An Adventure to a Karoo Waterfall
During the heat of a South African summer, we decided it was time to take the entire safe house on an exciting adventure into the karoo…an area that was even hotter than where we were…why? Because in the desert like area, where the heat waves gave way to mirages, there is an oasis…one of the most beautiful waterfalls and deep swimming hole we have ever seen. Enslin and I love going to this gem in the desert, and we wanted to take the kids there to experience the natural beauty as well!
It was a several hour trip, but the whole bus was jamming to VERY loud Xhosa music and the chatter was non stop. We saw springbok and lots of ostriches along the way, and even a tortoise. We drove through the hot, dry Karoo landscape, and entered the rugged mountain pass. We stopped for a little picnic of fried chicken and homemade bread. And then it was onward to the waterfall.
We had to hike a little bit to get there, all of our feet burning as we hurried to reach the magical place…the sound of rushing water echoed across the high mountain walls arounds us, and there was a sense mystery about us. I wondered if in the shadows of the boulders high above us, perhaps a leopard was watching, or maybe the baboons were taking refuge in the shade of some cave, or the klipspringer antelopes were close by, blending into the walls of the mountain face.
We came around the bend, and there before was the massive waterfall, cascading into a deep, 20 foot deep pool, with many other shallower pools around it.
Everyone was quick to dive in and start swimming. And we spent a good, long while enjoying the clear, cooling water. It was wonderful! Many of the kids discovered that the rocks were very slippery, and used them for slides into the water.
It was a full day of fun for all of us, and everybody slept soundly on the road home. We love being able to go to these incredible places with the kids every chance we get when the funding is available. It really is life changing for them, for they don’t get many opportunities in the location to do trips like these. We always look forward to the next adventure!
