The Pearl

I was asked about ranking the Fish River Canyon and the Otter Trail. In all honesty, I can't do that. Both are extremely spectacular with the same sense of wilderness, though being so different in other respects. But then I came to understand that it's the same fundamental story over and over again: the struggle between the elements, earth and water, where each submits to the other at times, shaping each other, beautifying each other.
The canyon is ultimately a giant scale scar in the surface of the earth while at the same time the twisted path for the water to reach the sea. The rugged coastline is the fringed edge of the earth washed, flooded and beaten by the fury of wind and waves.

My good friend Mel pointed out the essence of a pearl as being beauty born from suffering and pain. And the more I ponder about it the more I realize that that kind of beauty is the one that never wilts away. It rather sets us in awe, imposes respect and inspires us. Whether in nature or human dimensions.

And surely both these places qualify for this category.