A Stone's Throw: Storms River: The Savage Coast of Tsitsikama

Seabird.

Storms River. The name alone sounds like something out of a Tolkien novel. Everyone I had met in South Africa had gushed that this was the most beautiful place they had ever seen, and seeing as that it was the home of one of the world's most popular treks, the Otter Trail, I was excited.
Leaving from Addo Park, we stopped along the way in Port Elizabeth to see a friend of Tracies and snag some red cappuccinos. The drive wound its way through scrubby hills to a beautiful coastline before dumping us in a massive pine forest. We arrived during a light rain storm, which cleared up in time for Tracie and I to set up out camp in the backyard of Djembe Hostel in the local town.
The next day, I left Tracie to work in the hostel while I went hiking in the national park. I took the popular Waterfall Trail all the way to, you guessed it, a waterfall! Along the way I was lucky enough to encounter baboons, deer, seabirds, some strange type of fuzzy little groundhog lookin rodent and more. I took a few minutes to spelunk in a giant sea cave, carved from the cliffs. I was unprepared, however, and when a swarm of bats kicked up I decided to leave it for another time. I pushed on to the waterfall, looked around and decided to keep going along the trail (which from this point on became the Otter Trail, and was thus expressly forbidden. But hey, TIA bru!). I went maybe a half mile more before I wrecked my knee against some boulders. The gods of the trail had spoken in my mind, so I decided to make my way back to the waterfall instead.
Once I reached there, I decided a dip was in order, and would probably do my knee a bit of good since it was starting to swell up. I joined some hikers (who were facing 5 more days along the Otter Trail) and we splashed together in the dark waters. The cool dark water was incredibly refreshing, but the park closed before too long and I wanted to see other parts. I toweled off and power-hiked back to the trailhead, then went off to explore the main lodge area a bit before walking out to the impressive suspension bridge slung over the mouth of the river.
It was a really beautiful day, but I felt so bad that Tracie had missed it that I resolved to take her the next day, even if we had to miss some other places down the road. Honestly it was so beautiful that it felt criminal to deprive her of that experience! I sat down to tell her all about it as I kicked off my boots. As I did, I felt something wiggle that most definitely should not wiggle. It was my toenail. Ever since my brush with frostbite in Peru, I had been battling with my foot to try and keep that toenail from dying and falling off. It had finally given in the ghost, but it still looked a bit raw, so Tracie helped me duct tape it back on for the time being so we could keep hiking.
The next day, we booted up (gingerly and carefully on my part!) and drove back to the park to do the same hike together after a breakfast by the sea. Even though I had done it once before, the hike was still incredible the second time around. Don't get me wrong, solo hiking has its perks, but its nice to share all the beauty with someone too!
With a reluctant look back, Tracie and I packed our things up that night to head to the town of Wilderness, further on towards Cape Town. It was hard to leave such a picturesque and savage wilderness. For any fellow travelers in South Africa, don't miss Tsitsikama National Park. My writing and pictures don't do it the justice it deserves as some of the most beautiful coastline I have seen in the world!