Lotheni – Far from the madding crowd

Stop your busy day for a few minutes, and come join me for a short walk, I want to show you something.

Park your car under the Pines, you’re met by the crisp fresh smell of the pine needles wafting in as the door is opened. It’s quiet, no sound except for the wind gently swaying the top branches of the old trees.

Take the path that passes the lovely old Simes cottage and its trout stocked dam.

The single track is a mixture of half sand and half grass, and the sound of the crunching sand and your breathing is all that’s to be heard as you walk. Not much besides short brown grass is visible in front, but you walk on with the expectation of something more. Be patient, the trail will not disappoint.

As you round the top of a low ridge, you’re met with the sight of the valley of contrasts.  The valley wall on the left is undulating brown grass sloping down across your vision towards a river, whilst that on the right and across the river is dark and black, the bright green of new grass proudly pushing through. At the head of the valley, far in the distance, is a range of the resilient and impressive Drakensberg Mountains.

You look back on the scene behind and all that is visible are rolling brown plains. Your imagination can easily picture the Trek scout rider on his horse, checking the area for a place to uitspan the oxen. The animals are all slow and tired after a day’s trek. The idea of sitting round the dying embers of the campfire at night, listening to stories and counting the stars, makes you smile.

You walk on in silence, vaguely dismissing the wanderings of your imagination. The air is thin and fresh, the sky blue, except for a few puffy white clouds on your right. The track seems to be leading down to the river’s edge.

The path levels out on the bank above the shallow river and leads upstream through a patch of lush and comical prairie type grass. After a while the path starts climbing away from sound of the rambling river below, and a stop to catch your breath on the rather steep ascent, is looking like a good idea.

After what seems like both an eternity and a split second in this silent land, you hear the serious sound of gushing water up ahead. The path changes course and heads straight towards the river, and comes out at the top of a smallish waterfall, the hiss of which dissipates as you get above it. Upstream is a tumble of water-smoothed rocks and boulders; as the river burbles between or over the rocks it forms little pools and rapids.

And this is it. This is the proverbial ‘x marks the spot’. Take yourself out on to one of the slabs of rock that forms the wall of a small pool. The water is crystal clear and you can see every speck at the pool’s bottom.

I want you to sit down here on some convenient rock and refresh your mind. Let the quiet seep in. Drink from the crystalline waters. Close your eyes. Breathe.

Feel the sun upon your skin. Feel the play of the cool water as you move your hand through it. Watch the small puffy clouds drift over the ridge, and the grass sway in that gentle breeze.

Watch the water, moved by its strange pull, navigate its way around the rocks.

That’s it, that’s all I wanted you to see. Spend as much time here as you need.

Here’s what the journey looked like to me:

On the way back to the car, you feel the edges of your mouth start to lift, and before you can catch yourself, you’re smiling.
You’re feeling calm and refreshed and are ready to face the next challenge life throws your way.

I leave you with one of my favourite quotes.

“Go out alone on the hills and listen. You will hear much: the winds will hold for you something more than sound; the voice of the stream will not be merely the babbling of hurrying waters. The trees and flowers are not so separate from you as they are at other times, but very near; the same substance, the same rhythm, the same song binds you to them. Alone amidst nature, a person learns to be one with all and all with One.”
– Frank Smythe

 

(Big thanks to Doug Morton for making this trip and the post possible and for his unwavering and greatly valued friendship.)