We were up by 7am on a nice Christmas morning. We were the first down for breakfast, outside on the patio.
Maliba has detailed maps of various treks in the area. We chose a shorter walk for today, a circular route to Black Pool, about 6.5km round trip.
We were on the trail by 9:15am, starting with the Upper Trail. It ascended to about 2300m, through a well-marked trail. There were hundreds of butterflies flitting about as we walked. The temperature fluctuated almost 10C depending on the sun/clouds and side of the valley. There were a handful of streams to cross with rocks, nothing too difficult.
We reached Black Pool in just over an hour, slightly ahead of the map timings. (We were comparing our times for reference in case we decided to do a longer trek tomorrow).
We rested for 10 minutes then header back on the Lower Trail. This was easy until we passed a sign that said "Cross at own risk". Hmm. A few metres on was a stream that had rocks to cross, but only if you had some speed. So mapped our route and hopped across.
Still dry, we walked on and then there was another stream, this one we would have to take off our shoes and socks. Picked the place where the stream was shallow and slow enough, and got across with water up to our knees.
After crossing we realized there was a family watching us as they were trying to cross the other way.
The rest of the walk was easy. We walked down by the self-serve cottages and saw the start of a different trail that we were interested in. However it started with fjording the river, which made it less interesting to us.
We walked back up to our chalet, showered, and went to the main lodge for lunch. The lodge put on their big Christmas spread for lunch - roast beef, roast pork with crackling, chicken, and lots of sides. The crackling was my favourite, although I was a bit concerned about chipping a tooth. We felt justified in eating so much cause we had just done an 8km trek.
It was a gorgeous day, perfect temperature. Our chalet doors opened up fully (four door widths), and so it was like the entire chalet was open to the view.
We were still full when we went down for dinner. There were lots of day-trippers at the restaurant, and the staff were really busy. Dinner was mostly leftovers from lunch. Just like Christmas at home :)
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We had planned to go hiking again but Heather had a big bruise on the back of her heel, we think from yesterday's river crossing. It was too sore for shoes so instead we made plans for a cultural visit of a nearby village.
Our guide was one of the staff from who we had been trying to learn how to say "thanks" in Sesotho.
We drove about 15 minutes to a local bar, and tried some home brewed beer. It was slightly sweet. Next was a visit to a house / rondavel, and then to a traditional "doctor". People nowadays go to a real doctor (we saw mobile clinics on the road) and use the traditional doctor more for conflict resolution, like family fights.
Anyways the cultural visit was something to do.
Lunch was my favourite at the lodge, pan-fried lamb chops. It came with a half plate full of seasonal vegetables. It was very similar to what we might have for dinner at home!
The rest of the day was uneventful. We were still full from lunch when we went down for dinner, and didn't eat much. A typical Boxing Day :)
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