were warned multiple times about closing doors and windows and not leaving food out because the monkeys would come and steal it!

     It rained a few times while we were there - these are the kayaks out on the dam during a rainstorm. 

     The river flowing over the dam 

     On Wednesday we got to go on the Canopy Zipline tour, featuring both the longest and the highest ziplines in South Africa.  Mom and I both have ziplined before, in Costa Rica, and this was just as fun. It took about two hours and it was the kid's big Christmas present.

    Thursday, we watched a bird demonstration of hawks, eagles, and owls native to South Africa, and afterwards we were able to hold the peregrine falcon.

     After the bird demonstration, we all went down to the river.  Dad and my siblings slid along the rocks and waded for a ways, while I drove the car (!!! finally, another chance to drive !!!) and Mom took pictures along the way.  I've missed being allowed to drive.  

Although it's somewhat hard to see it in this picture, these are blackberries.  I had been told that blackberries don't grow in South Africa, so what a pleasant surprise to find them in the backyard of the cottage!  They aren't as sweet or as big as the wild ones in Washington, but they're still blackberries :)

      As the perfect ending to our trip, we met a family living five minutes away from us in Johannesburg, a pastor and his five kids, and had dinner with them.  They were homeschoolers, and the parents were from America, so they all sounded American, and their grandparents from Texas were visiting with their Southern drawl.  No doubt, we'll get to know this family much better, and I can't wait.