Some friends from the Couchsurfing expat community are getting prepared for an amusing hike in December. The place is called Crystal Pools. The name pretty much explains itself but for those of you who lack imagination, here is a brief summary: Crystal Pools is part of a nature reserve in Western Cape that is full of very refreshing rock pools. So, this is a perfect opportunity to have a summer picnic.
Commemorating last year's hike: I went there in December 2017 for the first time. You might wonder why people are making plans for this hike so much in advance. Here is the thing: You need to book, and I mean, seriously book. To preserve the flora and fauna of the area, they are only allowing a certain number of people to enter the reserve at a time. This number is usually around 20-25. This year, all the weekend spots for November have already been filled up from last week. You can imagine the demand now.
The area attracts not only humans, but also many animal species led by baboons. According to the official guide, the management of the park always tracks their movement and informs visitors of their existence in the park just in case. There are also wild cats, foxes and leopards which are nocturnal and hiding during the day. I don't know if I should feel sad or relieved.
All we had to do was to book for the entire group, which would cost 69 Rand per person. One friend did the whole transaction and the rest of us paid her.
The place is near Gordon's Bay, about an hour away from Cape Town. It is a part of a bigger nature reserve in the area called Kogelberg Nature Reserve. The entrance is basically at the mouth of Steenbras River.
I might be mistaken, but I heard from a local Couchsurfer that there were nine lakes in total. The first lake was 45 minutes away from the entrance and the hike was fairly easy. Needless to say that the water was extremely cold.
The hike became more strenuous from here to the second and the third lake as we started to climb uphill for about twenty minutes. The sun was right on top of us and it was midday, so I can't emphasize how hot it was. The complaining stopped as we arrived at the second lake. The feeling of diving into the ice-cold water after sweating your arse out is indescribable.
On a side note, don't let the word crystal trick you because the water is not actually crystal clear. It has the brown color that I encountered in almost all of my hikes in South Africa. This was again caused by the fynbos growing under water.
I was able to capture lovely photos from lookout points.
I don't have a clear memory of the day but we must have explored five or six of the lakes but we were unfortunately running out of time. The rumor has it that we would have had to pay a fine if we left the park after the closing time of 5 pm.
To reward ourselves after this easy hike, we ended up going to Strand Beach in Gordon's Bay. We stopped by The Belgian Waffle House where I had Nutella-waffle (with extra Nutella topping).
It was a perfect way to start the long-awaited summer and a messenger for many refreshing moments to follow. Who is excited for summer, Southern Hemisphere? Drop me a comment below.
Cheers!
Harita Kurdu.
Awesome thanks for sharing!!
Sounds like you had a great time and the scenery is just amazing. Then you top it off with a waffle covered in Nutella that sounds like a perfect day to me :) Thank you so much for sharing your day with all of us.
As you may know @mmunited featured you for week 29 of @pifc's Pay It Forward Curation Contest. We're always looking for great people to join us to help give others like yourself some much need exposure.
Cool pics. Looks like great hike. We are waiting for rainy season here in California not summer :( should start raining soon.
Oh man, I can tell you I hate rain so much even though we really need it here in Western Cape. Where in California are you from? The southern part shouldn't be that cold.
I'm in Norcal. When you have summer in Cape it will be rainy season which is like our winter. Not cold just rainy
Very pretty scenery!
Nice and interesting post @haritakurdu!
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wow, the pictures look unreal!
Great hikes available in the Western Cape, it is good the numbers are kept to a minimum, it preserves nature for the future. Peaceful retreats, a place to work out and let your mind run wild.
I found it strange at first but then appreciated as well. The maximum is 25 I think.
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That looks like an awesome gift for after a hike @haritakurdu. I'm trying to run away from the brazilian summer, it's way too hot hahaha
Hahahah I knooow, Cape Town as well. We literally switched from winter to summer and skipped spring altogether!
\o\o\ Our climate is pretty much the same, almost the same latitud
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Oh man, that looks lovely. Temps have cooled down a lot here in WA and this makes me miss summer and its endless swimming holes!
I missed summer a lot! The winter in Cape Town was very long this year. I can imagine the cold in WA though.
Very nice trip. I will feature your post in pifc contest.
What a place! I do love that they allow just a few people to visit every weekend. This is the best way to preserve the area. And I hope that the entrance fee is used wisely as well. I think you should be relieved that they are nocturnal :) Not sure if you'd like to come across the big cat ... :)
Hahahah I was relieved but I also hate that they are nocturnal when I go to a safari :)
I am not sure where the money goes, but this is usually the standard price for most national parks in the country.
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Great way to round off a great hike with Nutella :D Seriously though, this does look like a wonderful place to hike and can only imagine the immense feeling you got when diving in to the cool water after being baked in the midday sun! Thanks for sharing :)
Thanks for visiting :) Nutella was the best part to be honest lol.
You get that feeling at the ocean side of Cape Town as well, it's even colder.
Northern hemisphere, but I would certainly be excited for summer if I had that kind of beauty nearby! Your photos are fantastic. What a delightful place to hike. I I'm glad that they are limiting the number of people that can go through there. Places like that are so valuable and it's so wonderful to see it being preserved.
I agree, there are several places in South Africa that follow the same policy of limiting the number of visitors.
Whoaa.. that's a perfect story to tell @haritakurdu 😉 love the way how a beautiful nature maintainance by limited the visitors and thanks for sharing with us the beautiful pictures and I think this is a semi-exclusive travel experience. Does it mean this place not free to book anytime in a year?
Found your post through @mmunited entry post in the payitforwardv contest this week
There were people entering for free, because the guards leave the entrance at 3 pm sometimes, so some people prefer to enter after 3 pm but then they don't have time to explore as much.
Oohh ic, 3 pm for free entrance but then closed at 5 pm😊 is there anything worth to enjoy near the entrance @haritakurdu? Is there any food court or special show like multimedia room to watch some videos about the park?
Sorry tha I asked too many questions 😊 I just love to read and see the pictures you shared here. Thank you
Nice post looks like a good trip. I came to this post cause @mmunited put you into the It Forward Contest
Beautiful photos @haritakurdu! I love that Couchsurfers can do such an 'easy' hike and nothing like the reward of Belgian Waffles !! :)
Looks like you found the perfect spot to cool off. You got some awesome pics too.
I found your post because @mmunited featured it in the pay it forward curation contest this week.