Suikerboschfontein hiking trail Oct 2010

Gordon drove to our place on Friday afternoon and we left Middelburg around 3pm, reaching Oom Japie’s house around 16:30. We immediately started the donkey and soon the braai fire as well. The farmer came to say hello and a little later the first members of another group showed up. We had a nice braai and were heading for bed when the rest of the other group showed up.

We slept well and woke well before dawn. We got on our way by 06:30 and had a nice walk while it was still cool. At the Bobbejaan hotel we scrambled up on the rocks to have a short break before carrying on. By 9am it started to get really warm but we were still walking well and it looked like we would reach the Rooikrans huts before lunch time. We heard cuckoos calling and even saw an Olive woodpecker in the kloof going up towards Rooikrans. At 11:00 we walked into Rooikrans camp, very happy that we wouldn’t have to walk in the hot sun anymore. We all had a nice cold shower to cool down and then spent the rest of the afternoon reading, resting, having lunch and chatting. From about 3pm the other group started coming in and they looked hot and exhausted. By 5pm we had a fire going for dinner but then a storm threatened so we quickly heated up our boerewors from the previous night and had some boerewors rolls while the rain spat around our ankles. It was over very quickly though and after a nice cup of hot chocolate, we went to bed.

During the night it rained for at least half an hour. We got up at 4am with the intention of finishing the hike before it got too hot. By 5am we were hiking, with pre-dawn light just enough to not need flashlights. The earth was damp and the veld smelled wonderful. Birds were calling and darting all over the place. When we walked on the edge of the first kloof, a small colony of bald ibises woke up and made strange noises as they left their perches. We crossed the first kloof and then descended into the second. The night’s rain made everything very slippery and we had to tread carefully to not end up horizontally. It was really great walking so early in the morning and we only saw the sun 2 hours into the day’s walk when we climbed out of the second kloof. We were halfway now and traversed across some broken terrain before dropping into the third kloof. Out of this kloof it wasn’t far to go and just after 9am we were back at Oom Japie’s.