A great week for outdoor adventures! Saturday we had our first significant travel day. Leaving at 6:30 so that we could arrive at Howick Falls for an afternoon abseil (repelling) down a 107-meter waterfall! The last week has been really rainy in the Howick Falls area, which resulted in an incredibly powerful waterfall. Geoff Gould our guide said the falls were the largest he has ever abseiled down. About half way down we started to get wet from the spray and the last twenty meters were hurricane like conditions. Spray in your eyes, hanging free spinning around in the air trying to see the boat we are supposed to land in. The water at the bottom was incredibly rough with large waves filling the boat with water. By the time we were done we were soaked through. What an amazing experience!
We arrived late in Pietermaritzburg due to some complications on the last abseil, thankfully no one was hurt and our Geoff saved the day. Vijoy and Paul were the last pair to go and Vijoy got stuck on a knot in the rope about 7 meters from the bottom. Geoff was able to do a pick-off and get Vijoy onto his rope but because of the power of the falls all the ropes had tangled and they could not get all the way down. They ended up having to jump out of the harnesses the final three meters to the water below. Vijoy kept his cool throughout the whole situation, which really impressed Geoff.
Half the week in Pietermaritzburg one half of the group hiked up to Rhino’s Peak in the Drakensberg Mountains while the other half did service projects at Project Gateway, an old prison which has been converted into a mission providing a number of services in the community here. The hike covered three days and two nights. Arriving around 3:30 at the bottom we then hiked up an 1:30 with our packs to Pillar Cave where we spent Monday and Tuesday night. Tuesday morning we woke up bright and early with a beautiful view of the mountains from our beds. We had great weather conditions for the day, warm sun most of the day with some cloud cover here and there and a pretty strong breeze to keep us cool. We left at 7 in the morning for a 12 km hike. The first four km were walking up the trail and then a final rock scramble gaining 1000 feet in altitude. The final 2 km were across a plateau along the top to the outcropping of rock called Rhino’s Peak, which gave us a beautiful panorama view the surrounding mountains and the valley below. Parts of this plateau that we were walking across are considered Lesotho. We ate lunch at the top, took pictures, met some Lesotho shepherds and started the hike back down to Pillar Cave. It was an exhausting day, especially for some who were sick, and a great accomplishment as we all made it up together. When we finally reached the cave at around 4, we took a dip in the river. The water had smoothed over a rock making it a natural waterslide and a great way to cool down at the end of the day.
Wednesday morning we relaxed around the cave and spent some time with God in His beautiful creation before we started the journey back down to the bus. It was a foggy morning and ended up misting on us on the way down. Our shoes and pants were soaked from the wet grass along the path. Just before we reached the end of our journey we heard some baboons squabbling across the river and managed to catch a glimpse of them on the way past. Another reminder of where we are. It was an awesome experience, which was made that much better by a warm shower back at the prison.
Steve
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