Kobus rose early this morning. 6am! At sparrow fart hour, he was boiling the kettle to make tea and coffee for the hikers, himself, me, Sonja and David. Kobus woke me gently by turning on the bedside light and whispering tenderly in my ear.
“My darling, I’ve made you a cup of tea. Would you like a rusk?” I smiled dreamily at him and nodded.
Hmmm! This is the life! Woken by a lovely man with a cup of tea and this morning we are going for a hike in the Drakensburg. Brilliant!
After my tea and rusk, I got up, dressed quickly, carried out the morning ablutions and went to the kitchen to help Kobus pack our rucksack for the walk. I watched Kobus as he rooted around in the kitchen cupboards looking for rations for our hike. He lined up our supplies neatly on the counter top; two bottles of isotonic lucozade, two bottles of water, two bananas, a packet of digestive biscuits, toilet roll and glucose satchets that he found in the rucksack that had been left over from the half marathon we had run back in June.
“Jesus Kobus! Are we going to war or what? We’re only going for a walk!”
“Loren, it’s better to be over prepared! Now, go and get some plasters and antiseptic wipes from the first aid box!”
Once organised, we set off to the hiking trails in the Drakensburg mountains, the Dragon Mountains. The Zulus call the range uKhahlamba, Barrier of Spears. The basalt capped mountains are the highest in South Africa and stunningly beautiful. We chose a nice 9km hike that didn’t have too many steep hills. The dew caressed grassland fluttered in the morning breeze. The horizon was smothered in a grey heavy mist. This is how I had imagined the forest in “Alice and Wonderland”, wonderfully beautiful yet spooky. The mountains were wrapped in intrigue and mystery.
We trekked happily along the trail, chatting and laughing, occasionally taking photographs of the babbling brooks, the camouflaged maroon ferns and the ice white aloes and colourful flowers. Cobwebs sparkled on the ground over spider-holes, making the soil twinkle periodically.
After our walk, we drove back to the house and had lunch. An afternoon nap was definitely in order! I sank into the bed and grinned happily, embraced in the softness of the duvet. What a lovely morning, I thought, as drifted to sleep.
That night, we all enjoyed a curry in front of the fire. I listened to my parents-in-law recall stories of Kobus’ and Sonja’s childhood. It was a special moment. I glanced at Kobus who was grinning contently. We are lucky to have such a nice family.
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