Day 2 – From the Picnic Spot along the Namahadi River to Suai Cave
From the Picnic Spot you will be heading directly South to your next waypoint, Suai Cave (marked as Swaaigrotte on the map). The territory is mountainous and the foliage is heavy. You will travel in close proximity to the river but the foliage keeps you away from the river. About 30 mins to 1 hour after leaving the Picnic Spot, there is a cave on the right hand side. This is incidentally also the last point of cell phone reception, so bid your loved ones goodbye. From a safety point this would be your closest point to come back to for making an emergency call (GPS S28 42’11” E28 51’34.1). Upon our journey for the day, we only made it to the location of Suai Cave. Heading south from the Picnic spot and consulting your map, the second fork in the river is another good checkpoint for you (GPS: S28 42’45.4 E28 51’16.9). Stay left if you would like to head to the Namahadi pass, which is the location where you will find the Suai Cave.
Weather was changing rapidly and we had an injured ankle which was affecting our speed. We made the decision to rather return back to Fika Patso and re-evaluate our journey. Had we continued we would have stayed to the left of the river (while heading south) and being as high up on the ridge as we could.
Coming back we took the high road, while choosing to take the steepest incline in order to get to the road more travelled. This was not necessarily the best choice as we lost valuable time having to rope up to protect us in case of anyone slipping. We would rather recommend that you take the longer and less steep route as it makes a much better, safer and easier journey. This will put you on the Circular Route which is not just scenic, but very easy to travel. For the safety of the group and the pleasure of your travel this would definitely be the better route to take. It is not just more scenic, but you will also find it easier as well as you will find some interesting scenes along the way.
We came across this group of travellers/hunters who had appeared as from nowhere with their pack of hunting dogs. As we had taken too much food and had to get rid of some weight, we were happy to hand them some of our food and provisions.
Continuing on that route there is an excellent point for getting more fresh water (GPS:S28 42’44.7” E28 51’08.0”). Note that it is directly on the foot path, hidden from view and quite a dangerous crossing if you have your eyes in the sky. Continuing further uphill will get you to a wonderful shady spot (GPS: S28 42’05.7 E28 50’50.7) to relax and revitalize your body.
