the falls backpackers

so there has been a short delay between me visiting the falls backpackers and me blogging about it... say two months or so. one reason is that i have taken a few weeks of much needed leave, but the main reason is that in the beginning of the year i visited so many new backpackers in a very short space of time, and i blogged about them, and i said awesome and fantastic, and i said awesome and fantastic way to much. such is life. but those places are fantastic, dont worry. anywho, the falls backpackers is a short two hour drive up the mountains away from umtata. as i may have mentioned, umtata is a fantastic place to head away from. of all the backpackers this is the most remote, in terms of other people being nearby. it is twenty minutes from the small town of maclear. im not sure if it was originally in the boundaries of the transkei, i may have been born during apartheid but i played a rather limited role in its implementation. the area doesnt feel like it was in the transkei, there is a distinct lack of mud huts and a proliferation of organised farming (relative to canzibe that is) and at the backpackers there is nobody trying to sell you beads, seafood or marijuana. on reflection the lack of seafood doesnt surprise me at all.

the backpackers is owned by a friend of rob's, a kayaking friend. in the summer the kayaking is most agreeable. so agreeable in fact that rob dislocated his shoulder there earlier this year (good luck recovering from the surgery dude) the pictures of the rivers in flood are very impressive and are scattered liberally around the premises. in the winter the area is more well known for its fly fishing. i dont fly fish currently but fortunately i am partial to mountain streams due to my lifelong obsession with kloofing. i went along and took some photos. the area is very scenic and the trout are tasty, we braaied them that evening.

the waterfall that the backpackers is named for is tina falls, pictured above. it is a five minute walk from the backpackers and there is a zip line across the pool if you need some adventure in your life. you can also see some bushman paintings on the ravine walls.

when you return from these activities watch out for billy the goat. he will very likely want to play... he plays rough. he also eats anything, i almost lost my shoe laces. dont let him get inside either. once inside there is pool, foosball and a fire warmed lounge for you to read your current bill bryson book by paraffin lamp (there's no electricity) all in all i highly recommend the falls and hope to head there some time in summer for the floods.