Discovering the Dargle … the Old Kilgobbin mist-belt forest wandering on old logging paths ….

The beautiful Dargle valley below …

As Time magazine says ‘forest bathing is good for your health’. Or ….

It is not so much for its beauty that the forest makes a claim upon men’s hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air, that emanation from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit. —Robert Louis Stevenson

A walk with Nikki from the Dargle Conservancy is this plus so much more. It is a real forest floor look at all on offer from the big to the small, from the fungi growing near the pathways to the giant Lemon Woods, from the “wag-n-bietjie” to the strangling fig. All this with a touch of history …. all my favorite things in one package.

Forest full of vines ….and adventures …. oh the possibilities

Bright orange fungi …. regeneration from a giant fallen tree ….. moss and fungi abound ….

Swirling bark on a Lemonwood tree … reminding us of “a starry night” by Vincent Van Gogh

The forest floor and pathways are full of surprises….

Tree hugging became a real thing as did “virtual” natural remedies and “real” breathing techniques. Nikki shared her vast knowledge on plant name’s and meanings and we all decided that Zulu and Afrikaans have very descriptive words when naming a plant. The “wag-n-bietjie” makes you stop a while and remove the leaves from you clothes and arms as their little soft feather like claws hook onto you and the “umlungu mabele” (https://www.treecarepta.co.za/know-thorn-acacia-nigrescens/ ) covered in pointy knobs reminded the early indigenous people of the early settlers ladies breasts wearing their pointed brassieres.

We had just had lovely gentle soaking rains in the midlands and so the pathway was a patchwork of various fungi, moss and ferns in all shades of green with the odd bright colored fungi poking its head out of moss covered fallen tree trunk. Nikki pointed out which trees get fruit at various times of the year and how each animal will have share in a portion of that fruit during its life cycle.