Drakensberg Celebrations

Upon returning from the States on June 13^th, Christy and I set off for the Royal Natal National Park in the Drakensberg Mountains along the northeastern border of South Africa and Lesotho to celebrate the latest milestones in my life; my 30^th birthday and another, semi-secret plan (only a handful of family and friends new of my intentions at this point) to ask Christy to marry me. It should be noted that this mountain range is the same place where Dee and I flirted with death twice in two consecutive days 5 years ago, but that is a story that has already been told. Anyway, after a 4 hour drive we arrived at the Amphitheatre Backpackers where we quickly settled in to catch up on The Office (Season 3). On the morning of my birthday we slept in a bit so that I could try and catch up on my beauty sleep (I had only slept for about 4 hours on the 20 hour flight from NYC) and to open Christy’s present before setting off on our first hike of the weekend. So we spent an hour lying in bed, looking over the amazing scrapbook of the first 30 years of my life that Christy compiled from all of my friends and family. What a wonderful and unexpected surprise this was and thank you to everyone who provided pictures and stories. So, after a leisurely morning, we headed north for a bit to Cathedral National Park to hike a trail called Rainbow Gorge. We were told this was an exquisite hike within an indigenous forest that leads to a narrow gorge with a boulder suspended in mid-air by the narrow walls. Needless to say, we were very eager to get on the trail and explore what Mother Nature had to offer. Luck would have it that we were the only people on the trail the entire day and had a wonderful time exploring the gorge, basking in the warm sun and catching up on each other’s lives. However, today was not the day to propose. I wanted a more dramatic setting for that…

The next morning we rose early and set of for Tugela Gorge. Now, Tugela Falls is the second highest waterfall in the world, cascading down from the top of the Amphitheater wall from a dizzying height of around 1,000 meters. The hike in is wonderful as you twist and turn along the open mouth of the gorge until you finally catch up with the river and the walls begin to close in. Finally, amidst a pile of boulders, the hiker is left with two options; walk into a tunnel and get wet shimmying up some boulders or climb the chain ladders on a sheer rock wall and meet the river on the other side so as to continue boulder hopping up the river to the base of the falls. Well, when we arrived at this decision the area was packed with hikers, so we took a short detour to view all of Tugela Falls in her glory (just a trickle at this time of year, but with an amazing ice cave near the top). We then stopped on some sunny boulders to enjoy our picnic lunch and to relax as group after group ascended and descended the chain ladder. It was at this point that I made the decision to go for it.

After finishing our sandwiches and hard boiled eggs, I managed to sneak the ring into my back pocket without Christy noticing and then hopped off my boulder. Christy then inquired as to why I was standing and I muttered something about stretching before laying myself in her lap and enjoying the warmth of the sun. After a minute I counter-inquired as to her thoughts at the moment, to which she responded something random about the baseball cap I was wearing. Again, Christy countered with the same question to which I responded that I was thinking of all the fun adventures we had already been on and how I loved to exploring the world with her. I continued by saying that I also looked forward to continuing our explorations and adventures together for the rest of our lives…and with that in mind, would she agree to spend the rest of her life with me. As I reached into my back pocket, Christy half-rose out of her reclined position and her eyes widened. Then, when she saw the box, all she could say was ‘Really?’ over and over again. Finally, she said yes. It wasn’t until I explained that the ring I was proposing with was her grandmother’s original engagement ring from 1939 that her emotions got the best of her.  Well, after enjoying the moment for awhile longer we hiked on up the river for a bit longer before turning around to get back to the backpackers before sundown and thus enjoy our new status as an ‘Engaged Couple’.  All in all, it was the perfect setting for such an event in our lives and is a day that neither of us will soon forget.

Happily Engaged

Anyway, we finished our weekend getaway with a hike to the top of The Amphitheater with two guys from the backpackers who were also keen on climbing without the required guide our backpackers tried to force on all its residents. The four of us had a great time hiking past Sentinel peak and climbing another set of chain ladders that takes the intrepid climber to the top of the Amphitheater. We spent an hour at the edge of the falls, enjoying the amazing views and building a snowman from the snow lining the banks of the river. It was a great way to end an amazing weekend getaway for which there were many things to celebrate, including the birth of Reese Ebba Rosenfeld, my new niece and my brother’s second born.