Green Mountain Trail, Elgin
Text and pictures: Richard Van Rhyneveld.
Source: This article is from the November 2011 issue of Country Life.
An Overberg slackpack hike that’s just made for lovers of fine food and wine, as well as the great outdoors.
The views from our lunch stop on top of the Groenlandberg above Elgin in the Western Cape were worth every bit of the six-kilometre climb up to it that morning. We could see as far as Hermanus and Cape Point in the south, as well as across Theewaterskloof Dam to the Franschhoek Mountains and Villiersdorp in the west. But one hiker had eyes for other things.
“Hey, isn’t that your third koeksister?” asked Alison Berange. Oops, caught with my hand in the cookie jar.
But could you blame me? As a traditional hiker accustomed to carrying all his own grub, I simply couldn’t keep my hands off the veritable feast that we found awaiting us all the way up there on day one of my first ever slackpacking hike, the Green Mountain Trail, part of the Overberg’s Green Mountain Eco Route. No wonder Fiona Mcintosh says in her A Guide to South Africa’s Leisure Routes that it’s ‘As much a gourmet experience as it is a beautiful hike. The guiding is superb, the fynbos exquisite and you are spoilt at every turn’.
A combination of luxurious accommodation, great company, great hiking, magnificent views, wine tasting and authentic country food, the Green Mountain Trail was dreamt up by Dr Paul Cluver of the Paul Cluver Estate, Murray Wiener of Porcupine Hills Olive and Guest Farm, and Alison Green of Wildekrans Country House – and it has made me a total convert to slackpacking.
The starting point is on Murray and Fiona Wiener’s Porcupine Hills farm between Bot River and Vyeboom. But in accordance with the well-planned itinerary, the hikers assemble the day before they set off, the idea being to give you time to unwind as well as get to know one another in advance.
And what a diverse bunch the eight of us were: Peter Christiansen from Denmark with his lovely wife, Anki Nilsson from Sweden, who now spends six months of the year in Simonstown; Mark and Jackie Atkinson from Surrey, England; Teresa Raposo, originally from Angola and Portugal but now from Cape Town; and finally Andre and Alison Berange, also from Cape Town, The team represented everything from a senior diplomat to an engineer, a lawyer; a chartered accountant and, of course, a chancer of a photojournalist, myself.
Murray Wiener; our host at Porcupine Hills, who wears dreadlocks seemingly styled on his establishment’s whimsical porcupine logo, is an old hand at making guests feel welcome.
Even so, it was amazing how easily we became friends in the pub, with its view over giant bluegums to sandstone cliffs where Verreauxs’ Eagles nest. The next day we would feel like eagles ourselves as we enjoyed the views, and the lunch prepared by Murray, from the top of the Groenlandberg.
And then of course there were the guides on the trail. Although I’m an experienced hiker; I soon learnt from them how little I really knew about the Cape mountains.
For the first two days we were led by Dominic Chadbon. An instant hit with the group, Dominic runs his own guiding company, The Fynbos Guy, and what an apt name it is considering Dominic’s knowledge of the flora, fauna and history of the area, as well as other things.
From him we learnt how to keep tokoloshes out of the house and how to commune with the ancestors, We also discovered a secret: When at a loss for the name of a plant, just say, “I know its Afrikaans name,” then call it anything you like, but make sure to preface the name with snot. Do this and you will be as near as dammit to correct – or so we all joked after Dom had shared a couple of Afrikaans plant names with us.
Dominic was ably assisted by Lucien Beaumont, son of the well-known Bot River winemaker Raoul Beaumont and his wife Jayne. A trained Silwood Kitchen chef and a qualified ranger with extensive bushveld experience, Lucien will soon be helping Murray run Porcupine Hills.
Murray and Dominic are also experienced bush manne, having worked in the Okavango Delta. Perhaps that’s why we were lucky enough to have Lucien identify leopard tracks on our first day. This set the pace for the next three days, whether it involved our suddenly coming across a pair of klipspringer or a young Verreauxs’ Eagle perched high in a tree.
But the Green Mountain Trail has something for everyone. On the second day it crosses arguably one of the most beautiful farms in the Overberg – the 2 000ha Paul Cluver Estate, which has been owned by the Cluver family since 1896. It was a privilege not only to taste their elegant wines, but also to walk across the farm.
Tony Norton took over as our guide on the third day. He was assisted by John Hartnick, who qualified as a guide at the Elgin Learning Foundation, an initiative set up by the Green Mountain Eco Route to help local people.
At this juncture I have to tell you about Wildekrans Country House at Houwhoek, our second outspan on this magic hike. Owned by Barry and Alison Green and filled with contemporary South African art, it, like Porcupine Hills, was our home for two nights, and oh how Alison and her fabulous staff of Mary Swarts and Anne Olckers spoiled us.
The last leg of the hike took us down the valley from Wildekrans, up a steep mountain slope and then down again to Lucien’s family home of Beaumont Wines in Bot River. Here we relished an alfresco lunch on the shaded stoep, looking down the Bot River valley to the blue mountains shimmering in the distance.
The reed-fringed dam invited quite a few of us in for a cooling dip, while others just sat in the shade tasting Beaumont’s famous wines. We experienced some hot weather on the hike but, thankfully, all the stops had somewhere we could cool off.
From being a hard-core hiker; I’ve now become a born-again slackpacker, and proud of it. No more 20kg backpack and freeze-dried spag bol for me. See you at the Green Mountain Trail headquarters… soon.
Green Mountain Trail 028 284 9827
Wildekrans Country House 028 284 9827 Porcupine Hills 028 284 9066.
More info on the town of Elgin | More info on the Cape Overberg |
|
Subscribe to Country LifeIf you enjoy serenity and beauty, and getting away from it all, subscribe to Country Life to be transported every month to a different back road journey. Subscribe to our NewsletterSign up to receive our digital newsletter and get the heart of the countryside – features, events and competitions – delivered to your inbox weekly. Latest issue of Country LifeSee what’s in the latest exciting issue of Country Life. |