Find freedom Great Karoo in the

Remember Sylvester – the lion that escaped twice from the Karoo National Park? On the four-day Heuningland Slack-packing Trail near Beaufort West, you can retrace Sylvester’s steps and catch a whiff of freedom yourself.

The silence sings in my ears. Ssssh. I’m on a plateau in the Nuweveld Mountains on day three of the Heuningland Slackpacking Trail. So far, I’ve walked more than 60 km. That’s a lot of time on your feet! My calf muscles are sore and I have aches and pains all over. I haven’t had cellphone reception for ages and I’m not even sure what day of the week it is. Is it Monday? I hear a distant droning noise: Probably an aeroplane tracking north over Sutherland, full of people on their way to boardrooms in Joburg where time is measured in money. Not here. I have one task for the day: to hike 18 km to a farm called Kareebos. Along the way, I ponder the words of American author and illustrator Maira Kalman: “Go out and walk. That is the glory of life.” Three days ago, a yellow Kellogg’s box with a red arrow on it pointed me to the farm Rietfontein, where I met my fellow hikers, among others an IT expert, a pharmacy assistant, a farmer, an entrepreneur, a retired scientist, a former elevator technician and a digital marketer. Rietfontein is 72 km from Beaufort West, bordering the Karoo National Park. Douwe Vlok grew up here and he and his wife Liezl manage the four-day Heuningland Slackpacking Trail. “Welcome to the foyer of Heaven,” said Liezl that first afternoon. Later, around the campfire, Douwe explained how things would work over the next few days. We would walk 100 km in total, but we’d only need to carry a daypack. The rest of our stuff would be transported to each overnight stop. We’d be walking along gravel roads and jeep tracks in a deserted

landscape, far from the N1. The trail wouldn’t be marked, but we’d each get a set of flash cards with directions to water points, farmsteads and the like. Each person would set his or her own pace. “If you want to hike on your own, you can do that. If you hit it off with someone and want to hike with them, it’s up to you,” Douwe said. Then he told us more about Sylvester, surely the most famous lion in South Africa. Sylvester escaped from the Karoo National Park twice – in 2015 and 2016. The first time he escaped, he spent 24 days wandering around the area where we’d be hiking and killed as many as 30 animals. Thankfully, the problem lion has since been moved to Addo.

Back on the plateau, I take a deep breath of fresh Karoo air. In the distance, a sheep bleats. My girlfriend Catharien and I are walking at the back, but it feels as if we’re alone. The other 12 hikers are so far ahead we can’t even see them. I think of Sylvester again, and the sense of freedom he must have felt when he crawled through the park fence…

DAY 1 Rietfontein to Oukloof (30 km)

It’s Saturday. The kettle is already bubbling on the fire when we get up. We help ourselves to fruit, muesli, cereal and rusks. Lunch, which we’ll carry with us, is spread out on a table: bread, tomatoes, jam, leftover chicken, juice, muffins and date balls. Catharien and I are the last to leave. The