#Wednesday Walk - Views on a Sunny Day in the Valley of a Thousand Hills

This post is for the #wednesdaywalk challenge and the #makemesmile challenge collaboration. This collaboration initially took place once a month, but due to its popularity, @tattoodjay (of the #wednesdaywalk) and @elizacheng (of #makemesmile) decided to make it a weekly thing.

Currently, @tattoodjay is assisting his wife who got injured recently, but if you want to know more about the rules of #wednesdaywalk, visit this post by @tattoodjay where you will find all the rules at the bottom of his post after you've enjoyed his beautiful photos from his walk.

This past weekend, my plan was to go to Inanda Dam in Inanda. We've never been there and I wanted to check it out.

You have to drive through Inanda to get to the Inanda Dam. Inanda has a bad crime reputation, but that's in the township. So nonetheless, the Inanda Dam is a popular destination for people who wants to go camping and boating over weekends.

So, I thought to give it a go and see what it's like.

Inanda Dam is right down at the bottom in one part of the valley. At first, you get the most beautiful views of the dam as you come down the winding road from the top.

Unfortunately, there is no space to safely pull over to take some good photos with a clear view of the dam.

We were just over halfway down when I found a spot that I felt reasonably comfortable with and I pulled over to take this photo.

Arriving at the gate to the dam we were informed that the main "activities/facilities" for day visitors are for picnicking and/or boating.

I decided that this was not worth it for now and considering that there was an entrance fee to be paid while not knowing if we would even be spending some decent time there, it was quite easy to change my mind and think of going somewhere else.

About 3 weeks ago, I did a post about a cloudy day in the Valley of a Thousand Hills.

A cloudy day in the valley creates beauty and an atmosphere of its own. But I did say that I would go back and get some photos on a sunny day too.

On a sunny, "open" day, the views can be spectacular.

I remembered saying that I would go back to take some photos in the Valley of a Thousand Hills on a sunny day.

The clouds were starting to lift and my mind was made up.

The Valley of a Thousand Hills on a Sunny Day

I decided to start at the lower points (where I took the last photos on a cloudy day), and show you some comparisons first, then move to some higher points in Monteseel.

So our first stop was at the craft market at "The Brown Cat Cafe" and "Pot & Kettle".

As mentioned in my previous post, this little market creates a real "Africa" environment.

Let's do some comparisons...a cloudy day versus a sunny day...

I'll do two comparing photos and from there on I'll only share the new photos from our last outing.

To start, let's go towards "The Brown Cat Cafe". Here is a photo that I shared in my previous post (on a cloudy day)...

Versus today's photo...on a sunny day.

From there, in the previous post, I stood on a little porch outside "The Brown Cat Cafe" for the next photo.

Versus today's photo. This time I didn't stand on the porch, but just below it as there were people seated at the table on the porch, enjoying their meal.

The next photo was taken while standing on the lawn that was just below me in the previous photo.

Amashova Durban Classic Cycle Road Race Through the Valley of a Thousand Hills.

From the craft market, we started moving along the well-known Comrades Marathon Route, moving up higher towards Monteseel.

On October 23, 2022, the popular Amashova Classic Cycle Road Race will take place.

According to News24, there will be three distances to choose from. From the shortest route being 38KM (popular with families) to the longest route being 106KM (for the more serious- to professional cyclists). The Amashova this year, "will broadly be following Comrades down-run route, from Pietermaritzburg to Durban."

I pulled over at the Comrades Wall of Honour and got this photo of a group of friendly cyclists busy preparing for the upcoming Amashova Classic Road Race while being accompanied by two vehicles to ensure their safety on the road.

Views From Some Higher Points in Monteseel.

From the Comrades Wall of Honour, we went to Monteseel to find some higher points from where I could take some photos.

For my first photo, I went for a nice walk, going down a bit lower, between two of the rocky areas, from where I could take this first photo, looking up towards the first point from where I was aiming to get some nice views.

I was planning to go to the furthest point sticking out (in the center of the photo below).

Looking out over the valley, still standing at the same spot as in the photo above.

Walking back up to the top, this is the rocky area back at the top from where I wanted to get some shots from.

The ultimate view from up here. In the photo below, looking through the lens of the camera here on the edge, it felt like you are flying...

I just made sure that while I was looking through the lens, I wasn't moving at all... I wouldn't want to go "flying" for real...lol.

Even though there was another ledge of rock just below me (about 1.5 meters below me)...but I would rather be safe than sorry...lol.

Walking up to a point slightly higher up, I got this shot of the view from here...

Notice the shade of the clouds falling on the ground at some places far below...

My wife had such a beautiful description of these views...

She preferred staying at "road level" where we left the car. When I asked whether she wouldn't like to come onto the rocks with me, she said "no thanks, I love to just admire the earth's crinkles from up here"...

I thought that was such an accurate description... "the earth's crinkles"...

Where I started out, taking the shots of these views, there were some rock climbers being active.

As we then moved up higher, in the utter silence, I then heard the roaring of some motorcycles, but it then went quiet before I could see them.

On our way back, I noticed where they were parked, as the riders also went down to enjoy the views where the rock climbers were busy.

I assume the car in the photo belongs to one of the rock climbers, as it was parked there when we arrived. But I thought the bikes would make a nice photo against this specific background.

And that's it for today, folks! I hope you enjoyed the views with me.

Thank you for reading my post! I do appreciate it!