Day 39 – Metsi Matso – Swart Water

40 days – 40 hikes – Walking 4 Education

Never, never, never give up ~ Winston Churchill

A slight change in schedule meant that this would be my last walk at The Cavern. In the planning stages we had decided that we’d start with Sugar Loaf and end with it but then we found that we hadn’t included Metsi Matso and so this was to be the final walk of the 40 Series.

Tomorrow, Tuesday 27 May, my very last hike will take place at Kamberg after dropping our eldest at boarding school. This weekend has been a special midterm break with wonderful participation from the children. We all did the Gorge, we all hiked today and when the children rode bikes we walked alongside.

This morning’s walk went up via Sugar Loaf Gap and then along a fairly well-worn path which meanders down towards the Metsi Matso Stream below the mountains of Battleship and Hlolela. It was a perfect day. Brilliant blue sky and the water was sparkling…. We then walked alongside the river until we got to the dam – Metsi Matso meaning black water.

This dam had a trout hatchery and at a time it held the record for the largest Rainbow Trout caught in South Africa. Mike Posthumus landed a 8.25kg trout in March 1999. Unfortunately our fishermen weren’t so lucky! Just one bite but no fish for dinner!

After fishing, building mud-pies and paddling in the waters we headed home via the same route. A gorgeous day and a lovely end to the midterm break with the kids.

Update

An update of the progress so far…