Life Trove: Ivor

I have wanted to do Die Hel for many years now as I've heard glowing reports of it from others like Antony. It was wonderful to be able to do at last with two of my very best friends.

The 14 km hike to De Tronk was very hot. We stopped off for two swims which felt like heaven. The walk took a bit longer than expected, and we ended up needing to use our torches to illuminate the final legs of the journey. It felt great to arrive at Klipspringer Hut but it was too hot to sleep inside, so we took our mattresses outside. The night sky was amazing.

Early the next day, we left for the 1.5 hour hike to Die Hel. The last part of the journey was a very steep descent into a valley. Die Hel's enormous waterhole (one of the largest in the Western Cape) gradually revealed itself to us, and it felt surreal to finally be there. There was a splendid waterfall flowing into it. I was mesmerised by its beauty. And to make matters even better, when we leapt in, the temperature was just perfect. Invigorating but not too cold.

We swam out to the waterfall and got behind it, exhilarated by the power of the water. There was a wonderful 13 metre leap into the water which both Russell and I loved. We also explored the entrance of a huge cave, but it was rather smelly due to bat guano.

There were very few other people there, just a group of two guys and 4 girls. We also bonded with a solo runner who had run the entire way in that day and was then going to run all the way back. 35 km in that heat was seriously impressive.

There were a whole lot of very tame fish who came to greet us in the shallows and we had great fun feeding them a little. As we did so, Russell regaled us with some saucy details about Africa Burn which were captured on video by one of the guys in the other group. It caused much hilarity.

Russell and I then explored downriver and got to swim in 5 other smaller rock pools. All so beautiful.

It all felt like heaven. One of the most enjoyable days of my life and so awesome to be there with two such wonderful friends.

On the hike out of Die Hel, which was a lot of steep uphill, we visited a cave with bushman paintings.

After another night at the hut in De Tronk, with a delicious pasta meal with fresh veggies, we opted to return to civilisation via the jeep track. We had some great philosophical discussions on the journey. We were absolutely parched when we got to the car and stopped off at the Picketberg Spur for cold cokes and appletisers.

All in all, the most amazing adventure. I loved every minute.