Kloofing Kaaimans (the tame section)

 A local hiking group coordinated a group outing to follow a section of the Kaaimans River. 

When kloofing (aka canyoneering/canyoning), you follow a river course by hiking, scrambling over rocks, sliding down rocks, beating through vegetation, and swimming through pools of water as you make your way downstream. In technical sections, you may need ropes to rappel down cliffs or, if you have explored a pool and know that there are no submerged rocks, you can jump into deep pools.

On Saturday, we met at the Kaaimans Bridge on the Seven Passes Road to enter the river course. This is a non-technical section with no big drops. Risks are low. For the most part, you just need to watch your footing stepping from rock to rock, and be cautious stepping on rocks in the water as they can be slippery. Vegetation was not a problem.

I was there with a group of friends, in addition to people from the hiking group. We must have been about 35 people. The trip, which was in no way rushed, with stops, took us around 4 to 4.5hrs.

I did a more technical section higher upstream with Marthinus from Paradise Adventures (highly recommended) a bit more than a year ago. Marthinus is a superb guide with excellent rope skills and safety. There were three rappels and a number of low-height jumps. It was a brilliant experience.

This lower section is low-risk and it was absolutely spectacular in sections. 

I will definitely do this again and it may turn into a must-do with any friends that come visit.

Can you believe this place!

In reality, the water is cola coloured and you can't see rocks as clearly as in this photo. Amazing what my phone camera picked up. Maybe a light thing like those photos of the aurora vs naked eye. This is why you don't jump into murky pools.

We were not the only people that have been through here. Loved this, balanced by someone for all to enjoy.

The couple of long pools with cliffs on both sides are spectacular.

The rocky cliffs on either side leave you marveling at the shapes and patterns of the rocks.

Such a pretty section.

In reality, the water looks cola brown and dark but my phone camera picked up this interesting green in a couple of photos. Pretty.

Kloofing in my old trail shoes with my AR Gaiters. Yes friends, even in water, AR Gaiters stop sand from getting into your socks and shoes. Try it.

Crossing rocks to get into another pool.

Zelda, Talita and pretty Watsonia.

Photo from Zelda of me striding away. My red backpack drybag was a win.

Photo with Otto and Talita. Magnificent morning with that blue sky and warm temps - in and out of the water.

Big group today. Really nice bunch of people. Start at the Kaaimans bridge.

A snap with Otto. Photo from Zelda.

Our group of friends today for the kloofing. Liz kindly dropped us at the start.

Zelda and I almost at the end. That's the N2 bridge in the background.