TAKE A HIKE

Escape Gauteng – in Gauteng!

Escape the city in Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve near Heidelberg.

SUIKERBOSRAND NATURE RESERVE, HEIDELBERG If you put “Johannesburg” into Google Maps and zoom out, you’ll see a big green splodge south-east of the city: Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve. Hundreds of people stream to this 11 595 ha provincial reserve over weekends to hike and ride their bikes. The reserve was proclaimed in 1974 and named after the Transvaal sugarbush, which grows on the mountain slopes in great numbers. The area has a rich history. Pottery shards and ruins indicate that the hills were inhabited as early as the 16th century. A couple of centuries later, a certain Jan Gabriel Marais trekked here from Beaufort West and named his new farm Diepkloof. The original pioneer house dates from 1850 and is one of the oldest houses in Gauteng – it’s also one of the few original trek houses that wasn’t burnt down during the Anglo-Boer War. On a Saturday morning it takes me less than an hour to drive from Linden to the reserve. I get a brochure at the gate and decide to hike the short Cheetah Trail. The brochure indicates 13 points of interest along the way, including a cemetery, a cheesewood tree, the ruins of a kraal dating from the late Iron Age and some interesting lichen. I follow the trail as it winds through grassland and up a hill. Suikerbosrand is botanically diverse: You’ll find grassland, forested gorges, acacia veld and aloe veld. The reserve is also home to animals like kudu, springbok, zebra, red hartebeest and steenbok. What I enjoy most is that signs of civilisation – highways, houses, mines and factories – aren’t visible for much of the trail. Who would’ve thought that you could escape Gauteng – in Gauteng? According to the brochure, the Cheetah Trail should

take about 90 minutes to complete, or two hours if you’re as slow as I am. I stop at all the points of interest, sit on the rocks, look at the Suikerbosrand Mountains and breathe in the fresh air. After the hike, I visit the information centre and the old farmyard. The houses – including the original homestead, a wagon house and an old school – have been renovated and give you an idea how the pioneers lived back in the day. Next time I’ll bring my backpack and do one of the multi-day trails – I want to wake up in a hut in these hills.

HELLO SILENCE, MY OLD FRIEND. The starting point of the familyfriendly Cheetah Trail is close to the parking lot and easy to find. The route is also well marked.

FARM LIFE. Near the original Diepkloof homestead (in the background) there’s a dam where the children can play. Have a picnic here after you‘ve completed one of the day hikes in the reserve.