A Girl in a Canyon - Part 4

I must apologize for the delay in posting, I have been waiting for some photographs. I now have them so here goes...

Day two ended with a bang for me, falling into the river, head first with only my camera to break my fall, left me in low spirits. I was tired and wet and my camera was broken. Given the choice of carrying on or a hot bath and a warm comfortable bed - would have been a no brainer!

But there was no choice and so I just carried on.


I woke up on day three with a bruised knee and every muscle in my body was sore. I could hardly walk to the nearest rock, I didn't know how I was going to make it through the next day's hiking.The going was very slow, the boulders and river crossings were hard and I found myself at the back of the group - eating worms. My bag was cutting into my hips and I had huge red welts. It took every ounce of will power to put one foot in front of another.

The beauty of the canyon was the only thing that made me feel better and the thought of stopping that night. We also saw wild horses, which were so beautiful.


We past Palm Springs, where the hot water bubbles up to the surface. The water is so hot as it bubbles out you can't even touch it. We did not stop there, as I was scared if I put my bag down I would be able to getting going again. You can't camp at the springs as the smell of the sulphur is over powering!
We carried on for about another hour past the springs before setting up camp.Because we stopped a little earlier, about 4pm, I was able to steal 10 minutes to have a bath in the river. Nothing like a little soap and cold water make you feel half human.


I made a stew with biltong and lentils served with rice and pot-bread. It went down a treat and everyone went to bed with a nice full tummy.

Each night we sat around the fire for hours, talking and watching "bush TV". Those evenings were one of the highlights of our hike. You realize just how much we miss out in normal life because of all the distractions, there we sat and actually had to talk - no phones, newspapers or TVs. We couldn't talk about current affairs, because we didn't know what was going on in the outside world.

That night it rained and the wind blew gale force, it reminded me of home. Lucky for me, Norman had a one man tent which he put up for me and I managed to have my first full night's sleep! I told you he was a Godsend!

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed

by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do.
So throw off the bowlines.
Sail away from the safe harbor.
Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore.
Dream.
Discover!
Mark Twain