Weekend in Magaliesberg

10/17-10/18 Weekend in Magaliesberg

So I think I have mentioned earlier that I have acquired a local friend “African” named Jaco with whom we share great passion for spirituality. Jaco is an “herbalist”, energy healer, and he also does Tarot and Herbal card reading. I met him one lovely Saturday afternoon on my stroll though Sandton and Village Walk which is a small shopping mall. You all know that I absolutely despite to go shopping, but for whatever reason I was lead to this mall to go browse some stores and I came upon a lovely “spiritual shop” called the “House of Isis”. I walked in and the loving energy of this shop was addicting! They had a great selections of rocks and crystals, lots of great spirituality books, dream catchers, Buddha and some other Indian statues, wonderful selection of incents, reading cards and Wiccan items… well let’s just say I felt right at home. I ran into Jaco in the shop and decided to have a Herbal card reading from him. We connected immediately as he has been working in the “magic” for over 25 years and me in past 10 years, therefore we had lots of in common and thoroughly enjoyed the conversations and the energy balancing. We quickly connected and became friends for life. Over few times we met out for a beer and spiritual discussions and decided that this weekend we will go and visit a place called the “Sanctuary”- which is a holistic retreat to soothe one’s soul and reconnect the mind, body and spirit. On Friday I went to stay in Jaco’s house just to be grated with 2 happy going dogs and a charming little cottage next to a true African squatting settlement. My room was full of herbs and little bottles of essences and it just felt so magical to be surrounded by this great mother earth nature treasures. I was exhausted from work and I felt asleep listening to the sounds of drums playing in the nearby squatting settlement and sounds of the crickets outside. I slept like a rock!

Woke up extremely refreshed and energized did my yoga routine and daily meditation, hang out with Jaco over coffee and made decisions for the day. The “Sanctuary” was booked as they allow only so many folks up the mountain at any given time, though they did have an opening for Sunday. So we decided to go visit the “Cradle of Human Kind” which is a world heritage site as it holds the secrets to human kind and sheds light on evolution and past ancestors. We visited a cave where I learned the earliest fossil of a human discovered was 3.3 MILLION years old and they were excavating this fossil for over 20 years and today they “only” have a left arm and a skull to do. How amazing! In the cave I felt so peaceful and happy to be surrounded by cold beauty of crystals and cave formations, listening to the sounds of dripping water in the darkness and soaking the peaceful and calming energy of the nature. I felt amazing! After the cave we went to the local crystal shop and I spend quite a bit of money by purchasing some amazing crystals resonating with healing energies and love! If there is a such thing as “7th Heaven” then for sure I was in it…I felt like a kid in the candy shop discovering that each candy had different flavor, color, history, structure and was still so so sweet to the taste and look. I got so many amazing crystals that I will use in my meditations and my healing sessions. In the evenings we created an oil from fresh herbs for me and also my own personal perfume from Mother Nature scents. I was so happy to be able to do this and still relax and learn so many wonderful things. Needless to say after hard week of work this was just the medicine my soul needed!

On Sunday we went for the “Sanctuary” and on the way we stopped in an adorable little restaurant called “Goblins Cove”. What a magical world awaited us. The restaurant is a cute little cottage with many different rooms to sit in, each on decorated with an amazing portraits or sculptures of fairies and goblins! We sat on a terrace where a fluffy creature (kitty cat) found a perfect spot to lay, well where else then in my lap! I was joyous as I am dearly missing Simba! Truly this place was very popular with bikers and the “rough crowd” as here they all turn into kids and their fantasy runs wild without being judged by the pretentious world. The “Sanctuary” was not such long drive but rather slow as the dirt road was washed over by strong desert rains. I guess I imagined “Sanctuary” to be a very beautiful place with lots of rolling hills, tons of trees and greenery around, with crystal clear lakes and streams running by! Oh mine was I in for a surprise. The “Sanctuary” was indeed a gorgeous place but it was a desert land and the beauty had completely different feel to it. Very rugged and rough landscape of amazing rock formations, strange looking desert grasses of weird green/gray colors, here and there we were greeted by smell of jasmine and other plants. We took a hike over a basin of a river, to jump over a fresh water pools and rocks to come upon the “Grotto”. Small cave where water was running down the roots of old trees and rocks for thousands of years forming a lovely pool beneath. What a magical place and what a perfect place for meditation. Sun was shining, few scattered clouds over blue blue skies, birds singing, warm breeze rushing though the trees and the water dripping down to a pool. In deed very magical place! On the way down we went through another basin of a river just to find amazing array or rocks and crystals predominantly in rough not polished forms and mostly rose quartz. I am glad I had my cargo pants on as I totally filled up my pockets with these amazing gems!

Today I have few of them at my desk to remind me that life is not all about work and stress but about admiring the beauty that Mother Nature created for us, thanking the Lord every day for all the blessing we receive so so unconditionally… We are so blessed in so many different ways, we just so often forget!

Ahh all these lovely places are in an area called the Megaliesberg Area:

Goblin Cove: http://www.goblins.co.za/

Crater of Human Kind World Heritage Site: http://www.cradleofhumankind.co.za/index.html

The Mountain Sanctuary: http://www.mountain-sanctuary.co.za/