Steenbok Trail, Postberg, 9, 13 and 20 August 2026:
Bookings for the trails in Postberg open on 1 June every year, and the phones remain jammed for at least 2 hours while hike leaders try to secure a date. These trails are only open to the public for 2 months every year, and being immensely popular, weekend dates are fully booked by 10:00 that morning! By the time we got through there was exactly one weekend day left and only for 10 hikers! At least the Thursday dates were easier to come by with more places available.
All in all 3 Postberg meets were booked and are set out below, each with their own different delights…
Sunday 9 August, 9 members: Usually it is rain that requires cancellation of the meet. This time there was a 50kph wind forecast!!! And a bit of rain at 10:00! But we braved it! It did indeed rain rather hard for about 5 minutes at our tea spot. Fortunately the wind, although rather strong for about 30 minutes after lunch at Plankies Bay, never reached the forecast speed and was mostly on our backs. Flowers don’t like strong wind. Nevertheless they provided us with pleasing views of dense orange, white and purple fields from noon onwards; and along the way with individual treats like sparaxis, Saldanha pypie and ferraria crispa. The drive from the park entrance gate towards the Postberg entrance already provided us with wildlife sightings ranging from a mouse and mongoose to bontebok, duiker and steenbok! During our walk we were treated to zebra, and later a bontebok walking towards us (we were downwind), then bounding away past us. As usual, after the official hike, we drove to Pulpit Rock to have refreshments on the little peaceful beach as we wound down from the day before the long drive home. A cheeky, opportunistic seagull grabbed the one chocolate slab (fortunately nearly empty) and dropped it in the water. What a waste!
Thursday 13 August, 20 members: Clear skies, a very warm day, walking into a strong north wind most of the time. The flowers already differed from 4 days earlier! More moraeas, more bokbaai vygies, but the gladioli were past their best. And this time we added gemsbok to our viewing, also close up zebra, while one member had a close encounter with a large mole snake! And we saw 5 tortoises! At one point there were 2 together – one on its back and the other one (we later realised) lording it over the upside down one. We turned that one the right way up, and as it began briskly walking off the other one followed immediately, deliberately nosing the other one upside down again! 2 males – dominance? Tortoises are named for the contorted way the front legs move (see photo). The tide was so high at our after-hike spot at Pulpit Rock that the water lapped the bottom of the steps to the beach and we had to clamber up rocks to find dry spots. A few members took the opportunity to round off with a swim.
Thursday 20 August: 15 hikers: A perfect weather day for hiking. At first no wind, cool, and very thin, high cloud. The wind picked up later. From the point of flower viewing, this day was much the same as the one on 13 August. The main difference was the greater number of already flowering ferraria crispa. What a treat! The animals, although visible, were not close up as on the previous days.
And thus ended for us this year’s hiking in Postberg.
Photos by: Many enthusiasts
