Today’s hike in the epic forest led me to a center, where I found the river of gold. It was like being in Shamballa or, more specifically, El Dorado. However, it was in the south Cape coast region called the Garden Route, specifically in the Knysna indigenous forest. Today’s hiking trail led me to one of the rare top class waterfall pools in this entire Garden Route region. It felt like paradise.
The photos speak for themselves and you can see the pristine forest environment through which I hiked for about an hour before coming to this pool of gold. The rains had been prolific this past month for this region, and so the river was in full flow.
As a result the waters were churned up. Frothy foam floated on top of the entire pond. Because of all the tannins in the water from these local indigenous Fynbos Floral kingdom plants, the river water appeared like gold gold. And subsequently the foam also appeared like gold. What a treasure of a discovery, like the dragon’s lair.
Pluto himself would be impressed. As god of the buried treasures of the underworld, Pluto has his own cave full of gold. As does the dragon. Well, here I felt as if I had stumbled upon a slither of a stream of that gold as it flowed from the depths of its unknown origins.
This was one of the most impressive meditation spots I have so far discovered on my hikes along the south coast of Africa. I was able to sit silently for an hour absorbed in the beautiful radiance of the waterfall, with its cascading and unrelenting stream of lif-giving waters.
The sound coming from multiple directions simultaneously, like a set of binaural beats in by ears, enabled me to tap into a state of consciousness that was like the eternal moment, as I stared at the still point amid the constant stream passing my eyes. The feeling of striking gold is paramount now in my life, with this golden pond in the heart of the Knysna forest.
And not another person passed by in the entire three hour experience. It took me an hour to get there and an hour to return, with an hour in meditation at the waterfall. This is a place where the woes of the world beyond these forest walls easily disappear. It’s the perfect place for the meditating yogi to retire and focus on the Supersoul in the heart.
That said, it probably gets cold at night; and now in mid winter, I decided to get the warmth going by hiking back through the dappled sunlight as it glistens its way down through the leaves of the tall indigenous trees. Some of them are massive and are the last remnants of a once much more massive forest along these southern shores.
This golden pool and waterfall will remain one of the more sublime locations along this coastline. I hope that wherever you are in the world, that you can also tap into this kind of beauty and life-giving nature, untouched and as it was thousands of years ago by the look of it. At least hundreds without a doubt. The timeless beauty of nature at its finest left me feeling whole and healed.
Each time I pass here, I plan to visit this particular forest stream and waterfall. It is a true hidden gem. Perhaps only a handful of people get to take this hiking trail in a year. If you love this kind of setting or if you find that your life is lacking contact with nature, then feel inspired to make a visit to the southern shores of Africa. Or simply find a place near you where you can also tap in to the beauty and health that nature has to share.
(photos my own)
