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.

If you want to know more about the rules, visit this week's 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.

Last week I have taken you along the first half of the trail in New Germany Nature Reserve.

So, let's continue the walk...

In last week's post, we were about to enter the forest before descending again.

So, let's continue...

Just after entering the forest, the trail made a sharp turn to the left, before descending into the valley, going toward the river.

It's advisable to stay on the trail, as I think it would not be so pleasant if you don't...lol!

It was a cloudy day, which was perfect for walking this trail. But it also meant that the deeper we went into the forest, the darker it got.

With no shortage of vegetation...

The final descent before getting to the little river... Just one more bend to the right...

About to cross the river using the little wooden bridge. This is clearly another one of those deceiving "little" rivers...until it is in flood.

Shortly after crossing the river, it was decision-making time again. There were two little signs... To the left it showed "short-cut" while to the right it said "long way"...lol.

After consulting with my wife and our grandson, we were all happy to go the long way...

From there, we got out of the forest again and we had quite a steep climb up the next hill. We soon got to the top and we had a nice view looking back over the valley, with the forest below us, and the trail visible in the distance on the other side of the forest. That's where we have been walking earlier in the morning.

Ahead of us were more beautiful sceneries...

We were approaching another bend, with another bench where you can sit down and admire the view over the valley below. In the distance, straight ahead in front of us, a residential area became visible too.

Some detail against the background of the valley...

A clear view of the trail on the other side of the valley where we were walking in the morning.

Then the little dam became visible...

The final descent, approaching the dam...

We then noticed a butterfly sitting right in the middle of the trail. I started moving closer, and closer...and closer...taking photos all the time...until it flew away.

This was the last shot I took before the butterfly flew away.

Getting closer to the dam. If you look closely, to the left of the dam, under the tree, a little bridge is becoming visible. You can cross this little bridge to walk around the dam. Just after this little bridge, a trail also turns out to the left to enter the forest again from down there.

A final couple of paces before arriving at the dam...

Then, back out in the open again and approaching the little bridge...

With the dam to the right-hand side...

It's King Fisher Dam inside the New Germany Nature Reserve.

I loved the water lilies on the surface of the water.

Following the trail from the far end of the dam, entering the forest again from this side...

Entering deeper into the forest.

Another bench in the forest. It was right on a "hairpin" bend to the left leading back to the river.

Getting to the river, it was clear that the idea was to cross the river at that point again. But it was deep and it was rough terrain. There were still clear signs of the floods from last year. It would be a tall order to expect my wife to cross over there and it would be risky to let our grandson cross over there.

I turned around and we found another route once again going deeper into the forest.

Up until now, I was convinced that if we just kept walking the same trail, we would end up close to the starting point, remembering the "Imbali Loop" sign we saw close to the starting point, but we kept running into dead ends. It started feeling like we were walking aimlessly, trying everything that looked like a trail, but not getting anywhere. We were wasting time and energy.

I back-tracked our way to the trail that we came in with and suggested we walk back on the same route that we came in with. I was getting concerned that all this walking might take a toll on our grandson who is only 4 years of age.

As we got back to the signs indicating the "shortcut" and the "long way", I told my wife and my grandson to take a break and wait there for me. I took a walk down the "shortcut" to see where it would lead too, and it took me to the same "risky" crossing over the river where we arrived a little earlier, but from the opposite side.

I returned to my wife and my grandson and we continued the walk back along the way we came in. I kept an eye on our grandson, but he was still going strong. He was more concerned about my wife...lol.

He calls us "Oupa" and "Ouma" (Afrikaans for Grandpa and Grandma), and often he would call out to me and say "Let's wait for Ouma"... He kept a careful eye on my wife and if it just looked like she was falling behind a bit, we first had to "wait for Ouma"...lol!

According to my calculations, we did a walk of approximately 5 KM. And that's not over a flat surface. We had some serious uphills and downhills, which is why I thought it might start taking its toll on our grandson over that distance.

I thought he might get tired and that I might have to carry him for some distance over the last stretch. But not at all! He remained strong right up to the end...all the way up to the car.

I then thought he might pass out and fall asleep in the car...

No way, he was wide awake, still paying attention to everything around us on the way back home. He then still even played around at our house until his parents came over to fetch him. I was so proud of him!

And that's it for today, folks.

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