Hiking the Otter Trail - Day one and Two

The Otter Trail on the Cape East Coast, South Africa should be on every nature lovers bucket list!!

Warning: There is a waiting list to get on the trail… so plan it now

image source
A five day hike with a maximum 12 people per day, it is a beautiful but somewhat challenging hike which includes fording and swimming rivers on three of the five days. Every day starts with a climb and ends with a steep decline as one walks along the mountain slopes and through the forests during the day and sleep with the ocean on your doorstep.

The start… and unfortunately I have no photo’s of the first afternoons hike as it was pouring with rain and the first two hours we hiked along the coast over wet slippery rocks. We also set out rather late and we had a limited amount of daylight to make the first over night hut.

I am going to do this in three parts as it is mainly pictures, and I include some less than perfect photo’s just to show the environment so please don’t critic the photography

Note to self: Do not tag with PHOTOGRAPHY

Arrive at the first night stop over. All the huts are exactly the same, no electricity, no inside running water. Wood is provided for a fire everything else one carries for oneself.

We all carried some fresh meat for a braai (barbecue) for the first night. It will be the last fresh meat we eat for a week.

Some wild cats were attracted by the smell of our cooking meat.

We departed early the next morning, and by 08h30 when this picture was taken we had reached the first lookout deck. This photo is of my sister and brother-in-law……

he would take a nasty fall on day four and would need to be evacuated by helicopter straight to hospital

where he was operated on the following morning. All turned out well though, thankfully.

Below, my girl waiting patiently for a very unfit me…. Have a look at the steps going up behind her. Damn were my legs sore every night.

Four hours later we reached the highest deck..

And a very relieved @themagus and his super fit partner … the rolling hills you see behind us were all traversed that morning

End of day two, sitting around the campfire enjoying a beverage of choice…. Mine was whiskey and fresh river water (plenty streams with cold crystal clear water)... before braving a challenging cold shower

And preparing dinner in the hut, herb and Moroccan spice couscous …..

Just a brief summary, and as I said, the pics are to tell the story. I will continue with day three and four in a later blog and I will try include more forest and flora photo's to try and show off the beauty of the natural environment.