After living in the area for many years, I recently discovered a beautiful nature reserve that I was unaware of.
It is situated on a winding road in one of the suburban areas in Hillcrest. As it is winding through a gorge, the entrance to the reserve is situated right in one of the bends. Always focusing on the road and going around these bends, it's easy to miss it...especially if you are driving.
And visibly being within a suburban area, you would never expect to see something like this here.
But, now I have found it and I just had to pay a visit to the Springside Nature Reserve.
Welcome to the Springside Nature Reserve.
As you enter through the gate, there is a little office on the left-hand side. It was closed when I was there, but it seems to be a place where you can obtain information about the reserve.
In front of the little office, there is a nice space to socialize and have...what I believe most of you will know as a "barbeque"...but here in South Africa, we call it a "braai"...lol.
A little further in, there is a nice car park with a beautiful picnic area.
This nature reserve is clearly aiming to accommodate the nature-loving hiking community with various hiking trails going through the reserve.
Just above the picnic area, before entering any of the hiking trails, there is a neat information board showing the various routes of the hiking trails. It also shows various plant species and forms of wildlife that you can encounter along the way.
The route I chose for the day was called the "River Trail".
Personally, I would rather call this a little stream rather than a river...but anyhow, it is still beautiful and very peaceful to walk alongside it.
Sometimes you move a bit away from the stream but at times you are close and this would be a typical scene.
Eventually, you get to a point where you enter a forest-like area.
I was there quite early in the morning, and looking in, it still looked quite dark inside...
Inside the forest area, I found this spot for a nice photo. I actually had to use the flash to get this photo...
On the opposite side of the stream, I saw this little bench, and again, I had to use the flash to get the photo...
A little further downstream, I found this little bridge where you can cross the stream.
On my way back, just as I was about to exit the forest area, I was amazed by the way the light was shining through. It was almost as if it was inviting me to come back out...
I was able to quite a number of photos, but I'll save some for other posts too.
I also want to revisit this nature reserve to walk the other trails too.
I wasn't lucky enough to see some animals, but who knows...maybe next time!
And that's it for today folks!
Thank you for reading my post. I really do appreciate it!