Roaming free on AFRICA’S EDGE

In the recesses of my dream came the distant sound of chattering swifts and falling water. The unusual combination lured me back to consciousness as I peeled open an eye to see a grey dawn coming through the trees that formed my shelter. It took a moment to remember where I was – at the end of a long kloof below a massive amphitheatre.

My eyes slowly adjusted and I noticed the imposing wall rising 260 metres above me, a small waterfall shooting off the top of it and creating a trailing mist that fanned across the valley floor. A tiny rainforest of moss, long grass, ferns and a gnarled Cape holly is continuously watered by its spray.

We’d arrived the evening before and slipped gratefully into our sleeping bags as soon as night fell, exhausted by an arduous hike down into the amphitheatre followed by an