I managed at last to tear myself away from kitty loves and headed off to Mpumalanga. As much as I love the little lap cats and other smallish creature energies, I really want to see and interact with some big animals for some reason. We don’t have many in the Western Cape so it would be a wasted opportunity not to seek them out while I’m up this side of the world. I think I’m a bit addicted to wild game viewing and game drives. I’ve had so many amazing experiences that I just want more. And so it’s off to get my fix. I’ll be meeting the game drive guides (and probably my guides) under the cover of darkness in remote spots. I can’t wait!
Driving out of Jozi was so stressful with all the cars and trucks, I think I went into hyper survival mode without realising it, because about an hour out I felt my energy suddenly shift… and suddenly there were all these beautiful purple flowers alongside the road. Maybe they’d been there all along, but I was grateful and happy to be able to see them at last. I pushed on through to Sabie because I’d found a lovely spot online and booked ahead, which is never a good idea. You would think I would have learnt by now, but nooo….. The Merry Pebbles campsite was very pretty with a bubbling river running through it and it was neat and grassy and clean. It also had a lot of caravan sites. But, as you know, I’m more of a 4×4 type campsite person so I was very reluctant to setup camp in-amongst a gazillion caravans and be in the middle of the traditional scorchedmeatsmell at sunset ritual. So I decided to pitch my tent far away in a site numbered “bush”, again. And it was lovely. Even my tent was tripping on the mountain energy, my camera saw it and I felt it. It was peaceful. I was happy. Until the sun went down. And then the noise started.
There was some or other industrial nightshift work happening directly behind the fence next to my tent, which I couldn’t see, through the bush, but it went on all night. Trucks reversing and metal being dropped and things being scooped and moved. From what I could hear. Peep-peeps and bangs and clangs all night long. And this is when I realised how much I’ve changed over the weeks. Before, I would have freaked out because my anticipated quiet night had been taken away from me and where was my control. But this time I just spent a few moments wondering why noise continues to follow me like a relentless, hungry mosquito, before disappearing into my tent to play online chess and then meditate a bit. And I slept like a baby that night. When I woke up with the sun it was silent again. It all reminded me of my camping trip in the Amazon Jungle, where one would sometimes hear the noise of trucks illegally transporting logs at night, so as I left Merry Pebbles that day I went to investigate a bit. What I found was an industrial park and a scrap metal business just beyond the camp fence. Operating after dark. I’m saying nothing. I saw nothing. I feel the irony though, of these dual energies co-existing side by side.
I moved on to find somewhere quieter, and landed up at Mac Mac Forest Retreat. I do love my forests! It’s not exactly a forest, but there are a lot of trees and it’s surrounded by the man-made pine forest that blankets this entire region. Along the way I tried to visit Lone Creek and Bridal Veil Falls but the roads were so bad that I turned back. I’ve also changed in that way. I just don’t have the energy to drive pot-holed roads anymore, if I don’t have to. The adventure or beautiful promised site are no longer a driving force for me. I go with the flow and my flow seems to mostly go along well maintained roads. The roads in Mpumalanga, in general, are actually excellent but this particular road was not. I did stop at Sabie Falls though, and that would be the first of many falls stops on this leg of my drift.
Setting up camp and my new tarp system was fun. I’ve come a long way since my first tarp attempts in George. This new huge tarp basically gives me shelter over my tent as well as adding an extra room to my nylon home. The sun was shining as I fiddled and faffed and I was so happy. I had this idea about staying here for a while and using it as a base to explore the Panorama Route during the day, then I would make a fire and cook supper at night, maybe meditate under the stars and play my guitar. I had this wonderful fantasy playing out in my head, living a future that hadn’t yet arrived. And my heart was already there, feeling the joy-joy. But then, later that night, the storm hit.
