My last weekend before my trip back home

I didn't spend my last weekend in Kei Mouth as usual, but with Nadia & Dylan, friends of Noleen.

The reason for this was that Noleen's eldest son was celebrating his 13th birthday and had invited some friends. I would have been the only girl there and would have been bored to death.

So Noleen brought me to Nadia and Dylan on Friday morning around 11 am.

They also have 2 sons and a bunch of pets. -Almost like home!

The house is huge, just like the garden. In the garden, I immediately spotted baby monkeys playing on the trampoline.

But I won't be sitting at home this weekend, because we have a lot planned:

Friday: quickly shop, take the boys to the scouts, and then go to friends.

Saturday: take a hike with the scouts and visit a cave

Sunday: participate in their usual Sunday morning training

The plan for Friday worked out. Everything done and ordered Chinese food for dinner. -Yummi!
But Saturday didn't go as planned. 

The plan was to go on a 5km hike to Sandile's Cave (2.5km there and 2.5km back). But this information was not quite accurate, as we soon found out. First, we met with the scouts at 7:30 am and then set off for King William's Town, where our hike was supposed to take place.

Arriving at the starting point, we saw a large dam, which we had to walk around, then we entered the forest. We had to cross bridges, crawl under creepers and trees, or climb over them. After hiking for 2.5 kilometers on flat ground, there was definitely no cave in sight. Instead, from there onwards, it was steep uphill for us!

We took a break at a huge tree on a rock after about 3.5km. But we also had a moment of panic when a herd of wild dogs, about 20 in total, came running towards us. This is very unusual. But after a few minutes, they turned around and disappeared back into the woods.

Afterwards, we continued uphill for about another 500m before we had to start climbing over rock boulders. -A new experience for me. 

When we arrived at the caves, we entered the first cave. -Very tiny. You had to squeeze through a narrow gap.

The second cave was slightly larger, and if you dared to go through a small opening, you entered another chamber with very high ceilings.

Then we went to the actual cave. There, we had to climb down individually, one by one. Since we were a pretty big group, this took a while, and we decided to climb to a viewpoint first. From there, we had a breathtaking view of the landscape and could see exactly where we had started.

After most of us were in the cave, we also started going down.

Right at the beginning, it was like this: sit on the rock with your butt and slide down into the darkness to reach the ladder. -I thought: 'Okay. That's it. I will never get out of here alive.'

After climbing down the ladder, we had to squeeze between a rock and the wall, hold onto a rope, and swing over an abyss. -Mind you, it was dark, and not everyone had a flashlight. 

We continued over more rocks and between them until we reached another rope, where we were supposed to climb down. -I briefly panicked because it was also dark there, and I couldn't see what awaited me or where to step, as the ground was not stable.

After a brief doubt about whether I could manage to go down there, I decided to do it. When else would I do something like this.

Fortunately, Nadia went ahead, so she could exactly tell me where to place my feet. Nevertheless!! Abseiling 3m into the darkness is really not funny!!

After another abseil, we finally reached the end of the cave, where we signed a geocache book. Then we started going back up. But that was just as bad as going down. We had no idea how deep we could fall. When I was almost out of the cave, my butt got stuck between the rocks. -Great. It's not that big. But PANIC!!!

Once outside, I saw the mess on my clothes and body: clothes full of dirt and bat poo, and my body covered in cuts and bruises. I needed a break to calm my body down.

After about 30 minutes, everything was out of the cave, and we started going down.

-Going downhill is definitely not as great as going uphill because it was slippery, and the ground was not very stable. I don't know how many times I landed on my butt and how long it took me to get back down. Not to mention the pain in my feet.

Finally, when we arrived home, we all went straight to the shower and then had something to eat because we were all too lazy to cook.

I have to say: It was a really exciting experience, good training, and I can definitely cross it off my list and never have to do it again :D! But I'm glad I went along.

On Sunday, we canceled our regular training because none of us could really walk, and today (Monday) we still have sore muscles in our legs and shoulders. So, we just went for breakfast and quickly went to Noleen's to pick up some clothes, as I will be staying here for another two nights to keep Nadia company while Dylan goes hiking with the boys again until Wednesday.

What a weekend!!