Blog Header Image Karoo National Park

I have found another favourite image for the blog, so sadly, this one is now also going to have to go...

Alex and I visited the Karoo National Park during 2010 Easter.  Wow, again, what a stunning National Park this is!  We just loved it here. There was so much variety to see, but we were both very happy to squeeze in some time for a hike up this mountain.  To be able to see the park from here was so beautiful.  We had been all over the park, and now had the opportunity to view some our tracks from above.

I loved the mini 4x4 route that we went on... much to Alex's dismay... he kept on wanting his car back, but I was having way too much fun behind the wheel.  And tracking the animals in the dry river beds was taking me back to my childhood days of growing up next to Kruger National Park where my dad was forever showing me animal tracks.  I was almost certain I saw the tracks of a baby black rhino! Well, this I will just never know for sure.  Whether true or not, in my heart, and at that moment, I believed it 100%.

A visit to the Fossil Trail was mind blowing!  ... have you ever seen fossil remains of animals that were considered extinct 30 million years before the dinosaurs roamed the earth?  This park has them a dime a dozen!

I can talk about this park forever, but for now, this park comes highly recommended and can be covered comfortably with a 4x2 high clearance vehicle over a 3 day period.  Enjoy!

Devils Peak from Google Earth via my Garmin GPS

Alex dragged me up Devils yesterday, and oh boy, am I feeling it today!  When I said Devils Peak The Easy Route... I did not mean its easy, I meant "the easy route" as in there are way more difficult / hard routes that can take you up to 6 hours just going up.

Having hiked this route so many times before, I must say that this time I was very exhausted at the end.  (Burnt 1200 calories - not too bad for 'just a hike') I guess its been a while since we have been hiking good routes again.  

Above is the reading that our Garmin eTrex Legend produced for us on my computer.The above vertical profile shows that we climbed 610m over a distance of 2.76km.

Remember that you can read more about this routes and its details in other posts of ours: Hiking Devils Peak

I dont normally re-write about a route that I have been on (blogging is very hard work - just in case you dont know it yet!), but this one deserved some more attention as I had a reader from Germany who asked me some questions which I thought I would answer via this blog entry.

The first thing that is important is that we have noted that Table Mountain National Park have changed all the signs on the mountain.  Thank you guys!

On the 2 signs that we did come across, some of the information was incorrect and the suggested changes were made with red indicators as you will see when you read on.

To get there take the Tafelberg Road which runs past the Lower Cable Station of Table Mountain Cable Way.  About 3 km from the Cable Station, the path starts to the right (and opposite a car park) as indicated in the image below (or read my other posts of Devils Peak).

Soon you will be climbing steep steps that zigzag their way up the mountain towards the Contour Path.

As you see in the image below, when you cross over the contour path, the sign is easily misleading, so focus on the path going more upwards than the one flattening out (Contour path / Oppelskop).  You should be heading towards the Saddle (but the arrow is wrong), so focus on going upwards.

After the above, crossing the path continues to zig zag its way up.  Again, if you see other paths, continue to follow the one that is going up, until the path flattens out and heads towards the saddle.

A brisk 10 minute walk on a semi flat route, will take you to a T-junction by the Saddle.

Notice a large rock on the left and a small stream flowing on the right. This is where you turn right.

After your right turn at the T-junction by the Saddle and the big rock, follow your nose and the stream for another 10 minutes.

Soon you will reach another sign, showing Devils peak is the way back. That is wrong. This is your mark where you do not go back to where you came from, but rather do you turn left and head up the steep slate and rather loose rocks to slog your way all the way to the top.  They have upgraded this path about a year ago, but the rocks are still fairly loose and slippery.

Once we reached the top of Devils Peak, we headed for a spot away from the wind (the wind is always blowing up here!) and had our well deserved cuppa Nescafe Cuppachino :)

The view from here never seizes to amaze us.  So relaxing and so beautiful!

On our way down, we came upon a group of people who were putting up this flag and banner.

We asked them what they were up to and they explained to us that they are protesting and trying to get the name of Devils peak to be changed to Windberg or Duiweberg as it was originally known to be. 

The Legend has it that the devil disappeared onto this mountain 300 years ago, hence the name Devils Peak.  There are other stories about where its name originated from, but a name change will be great.

The coloured flag was a prayer and the other the symbol of the cross.

More information and pictures about this hike can be found here.

Warning Attacks on Table Mountain

Hi all,

I have just received a message from Table Mountain Safety Action Group via Cape Town Hiking Club.  Looks like these guys / criminals need to get nabbed asap.  Its likely that they are the same 2 people attacking hikers.  Please do not walk alone.  Im always so frustrated when I hear about the hikers that venture off into the hills on their own.  Apart from being a perfect target for abuse by a potential criminal, if a snake bites you or you twist your ankle, you put yourself into great danger. Spending the night alone on the mountain can almost predict certain death.

