HIKE: BOE BOES NEST
DATE: 23 – 25 OCTOBER 2009
TYPE: BASE CAMP
AREA: KOSTER
We were so glad to welcome a whole bunch of “newies” and I truly hope that they all enjoyed themselves and weren’t scared off by our sometimes too boisterous partying. We were 16 in total and I will use the word “hiker” in a very broad spectrum here as not all participated in the more energetic side of the weekend!!
My directions were obviously not that bad as everyone found the hike easily enough, and no one had to struggle in the dark. Everyone found a place to sleep and we then set out to catch up with those whom we hadn’t seen for a while and drill the new recruits for information, and get a lovely fire going – thanks to our 3 men folk who braved the predominantly female contingent.
The hike on the Saturday was by no means difficult (well done Karen – you breezed along and didn’t even seem to be out of breath once!!), we had regular rest stops as the heat was making itself felt, found a lunch stop with a lovely watering hole, which only myself, Madeleine and Leny ventured into, sorry Barbara did get her toes wet! The trail was a bit unclear towards the end and luckily only for a short distance we found ourselves back on the starting section. We were very lucky at one of the stops to see a pair of Fish eagles (confirmed by the eagles themselves when they gave their very easily identifiable call!!)
The splash pool at the base camp came in very handy and except for 2 of our group we all either had a swim or at least got most of our bodies into the water. Another thoroughly enjoyable evening around the fire was had by all, attempted ashtray making and all included (and popcorn by Jenny!!).
Stamena gave an impromptu Yoga class on the lawn on Sunday before 11 of us did the slightly more difficult shorter route – there was a lot of boulder hopping – but the scenery was also much nicer, Madeleine was brave enough to do the “foefie” slide – more than once, and we were back in camp by 10 bells.
The planned lunch stop at Van Gaalen cheese farm fell through as they were very busy, so we ventured on to a not so successful “African-Swiss” experience. The service and most of the food were not up to standard, but to those who know Florida hikers – we none the less still had a wonderful time with lots of laughs.
In conclusion a lovely weekend was had by all (I haven’t laughed that much in ages!!!), the accommodation was reasonable as was the trail. This was a good choice of venue for first timers.
Thank you to those who participated – do hope that we will see many of you soon again.