Emoyeni Retreat Centre - Discover Magaliesberg

Like an eager student, I’m getting really serious about ticking things off my bucket list. In fact so serious, that I am becoming that annoying person always with their hand up in the front seat in class. Last week I decided to outrun the cold front and head to Magliesberg for some time out.

I stayed at Emoyeni Retreat Centre, a simple charming establishment built and run on Buddhist principles. Simplicity is always a great reminder that what we really need is silence, a library, effortless food and a REALLY good bed! When I am exhausted the best gift anyone can give me is a solid mattress, a down feather duvet and lots of pillows whispering sweet nothings to my face. The moment I saw that bed it was like Rumble in the Jungle I was KO, I slept like a drunk on the pavement with reckless abandon until the early morn.

I loved the morning pleasure of being woken up by a multitude of birds instead of some loud annoying alarm that intrudes on the natural process of waking up. My mornings were for reading and writing whilst lounging on the stoep (front porch) with a cup of green tea.

The bed was so inviting that every morning I had a little furry visitor who was more interested in the bed than my lap. Mid mornings were set aside for exploration, this particular area is well known for its rock pools, as luck would have it the resident rock pool enthusiast offered to take me on his motorbike to the dome area in search of some Massive rock pools he had not explored yet. When he said bike… I couldn't help myself! Off-roading!?! of course I wanted to tag along.

My off-roading excitement died off an hour into the hike, we hit some heavy shrubs and as I was being bush beaten by blackjack, spiky grass and some funky thorns. I thought about calling it quits, with no evident route markers leading us anywhere except an ambiguous path, I even hoped for Hensel & Gretel crumbs! 30 minutes further into the hike I was no different from doubting Thomas, “are you sure we on the right path?” the answer “the experts say it’s a 2 hour hike up” In the back of my mind I was thinking well those experts should have thought about inserting signs with directions and distance... just for control.

Eventually and much to my dismay as predicted by the experts we stumbled upon the first signs of humanity, a man made camp site with rocks seats which was pretty cool, as the clock hit the 2nd hour we found the pools.

The rocks were huge and impressive, the water was as crisp as the cold front that was making its way through the country. After slipping and sliding around those huge boulders we finally found a good spot for our picnic and just soaked in the sun. I would have never thought the Maglies Mountains have such magnificent secrets, whilst I was merely ticking off a spot on my bucket-list I found treasure; as I lay there drawn into my surroundings, the bush beating was forgiven and replaced by a pirates glow.