Diversity Trail Featured on Business Day

Exciting news! The Diversity Trail was recently featured on Business Day! Read the full article published below.

I love the smell of fynbos in the morning! Exploring Overberg's Diversity Trail hike

On the Diversity Trail at Walker Bay, walking is only a small part of a leisurely learning experience.

Published Date: 23 August 2023 - 05:00

by Richard Holmes

When I first signed on to hike a new slack-packing trail through the fynbos-clad hills of the Overberg, I didn’t expect it to begin how it did. On a boat.

But then, after all, that is rather the point of the Diversity Trail.

While many local hiking trails put all the focus on the voetslaan, marching out the miles from A to B each day, the Diversity Trail takes a different tack.

Over five leisurely days, and just three focused on walking, hikers meander along 35km of trail through the Grootbos Private Nature Reserve and the Walker Bay Fynbos Conservancy, between Stanford and Gansbaai.

From the formation of its ancient soils to the plant species found nowhere else on earth, the trail is all about delving deep into a landscape that rolls from high peaks and Milkwood forests to ancient coastal caves and the languid Klein River.

Which is how I find myself stepping aboard the Lady Stanford one blustery Sunday afternoon. Winter still had its claws in the Cape, and the wind whipping in off Walker Bay demanded all the layers we could muster.

I’d met my fellow hikers over a light lunch at Stanford Kitchen - a charming eatery in the village’s main drag - before wandering down to the creaky wooden jetty to step aboard. And, to my surprise, it’s a wonderful way to ease into a few days on the trail.

As we motored downstream the Klein River Mountains framed the northern skyline, while the hills we would be wandering across scampered up to the south. Leaving the village behind, both the skipper and our trail guide, Christoff Longland, pointed out the remarkable birdlife that calls this river home: red-billed Teal and white-faced whistling ducks along the water’s edge, black sparrowhawks and African fish eagles in the boughs above. Before the cold got the better of us we turned for home, with a short drive to our home for the next few days of wild fynbos wandering.

Bellavista Country Place is a private lodge within the 25,000ha conservancy, dishing up panoramic views out across Walker Bay. When the weather’s clear, those “beautiful views” stretch as far as Cape Point. Hikers enjoy luxurious private suites, and because each day’s walking starts and ends here you’ll only have to unpack once, returning home each evening for a wine tasting on the terrace and dinner by the fireside.

Our first day on the trail broke bright and cold, a sandy path leading along the flanks of the Middelberg. Bellavista was barely out of sight before we stopped for our first sighting, the tracks of a Cape grey mongoose in the damp soil. With the day still cold the gentle uphill was welcome, as we walked to the soundtrack of Cape sugarbirds feasting on pincushion proteas, and the call-and-response of the southern boubou hidden amid stands of thick conebush. They are both - Christoff shared - among the 330 different protea species found in the fynbos.

“The family is named for Proteus, the shape-shifter in Greek mythology,” he explained, pointing out Protea obtusifolia, the colourful Bredasdorp protea common to the limestone soils along this coastline.

As we near the top of the hill, the view opens out to reveal more of the Walker Bay Fynbos Conservancy, a partnership between private landowners and CapeNature that protects about 25,000ha of fynbos landscape.

And it certainly needs protecting. Of the 1,000 species recorded here, some occur nowhere else on earth other than these hillsides, says Christoff, grabbing a swatch of Erica irregularis.

This Gansbaai heath grows only within a narrow 12km corridor between Stanford and De Kelders, and about 80% of it is found on Grootbos land. It’s also one of six plant species entirely new to science that have been discovered here over the past 25 years of conservation.

But it’s not just the eye-catching endemics that come to life with a talented guide leading the way. Beneath forest boughs, Longland enthuses about the pile of sand excavated by a Cape dune mole-rat.

“Moles are the landscape architects out here,” he says, shoving his hand happily into the sandy soil. “Here in the fynbos, they are incredibly important in creating habitats for other animals. They also move old soil around, circulating nutrients and bringing bulbs up to the surface. And, they’re food for predators.”

I’ll never look at a molehill the same way again.

In the afternoon our path leads down through old-growth forests, where leopard claws scar the bark of a Milkwood tree and the snoring rumble of Western leopard toads shepherd us towards a long-awaited lunch, served on the sunny stoep of a farm cottage.

In the afternoon our trail is short, wandering through lush kloofs and Afromontane forests, where a cool waterfall beckons on summer days. Then it’s a short drive back to Bellavista, and a guided tasting of Giant Periwinkle wines that showcase the limestone soils of the Agulhas Plain.

But don’t overindulge. The second day will test your legs, as forests and fynbos give way to the soft dunes and beaches of the Walker Bay Nature Reserve.

While the sandy soils make life harder for fynbos, Christoff makes it all no less interesting. From the cultural history of the Coastal waxberry and explaining the formation of shattered Aeolonite rocks, to spotting a black harrier searching for prey - “It’s one of the most endangered raptors in SA, we’re very lucky” - Longland is a cheerful font of factoids as we wander along.

After lunch on the coast, and an exploration of the Stone Age settlement in Klipgat Cave, it’s back to Bellavista; a hot shower, fish braai on the stoep and tired legs are happily put to bed.

Happily the final day of walking is an easy one, largely downhill and with the added incentive of a wine tasting at the end of it.

From the starting point looking down onto Pearly Beach, the path drops quickly from fynbos hills into a valley of Afromontane forest. If the walking is sedate, the learning comes thick and fast; there’s the parenting style of the Burchell’s coucal (dad does all the work) and an impromptu tasting of the common forest grape (spoiler: rather don’t) as our path takes us into vale and over hill to reach the vineyards of Lomond wine estate by lunchtime. With winemaker Hannes Meyer leading a tasting both in the vineyards and the cellar, I was only too happy to accept a lift back to Grootbos for a visit to the remarkable Hannarie Wenhold Botanical Art Gallery.

This purpose-built gallery is home to Africa’s first florilegium - a collection of botanical artworks - with a focus on the endangered and endemic fynbos found in the southern Overberg. It’s a remarkable collection and a fitting final stop to a few days of fynbos walking. That evening, fynbos finds its way into a multicourse tasting menu - served at Bellavista, or in the Grootbos cellar - before a lazy departure the next morning away from the fynbos and back into the fold of the city.

I leave with scratched legs, tanned arms and a brain brimming with new knowledge. And that’s the mark of a fine few days on the trail for me. Hardy hikers may find it all a little too easy, but this isn’t about racking up the miles. Rather, take it easy. Unpack once, let someone else do the cooking, and with a talented guide like Christoff Longland up front, take time to stop and smell the flowers.

• The Diversity Trail sits neatly between a pair of complementary options, depending on the depths of your pockets. The Fynbos Trail caters for groups of hike-minded enthusiasts keeping an eye on the budget. It follows many of the same footpaths in and around the Swartkransberg, and can be walked as a pocket-friendly self-guided and self-catered trail. But - honestly? - without a guide you’ll be missing much of the magic. At the other end of the scale is Grootbos Private Nature Reserve, where two five-star lodges offer the last word in luxury with glorious suites hidden amid Milkwood forests, and guided 4x4 excursions offering an easy way to explore the fynbos.

• Four nights from R11,500 per person all-inclusive.

Source: https://www.businesslive.co.za/