#5hikes4education Day 3

What a disappointment to have the winter lurgies pounce and deplete my energy and just make me feel so dreadful! I have been trying to ignore a scratchy throat for about a week but after two good days of walking the bugs got the better! No amount of Echinacea drops would do the trick this time. And so, acting like a grown-up, feeling rather jealous and a tad upset, I waved Hilton and Lesley off.

We were to do the next #Big5Hike and had woken to a brilliant morning. It is always like this after a cold front. Crisp and clear with the mountains dazzling in the distance. They sent me video clips and images through-out the day and I have been rather envious of their hike. At one point about 40 Cape Vultures flew over, possibly needing to get out and soar after two cold and overcast days. They are magnificent birds and we are fortunate to have a colony relatively close-by near Greenfire’s Drakensberg Lodge.

Our Dad was also out and about. He’d walked up to Cavern Gap and was to meet Hilton and Lesley at around 11am. Bheki and a crew of porters were also on route with a couple of ladders and poles. The idea was to try and secure the gap and make it a tiny bit friendlier before Saturday. It’s rather a tricky section with a few loose rocks and a couple of places where one needs to be quite careful but slowly, slowly and it can be done.

It is hard when days don’t turn out as you hoped and it can make you feel like a bit of a failure but I suppose sometimes we do need to choose to be sensible, particularly when we know there are important happenings on the horizon. I may not have had the chance to experience the mountains today but

I did catch up on some very important admin and I also got to sit in our newly renovated Quiet Lounge and have a long chat with my Uncle Ant. He pops up for a visit on a Wednesday morning while Gogie Jean helps out in the Royal Drak Library. After our tea we headed off to inspect the new paving around the back of the hotel and we are happy to report that it’s all looking rather very smart.

Here’s to hoping I will be strong for tomorrow….