This is an area that is situated on top of a ridge called Whaleback Ridge in the ‘Lakes District’ of Cobham – so called as in Summer there are a myriad of beautiful little tarns ( pools) along its length. The more well known ones are above Lakes Cave but most people are unaware that there are many more near the Policeman. I am not convinced that the Policeman should be so called as I feel that it resembles something else, but I will leave you to gather your own conclusions! ( there is a photo of the 'Policeman’ in a few of the photos below)
As I don’t often get the chance to go on a photographic hike specifically, I was very keen to accompany Richard to this amazing area. We started walking under cool overcast skies and we noticed the flattened grasses around the rivers and side streams displaying evidence of the torrential rains the week before. By the time we started the climb up to Siphongweni the sun was out and the day was heating up rapidly. Once on the plateau storm clouds were already starting to gather on the escarpment and after a hasty lunch, we made our way past the Titty ( aptly named) and towards the Policeman. There was a fair bit of lightning around so although there was only a spattering of rain, we sheltered for a while before ascending the ridge past the Policeman. We could see massive downpours to the south of us, but luckily we remained dry. We found a lovely place to set up our tent and then spent the remainder of the afternoon exploring the tarns and having fun with our photography. The moody skies added drama to our images and it was really quite magical! After a few early morning shots, we packed up and walked down the ridge towards Mzimkhulwana hut and the Giants Cup trail back to the office. It was much hotter today and on the way we enjoyed a plunge into a mountain stream just to cool down. The storm clouds gathered again towards midday prompting us to hotfoot it the last couple of kilometres, but we managed to avoid getting wet. We came away with some lovely images and I thoroughly enjoyed this one!