The idea is to join a hiking group that will suite your hiking style. There are hiking groups being created all the time.  Some people like to walk fast, others like walking slower (sometimes avid photographers), others like talking, some dont... find your perfect hiking partner/s and go out and enjoy the mountain.  Never think you are safe, always make sure you know how to defend yourself when approached or attacked.  Best thing is to try and run away of course, but if that is not possible, try to at least prepare yourself for if it happens to you.  Good luck friends!  and hope to run into you sometime on the mountain too :)

OK, im done moaning.  Im really sorry to hear of this terrible experience that these people endured and hope they catch the criminals soon.  We always carry a shocker and a mace spray on us... you just never know.

Regards, Juanita

Just a warning notice that there have been two attacks in this area over the past 10 days or so.  Not much detail is available but we understand that the more recent attack (last day or two?) was particularly nasty.  We are going to ask TMNP for more detail on this one.  It may also have been picked up by the press so check the Cape Times today / yesterday. More on this one later, hopefully.

The other attack occurred in Newlands Forest specifically - about 10 days ago or so.  Here is the text we received with regards that one:

From a Facebook entry:  is traumatised after being attacked in Newlands Forest yesterday by two men with bottles that they broke on a stone and used as weapons. After that spent whole day looking for Josie (the dog) who ran off scared as a mouse, shame, found her again with the help of amazing friends. Such is life in South Africa. But South African men must be applauded for the way they step up in a crisis!

If anyone knows more, plllleeasse let us know.  This way we can get the facts out soonest to warn others.  Especially with the weekend coming up.  We need locations and any form of description.

Regards Andre TMSAG

I get to meet Zakumi, our famous FIFA 2010 mascot

Zakumi is a leopard, a common animal found in South Africa, with green hair wearing a shirt saying South Africa 2010.

Zakumi's green and gold colors represents South African national sports' teams colors. He is the South African mascot for the FIFA 2010 coming up in June and July this year.

His name comes from "ZA", the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code for South Africa, and "kumi", a word that means "ten" in various African languages.

Keep your eyes out for Zakumi when you come to hike in our mountains when you visit our beautiful country :)

Hyena Trap Karoo National Park

The Hyena Trap: Early stock farmers of the Karoo Area built these traps in their attempt to eliminate the brown hyena, jackal and leopards in the area.

I think it was a very cruel thing that they did, but we cant change history, and hopefully only learn from these mistakes of the past.

The Brown Hyena is now sadly extinct from this area.

Even though this is not a hike as such, its one of the many interesting places you can visit when you go to the Karoo National Park.  Its within walking distance from the main reception, but there are also other traps similar to this located all over the park and can be seen if you go for a drive around.

Contact Information: Karoo National Park

Main Camp Phone: 023 415 2828 / karooreservations@sanparks.org

SANPARKS Reservation Phone: 012 428 9111 Pretoria / 021 422 2816 Cape Town
reservations@sanparks.org
www.sanparks.org

Karoo National Park Fossil Trail

Wow... check this out man! These fossils were extinct 30 million years before dinosaurs evolved. How cool is that?  The Karoo has an immense amount of very interesting history of the earth from the days before the separation of the Gondwana Land.  No where else in the world is there a place as special as this place. 24 000 fossils have been found here since this park was declared a World Heritage Site.  You just have to come over and see history of 300 - 250 million years ago. 

The start of the trail is within walking distance from the Reception of the Main Camp and about 200m in distance.

BRADYSAURUS - This fossil was donated to the park.

"... hello Brad! Nice to meet you too :)"

100 Million Years of Geological History.  The Karoo was a massive inland sea.

The Permian Deep South: when all the major continents were still grouped together into a single super continent called Pangaea.

Map of Gondwana Land:

Rhinesuchus - Amphibian Monsters, closer related to frogs than reptiles like crocodiles.

Diictodon - I liked this one the most. It had so much character.

The Fossil Trail in the Karoo National Park is not very long, but you could spend a good hour or more on this short route.  As you can see in the pic below, its right next to the Main Camp.  Here I have my chief photographer caught snapping away - I just love the way he gets so carried away when he takes pictures :)  Thanks Al for all the stunning photos!

This park has so much to offer, we had to almost run through everything. I would not mind coming back here some day soon to experience it all again.  The vast open spaces, the stars at night, the silence of nothing, it was an awesome experience.

The Park is very well maintained. The people were so friendly and helpful. Thumbs up for this Sanparks venue.

Karoo National Park Pointer Hiking Trail

Hiking in the Karoo National Park proved to be one not to be missed. Ive been to many parks and hiked all over, this one was lovely. The hike itself was not the best hike Ive ever had, but was absolutely stunning.  The total experience of the Karoo National Park was awesome. This park is very underrated and I think talking about the entire experience as a whole is the only way to go.  I cant cover it all in one post, so the rest of our experience at the KNP, will be published in future posts.

