We went to Circles in the Forest just outside Knysna with my parents for another family day out. Looking down the trail at the start, it seemed level, wide and easy enough, so instead of carrying Miné we decided to push her in the pram. At the time it felt like the obvious choice.
Then the road stopped being a road
Further in, the wide path slowly turned into a proper forest trail. Suddenly there were tree roots, steps, steep descents and climbs, river crossings and fallen trees to get under or around. The pram that had made the beginning easier became the thing making almost everything harder.
When the trail first started looking like that, we stopped and seriously considered turning around. It did not seem as though there was much left, though, so we made the decision to carry on. Unfortunately, that was the moment we probably should have listened to ourselves.
Carrying a sleeping Miné — and the pram
Miné, of course, slept through much of the drama. My dad and I took most of the turns carrying the pram with her still inside it, and everyone helped whenever we started running out of energy. Every obstacle became a small problem to solve: lift here, tilt there, get over the roots, squeeze below a fallen trunk, then somehow do it all again a few metres later.
By the end I was completely exhausted. I had reached the point where I was no longer thinking about the forest or the hike — I just wanted the day to end and to get back to the car. It was one of those outings where the funny story only really starts becoming funny after you are safely finished with it.
We probably need to go back and do the trail properly before we can say we actually enjoyed the forest.
Despite how tired we were, it became another family day we will never forget, and I came home with photographs I really love. I would genuinely like to return to Circles in the Forest one day — without the pram — and walk it again at a pace where the trail itself can be the experience rather than something we are simply trying to survive.
