A Magical Walk

Editor's Note: Cleopatra Pools is a relatively unknown trail to members of the public in Golden Gates. There used to be guided walks to the location, but for reasons unknown to me, it has since been stopped. Before I went, some colleagues warned that it is a difficult walk and that one should leave early in the morning for the walk. I finally did the walk on 24 Sept 08. I don't think words can ever do justice to the magical scenery at Cleopatra Pools. Thus, will try to put more photographs in this blog entry. All pictures with me are taken by Alet. Enjoy!

It was a public holiday and I was walking down or rather hopping down Little Caledon River and taking pictures (literally enjoying myself hoping down the rocks – see below) when I found myself at the foot of Wilgenhof.

The Chi Angel on my right shoulder gave me a pat on my ear and said, “Good job! You had a fruitful morning. Now that you are here, you just have to walk up to Alet's place and ask her to go for a walk as planned! Wouldn't that be nice?”. Before I could react, the Chi Devil on the other shoulder pulled my ear and reminded me, “Are you sure you want to do that? It's a nice afternoon to rest and just relax! Why go and torture yourself? You just have to call Alet to cancel the walk.”.

That sounded like a better option.

“But Chi, you have not been exercising for the past two weeks! And you have been procrastinating to go for a walk! Shouldn't you just exercise some self control?”

“But Chi, you can also do it another time? Why must it be today? Haven't you walked the river already? Give yourself a break!”

While my imaginary friends continued their arguments, I thought that I would just give Alet a call and see how things turned out.

“Hello, Alet? Chi here. .....How's your assignment going on? ...... good good......Would you like to go for a walk? ........ where?........Cleopatra Pools?”

The moment i said “Cleopatra Pools”, I could feel an angry 50 ton hammer slammed right into my head. What on earth was that?!!!! How did the words Cleopatra Pools come out from my mouth? It was too late now. I held my breathe for the next few seconds waiting for a reply.

“Sure? When? Now?”

Another heavy 100 ton hammer slammed straight into my chest. *gulp*

My Chi Angel friend gave a huge grin, waved bye to us and *poof* off. There was no backing out now. I dragged my feet up the hill and met up with Alet. The next thing I knew, we were at the foot of a mountain. I looked up at the greenery between two mountains. Somewhere in the midst of the trees up there lies the Cleopatra Pools.

We begun our journey by tracking through the grass. “I'm not sure where the track is, but the general direction is over there,” Alet reassured me by leading in front. Er, ok, cool, as long as the snakes stayed away, I'm fine with walking through grass. As we trekked through the grass, I couldn't help but feel really excited. I'm in for a exploration expedition!

We took several rest stops along the way, and each time when I turned back, I was really amazed by the scene that was presented to me. The last stop before we went into the “forested area” was at a cliff filled with honeycombed formation.

We had to bash through the vegetation to reach the other side where the pools were. I was filled with emotion when I saw the enormous potholes appearing behind the vegetation.

It was really a geographer's paradise! I seriously didn't want to leave this place. It was so serene and unreal. The sounds of the birds and wind filled the deep overhang with acoustic music. And the potholes were like a huge art installation, carved into the floor of the deep overhang like the steps or footprint of a giant walking by. It gave me goosebumps just thinking about how the elements of water and wind could create such a masterpiece over millions of years.

That was not the end. As we walked through the forested area, we explored more and more deep overhangs, and saw dried up waterfalls (it's now end of winter). We even tried to climb up one of the dried up waterfalls to try and see what was on top. I kinda of freaked out halfway and was clinging on the rocks for my dear life. The wind was really strong, and my knees just went weak when I looked down.

There were several other beautiful corners during this walk. There were also many formations to study, to admire and to awe at. We took several pictures and explored nearby formations.

I was really sad when we had to leave. It almost felt strange to leave, although it had been less than three hours since I was on this walk. I felt that I had been transported to somewhere from a different time and space for many many years. “Please give me moment,” I told Alet, and looked towards the cliff. I closed my eyes and tried to absorb and remember all the magical moments that I had during this walk.

It wasn't a difficult walk. In fact, it was a really relaxing and therapeutic walk. It is really the best walk that I have ever been in my entire life. On one hand, I would really like to share this paradise with the rest of the world, but I also fear that human traffic can destroy the serenity of this place. I believe the beauty of this walk and place was also because there was no human elements evident at any point! I fear how ignorant people might draw their initials on the wall, and how high human traffic swimming in the pools would affect the future formation of the holes etc. We would never know the impact that we have on this mystical location if it opens up to the public. Thus, I sincerely hope and appeal to those who learn about these pools through this site, to NOT try and locate these pools on your own, but rather wait for official guided walks from Golden Gates. =)