A clear head at Loskop Dam
Campfire legend has it that ‘dark-cave’ creatures of certain deep mountain gorges are patient observers of intruders in their territory. The story also goes that these local critters – snakes and baboons – often crawl out of their caves and into tented comforts at night for human warmth and leave before dawn, only to return after midnight. The Rooikrans Trail is home to a couple of these creatures. Until a friend recommended it for the April long weekend, we knew nothing about this trail except that it is near the Loskop Dam in Mpumalanga. As I celebrated three years into a hobby that my rural father refers to as ‘just a walk in the forest’ – something they regularly do to look for their livestock herds – I admit that I did little research on this hiking paradise. I wanted to surprise my hiking spirit. Observant Nguni cattle followed our moves until we disappeared into the upper reaches. After a chain ascent to the top of the mountains, and a lengthy brunch, we hiked into a rather shaky supernatural wind. We saw nothing but grass moving at a quick pace. Although you stroll through their territory and swim in the waterfalls and pools, the baboons respect you as their brainy cousins. How come they allowed me to climb up into their mountain gorge? Maybe they anticipated a rather hearty welcome from the ‘dark-cave’ snakes, or were they waiting for their turn to invade our tented community in the dead of night? Since joining the hiking community, Getaway has inspired me to travel to places like the Fish River Canyon. –