HIKES
AND WALKS
There
is no better way to experience wild places than
to put your boots on and put your feet on the
ground, one in front of the other. We have some
awesomely wonderful, fantastically scenic hiking
trails. Some highlights follow (there are so many
this is going to be hard, but I'll try).
The Otter Trail along the Tsitsikamma coast is
probably the most popular hike in the country.
Lush forests, rugged shorelines, mountain streams
and waterfalls and fragrant fynbos together make
this a really special one. It is pretty strenuous
with lots of ups and downs, but the distances
are not enormous.
If you want the scenery and walking with a bit
less slog and a lot more luxury, you have to try
the Dolphin Trail. It traverses similar terrain
to the Otter (in fact if joins up with it) but
instead of staying in hiking huts, you stay in
fully catered guest houses with wonderful views
and excellent cuisine. Your pack, of course, is
transported to your next overnight spot by vehicle
and you carry only a day pack with lunch, water,
camera and a swimsuit. Now that's hiking with
a difference.
You can do a similar thing on the Wild Coast in
the Eastern Cape. Once part of the nominally independent
bantustan of the Transkei, this coast is so beautiful.
It's very different to Tsitsikamma - miles of
deserted beaches and then perhaps a small community.
You may come across a young herdboy following
his charges as they wander onto the beach for
who knows what bovine purpose. And you stay in
coastal hotels instead of huts. Accommodation
is not quite up to the standard of the Dolphin
Trail and the usual is to carry your pack, but
you can arrange to have it driven around, if you
plan ahead.
For any purists out there wrinkling their noses
up at this, don't worry. There are miles and miles
of unspoiled hiking trail traversing high mountains,
deserts and forests where the accommodation is
the usual hiking hut, and the cuisine whatever
you decided to carry with you.
For an even wilder experience, you can hike for
days in the Cedarberg, near Cape Town, or the
Drakensberg in KwaZulu-Natal, without seeing a
hut or a route marker. These are designated wilderness
areas and you simply take a map and a permit and
set off, sleeping under the stars or in convenient
caves.
Of course, the most important aspect of a hiking
trail is that you don't constantly bump into other
people - that really would defeat the object.
And the only way to ensure that is to limit numbers,
so that means you have to book. You really have
to.
|
