3rd Waterfall!!

Our hiking group reunited to do some more exploring earlier today, and we found something no other man alive has ever seen... the THIRD WATERFALL!! Well maybe a few other people have been there, but not many! We may have been the first Americans to find it though!!
The group was the same, Calvin, Zach, Allie, and I with a new edition, Leanne.

We went to the 2nd waterfall (a good 25 minute hike) and then proceeded to CLIMB up the waterfall! (I think that was my favorite part) There is this really cute natural water slide into a pool right above the waterfall, but we decided to save trying that for another day. We hiked through the stream again and kept following it up, but this time we had no idea where we were going to end up or if we where going to have to go all the way back to the 2nd waterfall and attempt to climb down.
We kept going and going, forging our way through some pretty rough terrain and about 45 minutes later eventually came upon a huge beautiful waterfall!! It was spectacular. After taking some pictures in front of and under we decided to climb out of the ravine. It was terrifying!! We climbed up this hill with no ground and just fallen trees covering the whole side. We didn't know if we were going to make it up and a couple of times there were some pretty close calls. We had to jump from tree to tree, with tons of spiky branches and vines all over. Once I was loosing my footing and then I accidentally grabbed onto branch with huge sharp spikes which stabbed my hand and made it bleed all over. Besides that though it was amazing, and thankfully we made it safely out and back home before dinner!

Starting at the 2nd waterfall

Zach and I after climbing up the waterfall

The rough terrain we had to climb over

Everything was very dense but beautiful

All of the rocks in the stream were muddy and slippery

The 3rd waterfall!!! (It looks like it has a fallen cross on it)

A crab we found under a rock

All of us in front of the waterfall

Standing under the powerful falls

We felt pretty primal after that so we decided to paint our faces with war paint

A new generation of bushmen

All of us finally out of the ridge

What the spiky branch resembled, only the one that stabbed me was thinner with bigger spikes

Sunday: Church & Waterfalls

Today might end up being my most favorite day in South Africa (of all time)! This morning we went to church, the church Reg (basically our program director) attends. It was on the more charismatic side of things, which I really enjoyed! At the end of service we all enjoyed tea and then met some of the young people that attended. Adam and I got to know Kristen and Gina, who we later went to the mall with.

After the mall and a delicious lunch I really wanted to go exploring. I couldn’t decide what to do when Aly came along and wanted to the do the exact same thing… so off into the wild bush we went. It was literally the most amazing spectacular thing I have ever experienced (well pretty much). We were basically bushwhacking our own trail trying to find this mystical 2^nd Waterfall somewhere deep into the South African jungle. We hit a bunch of dead ends until we ran into Calvin and Zach, who were also searching for the waterfall. We decided the best way to get there would probably be to forge the stream. It was so fun stripping off our socks and shoes and wading up a creek in the middle of South Africa hoping we didn’t find any snakes, biting fish, or huge spiders along the way.

Thankfully after an hour and a half of trailblazing we were able to overcome the slippery rocks, thorny plants, rotting logs, and entangling vines and finally came to the legendary 2^nd Waterfall. It was beautiful, but so was the entire journey. I kept thinking as I marveled at everything around me that I was so blessed to be here, and I would never be able to experience this hike anywhere else in the world, especially one surrounded with so much mystery and beauty. None of the pictures do it justice, I can assure you that.

After our amazing waterfall experience, my legs were completely cut up so I tended to them before a group of us drove 45 minutes to Durban, another larger city. We went with some of the people we had met at the morning church service. I really enjoy church services in South Africa I am finding. After the service we all went out for a “proper” burger, where Adam W. and I worked on our South Africa accents. At the end of the day I went on a once in a lifetime hike, make some amazing new friends, and experienced two church services in South Africa.

Allie my hiking buddy

The dense forest

Allie and Calvin

My walking stick and I

It was beautiful

Trekking up the stream

Really interesting flowers

Sunlight through the trees

The mini-waterfall

Stopping for a breather

The clearing by the falls

The 2nd Waterfall!!

Our explorer group: Zach, Calvin, Allie, and I

My torn up legs!

Video of the falls!
(sorry it's not very good)