From hiking to praying: Deer Park’s diversity in photos

In the top photograph, two women make their way up the mountain to collect water from Platteklip Stream in Deer Park. They wouldn’t say their names but they agreed to be photographed. The older woman says she has been traveling to the stream for over 20 years. The two women believe the water in Deer Park is cleaner than tap water.​

In the photo below, one of the women collects water using a mug and plastic bottle. Water is collected from many different locations along the stream. The women say that each spot provides its own unique taste of water.

She stores water in plastic bottles so that she can transport it to her home in Athlone.

After an exhausting climb up the mountain, the younger woman quenches her thirst with what she calls “natural water” from the river.

The two women make their way down the mountain, with bags made heavy by many litres of what they call “pure water”. They make this journey up to three times a week, and the older one says she will continue even after she turns 60.

Rastafarians Jeandre, 18, Kealyn, 20, and Leeroy, 27, have made their way from Philippi to the river every Saturday for the last four years. To them the mountain is a holy place and the water cleanses them of their sins. They say that the water also “helps [them] to grow their hair stronger.”

Some Rastafarians spend part of their Sabbath ceremony near the river.

In between other Sabbath activities, some of the rastafarians cleanse themselves in Platteklip Stream.

Towards the end of the day’s activities, a Rastafarian man takes part in one last cleanse.