Royal Natal Park

A two hour drive from Clarens is Royal Natal Park.  First stop was the ranger station 

to check out what hikes we had time for.

A short easy hike to the Cascades was first on the agenda.

The hike was easy but the scenery was stunning.

Not too much water right now, but it was still beautiful.

There were kids playing in the pools and enjoying the cool water.

I guess these waters are free of crocodiles.

Our travel group consists of the Jubbers (Area Medical Adviser), the 

Grafs (Legal and Liahona expert), the Lombardis (Church History) and us.

The hike continued up to this mountain, but we had another hike

we wanted to do, so we turned back.

Beautiful and green mountains.

The other hike we wanted to do was a long trail to what they call

the Ampitheater, a beautiful mesa with waterfalls spilling over the top.

We knew we didn't have time to make the top of the Ampitheater,

but we kept up a good clip just to get some good views.

That is the top of the Ampitheater, but it was shrouded in clouds.

Elder Jubber kept up with us for the views.

These women were selling their craft items, so Sister Lombardi and 

I bought straw hats that they had made.

We stopped to see the bushmen paintings.  We didn't realize that

this was another long hike just to get to the cliffs.

The guide showed us the paintings and described how they were done.

He said there are many drawings throughout the park, but they do not

advertise where they are so that vandals will not ruin them.  You have

to keep a sharp eye out for them as you hike.

While hiking down from the paintings we got a wonderful

view of the Ampitheater as the clouds lifted and the sun shown down.

Across the valley was a small mountain village.

Luckily the clouds held off until we were safely back to our B&B 

in Clarens.