10 of us set out on the climb up the Trappieskop path at 08h00 in perfect windless conditions. We ambled up to the lower terrace with frequent stops to admire the flora, sense the still clear air and wonder at the flat sea.
All went elegantly through Lower Aladdin cave before before arriving at the Dragon’s Throat minutes later. The throat was anything but dry and we all wriggled through emerging with at least a muddy side, front or back. Next was Clovelly cave which allowed for some leopard crawl practice which would be needed later. The scramble up to the higher terrace gave a welcome stretch opportunity and we had our beverage break in a warming sun when joining the main path. We diverted en route to the Devil’s Pit to view the imposing rock above it and speculate on it’s naming origin. One volunteer graciously watched our bags whilst the party dropped into Free Drinks Saloon after which we headed up to the main path and Boomslang cave. We went through the big hall quietly trying to disturb the Natal long-fingered bats as little as possible. Once at the inner sanctum, nine of us wormed our way through the tight tunnel where leopard crawling is a tiring necessity.
After emerging from Boomslang we headed up Echo valley to our lunch stop. Four of the party went down after lunch arriving at their cars at 14h40. The main fragment continued up to the Amphitheatre before descending via Spes Bona forest to get to our vehicles safely at 15h33.
