TAKE A HIKE
Do the easy Rasperpunt Trail in Agulhas National Park before brunch. BY ESMA MARNEWICK
The Rasperpunt Trail in Agulhas National Park will take you past shipwrecks, deserted bays, fynbos and a freshwater spring near the ocean.
Those of you who have been visiting Struisbaai and L’Agulhas for years – I’m willing to bet you’ve never hiked the Rasperpunt Trail. Maybe you haven’t even heard of it!
It’s a short trail in Agulhas National Park ( just over 5 km in total) and a great way to experience the different sections of the reserve: From a shipwreck to deserted bays, to coastal fynbos and a freshwater spring near the ocean.
The trail starts near the well-known wreck of the Meisho Maru 38, which is close enough to shore to take a photo with your cellphone. It was a Japanese fishing vessel that ran aground in 1982 – all 17 crew members managed to swim to safety and more than 200 tonnes of frozen tuna had to be removed.
From the wreck, you follow a white gravel trail through bietou and white bristle bush to a small, scenic bay – the first of seven.
The Agulhas Plain is an important part of the Cape Floral Region and there are about 100 plant species found here and nowhere else. Many are threatened by alien species, farming, urban development and harvesting – don’t pick anything!
The trail meanders along the beach and inland past various small bays until you reach a larger bay where fishermen cast for galjoen, mussel cracker and kabeljou. On the other side of this bay is Rasperpunt itself – a long peninsula that stretches into the sea. The point is covered in sharp rocks that often slice a fisherman’s line, hence the name: Rasper means “to grate” in Afrikaans. It’s an important archaeological site in the park – there are several shell middens in the area and fish traps in the adjacent bay. To get to the fish traps from Rasperpunt, follow a boardwalk for about 200 m and then a footpath that turns left.
Experts used to think that the traps were built by Khoikhoi people thousands of years ago, but more recent studies have shown that they were actually built by local farmers in the 19th and 20th centuries. No matter their origin, it’s a brilliant design: Fish are caught in the traps during low tide and can be harvested with a net or by hand.
Continue past the traps. Look at the vegetation growing at the water’s edge – there are reeds in the shallows! Look even closer and you’ll notice bubbles
rising to the surface – it’s a freshwater spring.
The trail heads inland from here. You walk through fields of fynbos and across the dirt road connecting L’Agulhas and Suiderstrand. From the dirt road, you climb a hill to a ridge with rocky flats on top (less than a kilometre). Sit up there and look back over the landscape you just walked through: a much better overview of the trail than you’ll find on any map. On a clear morning, you’ll be able to see the series of small bays and how far Rasperpunt juts into the sea. In the distance, the Meisho Maru rusts in the sun. On such a day, it’s hard to believe that seafarers were absolutely terrified of this stretch of coastline: Between Quoin Point (about 30 km to the west) and Arniston, hidden reefs, strong winds and currents buried more than 100 ships.
The rocky flats run parallel to the dirt road below for about 2 km. Carry on and look for everlastings and vygies growing among the rocks.
The trail finally descends from the plateau, crosses the dirt road again and returns to the Meisho Maru. If you planned ahead, you’ll be back at the beach house in time for brunch.