It was with slight apprehension that we set off on our temerarious trek up to the main pools in the Steenbras Reserve. The storm clouds seemed to follow us from Somerset West to and spirits amongst the group weren't too high. On entering the ravine we were greeted by a small family of baboons and an off-duty cop. This scantily clad, gun wielding law enforcer kindly offered to stand guard with his 'piece', as all 14 of us skirted past a large, aggressive male baboon. Shorty after our encounter with the baboons the sky opened up and pea sized droplets began to fall. 11 of us rambled on and Jenna, Mark and Sam turned back fearing that the rain was there to stay. Treve, John, Ryan and myself were taking the lead with Jess, Ash, Gil, Nicky, Andrew, Joao and Jess bringing up the rear. After 15 minutes of rain, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise, the dark clouds subsided and gave way to clear blue skies.
Climbing up the ravine is quite a scramble, over rocks, through bushes and you have to cross the river at various points. Just before reaching the main pool we walked through a cool grove full of old tangled fig trees and moss covered cave walls that were dripping with moisture... breaking into the sunlight we were greeted with an incredible view. We stood atop a waterfall with a large pool on either side. Dark brown water flanked by towering gorge walls and topped with a bright blue sky, it was idyllic.
Treve went off to explore higher and headed for the main falls, a bunch of us went for swim and John, Ryan and myself scrambled up one of the smaller waterfalls. Much to our delight Jenna, Mark and Sam arrived a little later, they had seen the change in weather and made their way up to the pools. Shortly after Tofa and Timmy rocked up.
There was lots of talk about where to jump from and how high the spots were... John was the first to take the plunge... He flung himself off the cliff with no warning and came up smiling. Myself, Ryan, Tofa, Treve, Jess, Ash, Andrew and Joao all followed, it was awesome, the cliff must have been about 12 meters; I was amazed at how long it took to hit the water!
It was around 3pm and the pools were growing busier, 3 guys decided they wanted to do the bigger jump (which I later found out was 18 meters) and Tofa thought he'd give it a go as well. The 3 instigators managed the jump without a problem... Tofa's turn came and we were all cheering him on; he leaped fourth and hit the water with an almighty splash, everyone winced as he made quite a slap! He surfaced and looked fine, a little winded, but fine. He swam slowly to shore and lay down on a rock, we gathered our things for the hike back and went down to meet him.
Ryan and I were the first to arrive, Toff didn't look well, he was having real trouble breathing and was in a lot of pain. He could move all of his limbs, fingers and toes
and there was no blood so we assumed it was just a serious winding and some muscle damage. Timmy and everyone else arrived and we re-assesed the situation. He was certainly a little concussed and definitely in shock. Desperate to lie down, he found a flat-ish rock. We waited a while and then decided it was going be to difficult for Tofa to try and walk out of the ravine and we really weren't sure if he had some serious internal damage. Because there was no cell phone reception, the only option was to head back to where the cars were parked and get advice or help. Ryan and I decided to run back to the Sunbird Resort (where we got our permits from) and see what could be done. After a grueling 20 minute run we reached Sunbird, explained what happened and were told to phone Mountain Rescue. They knew exactly where Tofa was and said they'd alert the troops. Now we just had to wait...Ryan and I waited at the entrance to the reserve, we were joined by Jess and Ash and shortly after by a rather sunburnt Jenna and tired Nicky (they managed to get lost on their way back, Nicky lead Jenna up the 'wrong' mountain). The Mountain Rescue bakkie arrived, we told them where they were and what had happened and they called in the helicopter. The sun was setting and in the depths of Crystal Pools Andrew and Timmy had set about building a stretcher. They had no idea Ryan and I had contacted mountain rescue and that a helicopter was on its way so combining Timmy's Boy Scout skills and Andrew's architectural/engineering abilities they produced, what is alleged to be, a 'damn fine stretcher' using branches, bags, belts and even shoe laces.
It only took about 10 minutes for the Helicopter to pick up Tofa. The whirling blades sliced the thick evening air and the chopper touched down in front of a truely sensational sunset. Tofa was helped out and checked over by a doctor, h
e was told to get to a hospital as soon as possible. I think it's very important to point out that the Mountain Rescue was 100% free and incredibly efficient. The mountaineers and doctors are all volunteers and they really did a sterling job. A few of the mountaineers went back up the ravine to meet with Timmy, Joao, Andrew, Jess, John, Gil and Treve to guide them down as the sun was pretty much set and navigating in the dark can be quite tricky.
Tofa relaxed in the back of Andrew's bakkie and we were lucky enough to witness a positively electric (quite literally) sunset. The serene False Bay sunset was spiced up by massive bolts of lightning that made for one of the most memorable sunsets I've ever witnessed.
Timmy took Tof to the hospital and he was seen by a specialist the following day. He has compacted his T10 vertebrae by a whopping 45%... no surgery is needed but Tof won't be doing any cliff diving for a couple of months.
A sunday afternoon walk turned into an epic saga. Enjoy the photos.
