“I know exactly where we are – we’re just SW of Judas Peak, Hout Bay.”
Had we been lost, I would have called Mountain Rescue and said that someone has blindfolded us, and dropped us somewhere in the mountains of the Western Cape. So while I still maintain that we were never lost, I will admit that the path down the mountain appeared to be missing. Being lost and being in trouble are two different things. So I call it more than semantic opinion… I call it adventure.
Red Disa
I've learnt my lesson on this hike and from now on we will call them “adventures”. You need a sense of adventure to hike, because they don’t always happen in a straight line and according to plan – so next time, we will arrange a mountain walking adventure, just so that we know to expect the unexpected.
For one thing, we didn’t expect to be overtaken by a 79 year old mountain goat. We didn’t expect our path to end on a vertical knife edge (and neither I think, did the many before us who have trodden the well worn path). Lindy didn’t expect that an innocent celery-looking plant would make her break out in hives and turn our sweet Lindy into a murderous misses. And Nicole was certainly not prepared for a mountain decent via dry waterfall.
But we did survive and we did find the beautiful Red Disa or Disa uniflora – a member of the orchid family. A walk to see this flower, the Pride of Table Mountain, has become somewhat of a pilgrimage in Cape Town, and a definite must-do on Cape Town’s secret list of best things. So special is this plant that it is only in flower for about 3 weeks in February. Come on chaps, spoil your misses on Valentines Day and show her flowers. (Chris are you reading this?). If you’re vigilant, you’ll see plenty more Disa’s too – I like the blue one, Disa graminifolia (a graminoid is a grass, so the name implies grass-like leaves – a boring name for such a beauty).
Flowers weren’t the only highlight on the walk – we also lucked out with views across two oceans and bays aplenty, cool forests with rock-climbing roots and moss carpets to perfect the acoustics for trickling water. In contrast, the route down is all dry rockeries, succulents and lizards.
Thanks to the initiated for being such good sports and exercising patience (and prayer) throughout our detour. I hope all is forgiven before we head out on our next one!
Red Disa Hike Adventure
I've learnt my lesson on this hike and from now on we will call them “adventures”. You need a sense of adventure to hike, because they don’t always happen in a straight line and according to plan – so next time, we will arrange a mountain walking adventure, just so that we know to expect the unexpected.
For one thing, we didn’t expect to be overtaken by a 79 year old mountain goat. We didn’t expect our path to end on a vertical knife edge (and neither I think, did the many before us who have trodden the well worn path). Lindy didn’t expect that an innocent celery-looking plant would make her break out in hives and turn our sweet Lindy into a murderous misses. And Nicole was certainly not prepared for a mountain decent via dry waterfall.
But we did survive and we did find the beautiful Red Disa or Disa uniflora – a member of the orchid family. A walk to see this flower, the Pride of Table Mountain, has become somewhat of a pilgrimage in Cape Town, and a definite must-do on Cape Town’s secret list of best things. So special is this plant that it is only in flower for about 3 weeks in February. Come on chaps, spoil your misses on Valentines Day and show her flowers. (Chris are you reading this?). If you’re vigilant, you’ll see plenty more Disa’s too – I like the blue one, Disa graminifolia (a graminoid is a grass, so the name implies grass-like leaves – a boring name for such a beauty).
Flowers weren’t the only highlight on the walk – we also lucked out with views across two oceans and bays aplenty, cool forests with rock-climbing roots and moss carpets to perfect the acoustics for trickling water. In contrast, the route down is all dry rockeries, succulents and lizards.Thanks to the initiated for being such good sports and exercising patience (and prayer) throughout our detour. I hope all is forgiven before we head out on our next one!
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