Quite a hike, with great rewards

Having been delayed in the usual South Peninsula traffic chaos between Kommetjie and Capri, I was definitely going to be late for the start of our hike up to Cecilia Waterfall, and so I told the group to go ahead and I would catch them up. Anticipating a short distance between us, I took the opportunity to swing into the parking lot at Constantia Nek for a fill up of coffee in my empty flask from the little coffee truck (always friendly and quick service, plus excellent coffee). An open road from there to the Cecilia Forest ensured that as I parked, I could see the group a few hundred metres up the jeep track. But then I had to put on my ankle brace and hiking boots, and as a very slight drizzle had muddified the red gravel, it was more difficult than anticipated. By the time I was ready to hike, they had long since disappeared, but I thought I would take a gentle jog up the first uphill and soon catch up.
There is no way a steady pace can be caught up with after a 10 minute delay, and I soon gave up with the jogging! I toiled up the track as fast as I could, stopping to breathe more often than expected, and still saw and heard nothing. A few hikers passed me on the way and said, yes, they had seen my group further up. I became more and more aware of the silence of the forest and the feeling of aloneness - we are always warned not to hike alone, but I plodded onward and upward, starting to perspire profusely and soon as soaked as if it had rained on me. The earlier showers brought the scent of eucalyptus wafting down from the huge trees and a strong earthy aroma oozed from the thick carpet of ancient, decomposed vegetation of the forest floor. A far worse smell assaulted my nostrils as I passed a veritable mound of fresh dog poop, left carelessly by the owner of the dog for unwary hikers to pick up in the deep treads of their hiking boots. There must have been more than one mound, as I soon found myself accompanied as aforesaid, and the smell was so offensive that it galvanised me into redoubling my efforts to catch up.
It must have been a good 20 minutes before I finally appeared before them, looking bedraggled, exhausted and no doubt many other things that they were too kind to mention, and then we set off up the next steep section to the waterfall. My quick start took its toll and I probably struggled more than usual, but the beauty of our surroundings and the many examples of our proud floral heritage made it all worthwhile. If it weren't for the hiking group and our encouragement to each other to just keep putting one foot in front of another, we would miss out on life's greatest moments.
Protea cynaroides was prolific, the huge bracts in impeccable condition without a single blemish, were just magnificent, we saw a few disa uniflora (past their prime) and many of the not seen before and even more spectacular blue disa, and cluster disa. Always exciting to see something new on a hike.
We toiled through a number of ravines before heading back down to the jeep track via a steep, stepped (for a giant) path close to Kirstenbosch, and I have to confess to being absolutely finished after the hike, with aching hips and knees, rather like a bit of a crock. A liberal spray of arnica ice around the knees soon took care of that, and then it was off to a well-earned lunch. A wonderful hike despite the moaning along the way!

Protea cynaroides in perfection

Looking towards Muizenberg

Cluster disa - cellphone pic

Blue disa - cellphone pic