Sunday the 20th of June was a lovely winter’s day and Tony, the boys and I spent the day out walking. It was perfect weather and the scenery absolutely stunning. We started the walk from Witsieshoek Mountain Lodge to Mahai Waterfall where we had planned to turn around and go back home, however the adventurous side kicked in and we kept on going and were not disappointed. We experienced amazing scenery as well as baboons and antelope on the mountain slopes.

The amazing thing about this walk is that the scenery keeps on changing. From Witsieshoek Mountain Lodge to Mahai Waterfall takes approximately 45 minutes and after about an hour and a half we reached the beautiful Mahai Forest which has the look and feel of a fairy forest; it was absolutely breathtaking. We continued on to the turn to The Crack below Sphinx Rock.  The start of the Crack’s path is very steep and you do need to have some level of fitness. The climb up The Crack requires some rock climbing as well as a climb up a short chain ladder. I would not recommend this for the very young. The walk via Mahai Falls to and out of The Crack and back to Witsieshoek is at least 5 hours.



I would recommend a family walk with a picnic basket to the Mahai Forest. After the picnic walk back via Mahai Falls. This walk is in total 3-4 hours, depending on your pace. There are numerous other ½ day and day hikes in our immediate area and I will write about these in detail in further news items.

The Crack is on the route of the very challenging Mount Aux Sources Challenge which takes place each year and consists of a 50km run up mountain passes, chain ladders and steep gullies to the top of the Amphitheatre and back, beginning and ending in the Royal Natal Park. Only 212 participants take part. The start / finish is in the Royal Natal Park at 1300 meters (4300 ft) and peaks at 3100 meters (10200 ft) giving an overall ascent / descent of 1800 meters (5900 ft). The aim of the challenge is to raise funds to save the Bearded Vultures.