Howick Falls & Gorge 4

As the sound of the cascading waters of the Falls gets louder you'll know you're near the end of your walk (unless, as I did, you have decided to go boulder hopping some way further down the river and deeper into the gorge). The well trodden path leads out to the banks of the Umngeni River, and a well chosen viewing site for a closer look at the spectacle than you will get from the earlier shown viewing deck. I cannot understand man's apparent need to litter - there is a plentiful supply of bins both along the path and at this clearing. Yet, empty bottles and detritus of human life, some presumably washed downstream by the river are all too evident. The guide was clearing some away, as on occasions do a group known as Friends of the Falls - but this should surely not be necessary. Arrival at the view is reward enough for the effort of the walk, and I was fully aware that I had signed an indemnity on entering the gorge - but my boulder hopping excursion was irresistible. It is not dangerous, but do be aware you're out there on your own. The area guide provided in the price of entry had seen me going downstream, and on encountering him some time later on my return to the top he commented that he had been looking out for me, knowing I had been there for a while. That's reassuring!

Returning to the original footpath there is an extension of the trail that leads right to the pool below the cliffs - your final prize, and the end of the rainbow. You'll notice evidence that at times the river must obviously take an an additional path - the second, to the viewer's left of the main fall, runs when rains have been very heavy. 

I can wait.

I guess every photographer doing landscape work dreams of a getting a perfect shot over an expanse of completely still clear water, where the mirror effect of the reflection almost makes the image reversible. Despite the muddiness of the river below the falls, due to the heavy late autumn rains, I think I'm making progress.