We’d pushed through the N2’s Somerset West gauntlet with the sun still yet to set and welcomed the view over the crest of Sir Lowry’s Pass, a sign that the troubles of city life were now well and truly behind us.
Our car headed towards Greyton along the stunning R406, with roads carving its way through fields of wheat while the African sun behind us illuminated the Riviersonderend Mountain range ahead.
Enter stage left: Gary the guineafowl. This poor fella flew across the road and connected with our Ford Figo in the lower middle of the windscreen, leaving a vertical yellow streak like a racing stripe. It was an awful thud but thankfully no crack in the windscreen. Unfortunately, Gary did not hold up as well. RIP.
Most of our merry band of travellers stayed at the Ecolodge on the edge of Greytown. It was welcoming, cost-effective and had evidence of almost all its previous owners. This green wall was probably when it was old-age home, and this blue one is perhaps from when it was a boarding school, we pondered as we played cards into the night.
Our group woke to instant coffee and a handful of horses with their young foals grazing in the green field outside the front door in the morning sun, making for an idyllic scene. But after oats, a top-up of our water bottles and some final backpack checks, it was time to head out.
The head of the Boesmanskloof hiking trial is a few feet above the floodplain of the Gobos River, named after a Hassequas Khoikhoi ancestral tribe chief in the 1800s. After some rock skipping, a jeep track meanders up into the Riviersonderend mountains proper. It is heavy going in the beginning, but the vertical gain (of which there is around 500m over the 14 km hike) gave us great views of a lush Greyton that clearly enjoyed the regions’ fantastic winter rains.
About 3km in, Breakfast Rock provides a neat area for a break with views, as the Gobos River on one side and Wolfkloof on the other. The jeep track continues its ascent to around the halfway point, where a sign greets hikers with the highest point of the hike. We stopped here and fired up the gas stove for some much-deserved tea and snacks while we waited for the group to catch up.
Reunited and re-energised, we headed along the single-track that zigged and zagged down to the river valley, where we could see a plethora of Calla lilies among the dense growth fuelled by the river. The path then takes another upward turn back up to a contour path and all the way to Okes Falls, which is undoubtedly the feature of the hike. A series of waterfalls cascading down to the Gobos and a large inviting pool greeted our weary legs.
It is the perfect place to relax, kick your boots off and take a dip in the fresh mountain water. For the more adventurous, you can climb up the side of the falls and jump in the tannin-rich waters.
The trail then heads back down along the Gobos, where we could see evidence of the fire that ravaged the area in late 2019. In a valley of yellow flowers dotted with the stark remains of burned trees, a yellow bishop perched in near-perfect camouflage on a blackened branch as we strolled by.
The trial then hops over the Gobos one last time before heading up for the final climb of the day. As we reached a buttress, we saw that the famous Galg Road lay ahead as a sign that civilisation is near. In some sections, dynamite was used to clear rocks, as is evident by the seemingly never-ending rockfall slope below.
The Road to Nowhere, which is carved into the side of the mountain, is the remnants of a failed mountain pass that was meant to link Greyton and McGregor, but never completed. The history of the project is murky, but the local lore indicates that money was pulled from the project as funding for the First World War became imperative.
Walking on this road I couldn’t help but wonder about the men that slaved on the road in those early days where safety was an afterthought. Some of those very men could have been pulled from those precarious heights and thrown into the toils of the war in South West Africa…
The final switchbacks took us up to our accommodation, the aptly named and perfectly comfortable Eagles Nest, complete with plunge pool. More tea and panoramic views of the Riviersonderend range greeted those who strolled in behind, all smiles as they realised just how special the venue is.
An impromptu yoga session was watched by some and enjoyed by others as the sun and clouds gave our day a spectacular send-off, setting in the valley from whence we came.
A collection of original texts 