RHENOSTERPOORT BUSH CAMP

DRAGABAG
HIKING CLUB
BLUE WILDEBEEST HIKING TRAIL
16-18 JANUARY 2015
Blue Wildebeest Hiking Trail is 10 km outside Badplaas, Mpumalanga, about 3
hours drive from Johannesburg.
Hikers: Edith, Beth, Gillian, Romany, Jim, Monica, Bev, Eiker and Annette
A warm welcome to a new member Romany.
The road to the hike was great and the camp easy to find. At the Badplaas
Aventura resort you turn south on to a dirt road. It is quite far but well worth the
trip.
The thatched stone cottage has 12 beds. There is no electricity but warm water is
provided by means of a donkey. There is an outside covered lapa and bathroom.
The main building also has ablutions and there is a chap who keeps the lapa
very clean and stokes the donkey. The view from the camp is lovely.
This was a two day base camp trail and is definitely one of the most beautiful
hikes ever! Both the first and second day's hike brings you to the mountain top
with splendid panoramic views of the whole Badplaas valley.
The first evening was surprisingly chilly for summer and on Saturday morning the
weather was overcast and it drizzled for a short while. The terrain was of rolling
grasslands and quite easy walking on the whole. But we were in for a treat that
words simply can't describe. Various grasses and what seemed like millions of
different and beautiful flowers, all of different shapes, sizes and colours, and
each more beautiful than the last.
We kept stopping and just tried to savour every view and piece of vegetation. The
views were topped off with the Blue Wildebeest and Blesbok with their calves.
Some of the Blesbok were white.
There is also a lot of history in the area and quite a few old stone structures.
At teatime we stopped and had tea alongside a pretty stream.
We had to leave before we were really ready because the weather was coming
in. But, we made it back to camp before the weather caught us. Yet again
walking through fields of flowers and different grasses. Some saw a large
leguaan at the aptly named Leguaan Pool. This was also where we came across
the Waterbessie trees with their edible fruit.
After a short climb we were back at the camp. The weather had been perfect for
the hike as it was cool and, thankfully, not an uncomfortably hot summer’s day.
We had afternoon tea at the camp and soon the fires were lit and it was time to
braai. It was a pleasant evening of chatting and laughing.
The next morning was more of the same and it was just as awe-inspiring as the
day before. You could not rush it, was just so amazingly stunning we just did not
want it to end.
At one point we saw the antelope before they saw us and instead of galloping
away they stood around – although somewhat gingerly.
We were also treated to a pair of Secretary Birds, and stopped to watch them for
quite a while.
At one point we walked past a tiny mole snake.
We joined up with the first day's trail just before our teatime stop from the
previous day. It wasn’t long before we were back at the camp and sad that the
beauty had ended.
It was definitely food for the soul and we all left feeling truly revived for the week
ahead.
Gillian - January 2015
http://dragabag.jimdo.com