On a high in the Highlands

By Kay-Ann van Rooyen
Published 11 July 2012

It’s a slackpacking trail with a difference… North of Barkly East in the Eastern Cape, in a farming area that lies in the embrace of the Witteberge and the tail end of the Drakensberg, you can go hiking, mountain biking, paddling and horse riding on the five-day High 5 Trail.

“Let’s observe a moment of silence,” Kate says solemnly, “for those stuck in traffic this morning.”
Of course, it’s Monday. I’d lost track of time out here in the Eastern Cape highlands, far from the city and the office, and already happily accustomed to life without cellphone contact, television and fast food. And it’s only been three days.

We’re trundling along on a dirt road in the Wartrail farming district, about 40 km north of Barkly East, surrounded by peaks of the Witteberge and the tail end of the Drakensberg. Phil Harrison is behind the wheel of his and Kate Nelson’s 4x2 Isuzu bakkie. With me on the tour is Carlie Norval, a photogra­pher from Port Elizabeth, and Janét Monteith, a project accountant at a platinum mine in Rustenberg.

For the past few days we’ve been discovering waterfalls, rock pools, sandstone rock overhangs and hidden valleys in this relatively unknown corner of the Eastern Cape on Wild Mountain Adventures’ High 5 Trail – while hiking, mountain biking, horse riding and… attempting to paddle.
Unlike the well-known Drakensberg tourist attractions, these parts are off-limits to visitors without a guide, and your chances of encountering a busful of German tourists are zero.

It’s a provincial road we’re driving on – the 3222, accord­ing to a weathered road sign – yet it takes us an hour to cover 8,6 km. Phil is driving slowly, having to negotiate rocks and gullies while towing a trailer loaded with mountain bikes, inflatable boats and tents.

“I assume there’s no news­paper delivery to your door here,” Carlie quips.
“Hmm, nor pizzas,” Phil says. “And when your need bread and milk, you bake a loaf and you go milk a cow.”

Read the article about this adventure in the July 2010 issue of go! magazine

---

back to galleries

Upload your images