Dancing With Vampires.

6 April 2012

We had planned to rise slowly today but this apparently fanciful notion was laid to waste once we were informed by the campsite authorities that the site the gatekeeper had given us was in fact reserved for a tough customer. Wiping the sleep from our eyes and shuffling our way through the morning chill we were made to move camp to another site, quietly cursing the gatekeeper all the while. Apparently Nature’s Valley is notoriously dis-organised, although their idyllic forested setting does make up for such flawed management and keeps their sites full.

A good breakfast and an all-encompassing dose of Peaceful Sleep left Luke dozing in his new hammock, myself lost in a book and Petro and Andrew on their way to the shops to stock up on supplies. Upon their return, we dedicated our afternoon to a forest trail that took us along a mountain side, up a mountain, down a mountain and through a swamp. I would have found such a walk through mystical trees and soft shadows the perfect opportunity to imagine myself lost in Fangorn Forest or some such fantastical place, had not a swarm of starving mosquitoes marked us out for starters, mains, and dessert! It’s difficult to mindlessly escape reality when you find yourself losing a vital pint of blood to vampires! We evolved a queer way of walking which involved constant movement (even if you were waiting in one spot) along the lines of a gumboot dance that extended to the arms, neck and face as well as the legs. For those of you who don’t know what a gumboot dance is, it involves a lot of slapping oneself rhythmically.

Escaping those terrible monsters, the family decided to saunter up the road to the Tsitsikamma beach and end our day off by strolling along the tide line  Kelsey pointed out some interesting sea snails, and we happened across a snake sinuating itself over the sand. The poor thing was claimed by the sea in the end I think. Weather wise, the oppressive heat of the day had been promising buckets of rain which never arrived.