Paradise lost

I looked up the definition of 'lost' and found it was 'unable to find one's way' or 'not knowing where you are and how to get to a place'. This being so, it must be admitted that today we were lost, but not alarmingly so; just taking a bit of a detour through the forest above Newlands. It really is very easy to lose the defined trail as so many people and dogs use the forest for recreation and have made off-shoot tracks wherever they think there may be a shortcut or something interesting to see. These masquerade as paths and are very enticing, but usually end up petering out in bushy areas, where thorns await the unwary and pull at your clothes and scratch your arms and legs.
The weather began as overcast, but soon the clouds faded away and blue skies allowed the sun to beat down, with the humidity soaring, and the going was somewhat uncomfortable. However, shade was abundant, being lost in a forest, and the stream tumbling down the ravine provided plenty of opportunity to splash ourselves and for the dogs to swim. It was unfortunate that the only signs of others in this part of the woods were discarded nappies (possibly the most disgusting litter left by Man) in areas where fires have recently been lit and big tins used to probably cook in or boil water - so bergies with babies have been there in the not too distant past, and it would be nice if SANparks could send some employees out on duty to clean it up and make sure no-one is living up there. The only rangers we saw were relaxing on the back of a smart 4x4 as if they had nothing to do (the public toilets could do with a scrub from top to bottom). It's sad to see the lack of interest. However, back to pleasanter things - wandering in the forest.
If we hadn't known that we had a destination, we would have been none the wiser regarding the path taken, although we might have queried its direction, but as we don't have wolves and bears, there was little to be concerned about except when our coffee break would be. The way out of the forest is simply DOWN. You can't go wrong with that.
So today we had a magical mystery tour through some wonderful wild places, and we did pass quite a few people who confessed they were lost.