There's no better way to experience South Africa's wild places than with your boots on and your feet on the ground, one in front of the other, taking in the country's fantastically scenic hiking trails. Here are some highlights.
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 make this a special one. It's strenuous, with lots of ups and downs, but the distances aren't too great.
If you want the scenery and walking with less slog and more luxury, try the Dolphin Trail. It traverses similar terrain to the Otter - joining up with it in places - but instead of hiking huts you stay in fully catered guest houses with great views and good food. Your pack is transported to your next overnight spot by vehicle, and you carry only a day pack with lunch, water, camera and swimsuit.
The Wild Coast of the Eastern Cape offers similar trails but dramatically different scenery: miles of deserted beaches, wave-lashed rocks and occasional tropical forest.
Accommodation is in coastal hotels instead of huts. The usual is to carry your pack, but you can arrange to have it driven around, if you plan ahead.
Purists can tackle the Wild Coast rough as they like. 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.
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.
There are many others, some of which are on private land. You can get a reasonable idea of what's available from the Footprint Hiking Club.
Of course, the most important aspect of a hiking trail is that you don't constantly bump into other people. And the only way to ensure that is to limit numbers, so that means you have to book.
Hiking in South Africa
SA National Parks - Administers the Otter Trail, Dolphin Trail and many more.
Cape Nature Conservation - Administers a number of trails in the Western Cape.
Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife - Administers all the trails in the Drakensberg and some scenic trails in Maputaland.
Johannesburg Hiking Club - Organises hikes and hiking-related events, and fosters a sense of responsibility towards the environment. Meet like-minded outdoor and conservation-orientated people who wear heavy boots and smell like the mountain air. The club offers youthful, midweek and Sunday hikes, backpacks, base camp weekends, slide shows, club evenings and social events.
RockSport Mountain & Outdoor - Rock climbing, hiking, backpacking information and equipment for South Africa. Based in Sedgefield.
180º Adventures - Offices in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg, and a broad spectrum of adventure activities countrywide.
Adventure Dynamics - Offers team building programmes and other mountain adventure hikes.
Xplora Tours - Based in Hermanus, they offer custom-designed adventure tours and coast-based activities.
Footprint Hiking Club - Has over 200 members, organises trips, opens new trails and provides trail accreditation for Pretoria University. The website offers information on trail routes, news, advice and events.
Hiking.org.za - General hiking site, offering advice and trail routes.
Hike Cape Town - A comprehensive site focusing on day hikes in the Cape Peninsula.
Boksburg Hiking Club - Trail routes, organised events and more.
Hiking South Africa - A volunteer organisation made up of individuals, hiking clubs, trail owners, trail managers and interested companies, aiming to promote hiking and protect the environment.
Mountain Club of South Africa - Hiking is one of the MCSA's main activities, with the club's different sections organising hikes ranging from short day walks in kloofs to multi-day traverses across remote mountain areas.
SouthAfrica.info reporter
