Squeezed in between periods of either high temperatures or heavy wind, there was one window of opportunity: a peach of a morning, which happened to align perfectly with our planned hike.
Sixteen of us pitched, on time. We were happy to welcome back two missed regulars who had recovered from injury. The shuttle arrangements were executed smoothly and we were on our way.
This is one of my favourite routes. It has the kind of value-for-effort rating that makes it a strong contender when looking for a route to show off the paradise we live in to reasonably fit visitors.
The route runs from the viewpoint about a kilometre inside the entrance to the Cape of Good Hope section of the Table Mountain National Park to Buffels Bay. It is undulating and rocky but no serious scrambling is required. We climbed to the top of Judas Peak and followed the ridge of Die Boer, but skirted around Paulsberg. At Kanonkop, we turned left and made our way down to the old lime kiln, at sea level.
The vote to go for a swim at Venus Pool was unanimous, despite the cool conditions. It was a rather icy dip but there were no regrets. It was just the kind of refreshment needed to make an immediate lunch break the obvious choice.
From there, it was a leisurely meander along the coastal footpaths past Bordjiesrif to Buffels Bay, which we reached five and a half hours after the start.
If you joined us, you could have picked up snippets of conversation on the following topics:
- The merits of South African sunrises compared to those to be found elsewhere.
- Homemade hiking gaiters.
- Driving into boulders on the road. (Not recommended.)
- The weird belief by modern-day designers of large backpacks that hikers prefer one huge bag with no side pockets.
- The even weirder belief by modern-day designers of daypacks that hikers prefer delicate mesh side pockets that last about 5 outings. If you’re lucky.
Picture credits: Jane Fitzgerald, Julie Dyer, Margaret Möller, Christo Steyn.