Directions to get there: From Cape Town CBD, take the N1 for about 460km.  About 2 km before you reach Beaufort West, you will see a sign on your left for the Karoo National Park

Hiking Trail: Pointer Trail
Name of Reserve / Area: Karoo National Park  BIG SKY COUNTRY. Read on to find out why we say so :)

Nearest Town: Beaufort West
Province: Western Cape
Country: South Africa

Rising early has never been one of my favourite things to do, but with Boot Camp Al by my side, whilst we are visiting a Sanparks venue, I have little choice but to bear the cold darkness before the sun rise and head for the hills.  Its true, once you are up, its a wonderful time to enjoy the sun rise and the fresh feeling of a new day.  The weather has a end of summer chill in the air, but as that sun rises, oh boy... do you know about it.

In the pic below you will be able to see the camp in the back, as we heading up the hill.  At first we started walking on the 800m Bossie Trail, but soon we realised we were on the wrong route.  The Bossie Trail is very interesting to say the least, as each bush is marked with a number and the guided numbered route has a detailed field guide that explains to one as you follow the path. Since this path was not on our agenda for the time being, we had to back-track through the bush to get onto the path that would guide us to the top of the world.

Duration of hike: 3 hours and the distance was 5.6km.  This trail has the extended option to do the entire contour of this mountain of about 12km, but due to our limited time we chose to do the shorter option.  We headed off into the trail about 6am, but took it rather slow to make sure we absorb and capture everything this route had to offer us.

Our aim was to reach the top of the right peak in the image below. On our way up we caught up with a large group of hikers.  I love finding people on the mountain. 

Soon we were able to see the town of Beaufort West in the far distance.  Beaufort West is the nearest town to the Karoo National Park and also considered the halfway mark for long distance travellers between Gauteng and the Cape Province.  They also have this kick ass little butchery called Groot Marino hidden in the town.  We did a special trip into town to go and find this place.  You know, if the locals recommend it, then you just cant miss out on the opportunity.  The place was ordinarily packed inside.  A queue for the biltong was averaging 15 people constantly, and double that for the fresh meat.  Never in our lives have we had such lekka biltong or the best boeriewors you will ever taste.  Wowee... what a nice treat!  ok, enough about the yummie meat that we could get our hands on, lemme get on with the hike.

Best time of year to go: Well, we went in April. I guess in the Karoo you can expect extreme temperatures both in Winter and Summer.  The weather in April was just perfect!  As we assended, the weather was perfect, but during the descent I really began to feel the Karoo heat.

Once we reached the saddle, the path turned to the right again.  Here we were again spoilt with the views of the vast open plains of the Karoo National Park.

What costs did you incur to do this hike: None to do the hike, but there is a fee for entrace to the park.
Wildcard Holders have all year round free entry to all Sanparks Reserves 086 123 4001

Being ontop of this hill really brought a sense of complete tranquility to me.  I just loved looking down onto the camp and the entire area understand the park a little better.

How safe is it: There is no crime here. One has to keep an eye out for the animals.  We have been warned to stay away from the Black Rhino and the Buffalo if we do come across them.

A coffee break on the best lookout point one can find! The crowd of people continued to walk on and soon we found ourselves completely alone and it felt really like we were ontop of the world.  It was so peaceful here, we just sat on this beautiful rock staring down into the vastness in front of us.

Fresh Water: none. (thats why its also a great idea to take your coffee flask with you too )

Difficulty: Path is well marked with Yellow Paint spots on all the rocks.

I just love this picture of me looking back into the distance as far south as the eye can see.  This view shows you only the 180degree view of a 360 degree that you can see from here.

Heading back down again proved to be beautiful landscapes all the way down.

Pets: Not allowed

As the shadows of the morning get shorter, we get to feel the might of the Karoo heat.

How will I rate this hike?
Once you have traveled all the drivable routes that the park has to offer, you just have to take a climb up this beautiful hill. It was not very high, we started on about 930m above sea-level, but climbed to about 1166m. The total climb was about 240m.  The reception has a map of the route.

The path ends with a short walk in a dry river-bed back to the main camp.

We were happy to do this walk as they will soon be introducing lions to the park in about 3 months from now, then this self guided hiking trail will become a guided hiking trail.  When you reach the top, you can appreciate almost the entire park in a distance.  This walk comes highly recommended to everyone who visits the park.

In the map image below the route is indicated by the yellow dotted line.

An awesome walk in a very beautiful Karoo National Park!

Contact Information:
Reservation Phone: 012 428 9111 Pretoria / 021 422 2816 Cape Town
reservations@sanparks.org
www.sanparks.org
Main Camp Phone: 023 415 2828
karooreservations@sanparks.org