It’s been slow, but finally ( insert huge sigh of relief here…) spring is here. The sun is out most of the day and although we do get the occasional chilly breeze still and cloudy days - all in all, it smells like “real” spring here at the moment. For an island girl ( yes my beau insist on calling me the island girl - technically speaking I am from the island of Borneo kan?) who hates the sun ( ironic- nye), I am enjoying the warm weather for a change.

And what better way to welcome the spring than a hiking trip up the mountain and a little bit of spelunking adventure!

I love Kalk Bay, have I mentioned that before? This soon to be home ( in two weeks in fact!) has the sea and the mountain right at its doorstep. (Divine!) Not to mention, it’s a rustic tourist village..reminds me a little of Austen’s seaside village of Lyme ( with more warmth and colour and oomph obviously.)

Anyway, last saturday a few friends decided it would be a great opportunity to go caving. Having never done that sort of thing before, I jumped at the opportunity, even though, I was super unfit.

We left our meeting point at Norman Road at about 1:30pm and proceeded to walk up the many steps leading to the mountain. I was panting after 10 minutes of walking up the steps but that was to be expected I guess.  After crossing Boyes Drive, we took the Trappieskop path up the mountain. “Trappieskop” is afrikaans for “small hill”. ( I could be wrong..let me get back to this later..). There are several paths up leading up the mountain, this being one of them.

I was lucky enough to have only seen one caterpillar during our 4 hour adventure. Phew!!!!

As we got higher up, the landscape gradually changed. Granite/ sandstone boulders dotted the landscape. If one were to look around, one could imagine being in a LOTR set easily. ( …but no… I did not feel like Frodo!) The path became a lot harder as we went up. We had to do a bit of bundu bashing at one point. This cave was harder to get to than what I had imagined when it was first proposed to me!

We finally reached one of the caves after about an hour and half worth of hiking time. At this juncture, we decided to have a quick lunch on one of the big boulders sitting at the edge of a cliff. From up here you could see Kalk Bay in its entirety and at a distance the sea blue green Fish Hoek beach, which was, at the time filled with throngs of sun loving visitors.

We got a little sidetracked, and went lizard hunting for a bit. Small iguana looking lizards are amongst the local fauna found on these mountains. If you’re unlucky, which we weren’t - you might find a puff adder lurking underneath a boulder or slithering on the ground. I havent seen a huge mammal yet, but I’m keeping my hopes up ( ha!). Joachim caught a couple of lizards and we spent a good 30 minutes or so checking and filming the little creatures out. 

Finally reached the destinasi ( in afrikaans, destination is spelled the same way as Bahasa… interesting or not?) after much dilly dallying by the lizards. Apparently there is a whole network of caves dotted around the mountain. We went up this narrow crevice, which led to a  narrow cave mouth. It was steep and wet and chilly - and then darkness engulfed me. Quite an awesome feeling. With our LED headlights switched on ( bought for R119.90 at Pick n Pay!) we saw how the walls were covered in fluorescent white and yellow mold like growth. Normally, anyone would be disgusted at the thought of  a wall covered in mold but this was quite beautiful. I am even surprised myself..hehehe. In some places, the ceiling was low and in others, it extended up to the sky almost and you could see pokes of sunlight filtering through. A little way in, we reached a narrow, high cavern and spent 10 minutes of silence in total darkness, just feeling and listening to nature at work.

A little bit more further in, our caving experience was “value added” (in a way) when we interrupted 3 rastas in the midst of a ceremony. What kind -  we did not really know. Had we stayed there longer, perhaps it would have felt ‘timeless” for us too as the air in there was filled with that particular kind of smoke.

We left the smoking rastas and went on. At this juncture, the tunnel had gotten much smaller so all of us had to resort to crawling on the wet sand for a bit. It wasn’t that long though , maybe about 5 minutes or so, that we saw light at the end of the tunnel and out we went to the other side of the mountain!

We went back down via Echo Valley this time around at a running pace!I hadnt done that for a long while! In fact the last time I raced down the mountain was four years ago, when we went down Mt Kinabalu. Twice as we were coming down, my body’s momentum went faster than my legs could go and I had to force myself to stop or I would have gone tumbling down Jack and Jill style.  I couldnt run all the way though so when I did finally start walking down instead - I tripped, stumbled and fell! There! my souvenir from the mountain!

The adrenalin filled day was concluded with pasta for supper and sundowners at a friend’s place overlooking the harbour. I have to admit, this was a truly brilliant way to welcome spring again!

Two days later: YOwwwwww!!!!! I can barely climb the stairs to my office…