Karen Watkins
WHAT do you do when the only thing between your buttocks and a heap of boulders is a flimsy lilo? Grinding over rapids, heading for a waterfall, clinging on for dear life, there’s no way out. Whoopee!
With the climate change conference in Paris and a falling rand it makes cents to stay home. Added to this, it’s better for your carbon footprint what with air travel being the highest carbon sin.
But that had nothing to do with our trip. It all began in February 2012 with the opening of eco-cabins at Oudebosch in Kogelberg Nature Reserve. Remember the old accommodation? Dark, functional, wooden sheds, burnt down in one of many veldfires.
The new self-catering cabins might be eco-friendly and blend in with the surroundings but aesthetics and comfort certainly didn’t take a back seat. Having tried to book many times with weekends being fully booked in the long-term the only thing to do was bunk work and to go mid-week. Instead we created a road trip around a booking at Kogelberg and took a week off work.
Four friends – two water babies, two mountaineers – the criteria was loose but with a preference for wine and olive tasting, somewhere to swim and somewhere to hike and preferably with four beds in four rooms.
Windows down, music blaring, waving Cape Town goodbye we were soon hot and in need of a swim. Taking a right at Gordon’s Bay, weaving and winding along Clarence Drive we joined other bathers splashing through waves in Kogel Bay.
Back on the road Steve wanted to turn off at Pringle Bay. Why? Because he’d never been there before, actually neither had I.
Dominated by Cape Hangklip it appears to be a sleepy holiday village until you continue along the road in search of the sea. Despite it being the foulest dirt road known to city plastic cars we were not the only ones to travel it that day.
With blaring noise and lots of vehicles we stumbled on a rave, our first, very loud, but I’m talking ear-splitting loud, with trance-like techno-music, and all in daylight. People of all ages swayed to the beat, dancing alone, waving a drink or joint through sea-scented air.
Hangklip Hotel is dwarfed by the iconic mountain of the same name that we see protruding from the opposite side of False Bay. Built in 1939, the funky, no-frills hotel has eccentric decor and rooftop terrace that’s a great place to be at sunset.
Later, regaling our travel tale to Peter and Sandy, they were inspired to climb the peak. It may be a mere 454m but scaling Hangklip is not easy, especially in strong wind, but they made it to the beacon.
Meanwhile, after a beer in the bar we needed another swim. Our next stop was in the fresh water of the Palmiet River just a short walk off the R44.
“Which way to the sea,” said a guy as he came crashing from reeds (palmiet). It was only later, over a glass of local wine, that we realised he must have swum down the river. This cemented my idea of the possibility of floating down the Palmiet.
Driving into Kogelberg was the final step towards shedding the mantle of city stress and yet being juxtaposed between possibilities of relaxation against adventurous possibilities. And we intended to have all of that.
Kogelberg Nature Reserve is often considered the heart of the Cape Floral Kingdom. It lies within the southern area of the rugged Hottentots Holland mountain range and is unspoilt, wild and isolated.
Managed by CapeNature the eco-cabins are made from local timber and stone and stand on stilts linked by wooden walkways. They are constructed with renewable materials that are in keeping with the touching the earth lightly philosophy and creating as little impact on the surroundings as possible. Named after local plants: everlasting daisy, erica, fire lily, marsh rose and palmiet, the glass-fronted lounge and fully equipped kitchen opens onto a deck or courtyard, depending on which cabin you choose.
Interesting features are the planted roofs that blend in with the pristine surroundings of this World Heritage Site.
They also act as insulation, keeping the cabins cool in summer, while indoor fireplaces keep you warm in winter.
The basic trestle style dining tables are illuminated with quirky chandeliers of recycled bottles followed through in the bedrooms and adding character to the simple decor.
Waste-water from the shower falls through slats to be fed to a filtration plant and used for the gardens. The guys were initially suspicious of the composting toilets and leaving the seats up. Initially concerned about odour they soon warmed to the idea of the non-waterless method.
The central eco-pool pool has no chemicals and works on a simple regeneration and cleaning process assisted by aquatic plants.
But we were here for adventure. Kogelberg is a biodiversity hotspot with 1 654 plant species, of which about 150 are endemic – occurring nowhere else.
The guys decided to hike up Odebosch and into Leopard’s Kloof within the Harold Porter Nature Reserve, a distance of six-kilometre, taking four hours. Having done it many times I had other plans but joined them for the first part, capturing pictures of plants, and then returning to the cabin to prepare for my aquatic trail.
Following a footpath below the camp the river is about 15 minutes from the cabins. The reserve initially appeared to be deserted, it was a weekday after all, but I was not alone.
This was heart-warming seeing as the plan was to launch a lilo and float through long pools of tannin-tinged water.
Seen from the footpath the river is interspersed with stretches of bush and mystery, actually what turned out to be narrow channels with rapids, small waterfalls, boulders and palmiet. Hence the bumping, some bruising, much giggling and no broken bones.
A reunion with the guys and beers at the restaurant in the immaculately manicured Harold Porter Reserve was a fitting end to our visit.
All too soon it was time to leave this parcel of peaceful paradise. Sandy and Peter left to climb Hangklip while we drove south-east along the coast towards Kleinmond.
The vast flat wetland to the right is home to herds of wild horses that were abandoned by a British garrison after the Anglo-Boer War. Having paddled on the Bot River Lagoon and from the Kleinmond estuary in search of the channel that joins the two, searching out the horses we saw two herds, grazing the waters’ edge. Hopefully they’ll be there for many more years.
l Watkins is the author of Off the Beaten Track.