Baviaanskloof
The hike takes you on the main road over private land and into property of the National Parks Board. The region is famous for its prestige rock formations, rock art, bird life, indigenous plants like the endangered Willowmore Cedar and the endangered indigenous red fin minnow fish species.
The first farms were registered in the kloof in 1818. Farmers reached the kloof by means of a handmade ‘ossewa’ trail from the western side of the kloof. Between 1880 and 1890 Thomas Bain built the Nuwekloof Pass giving entry to this unique gem.
Hikers stay in guesthouses and a cave and is fully catered for apart from lunch and your drinks. Highlights are donkey-cart riding, a visit to a bee and olive farming and educational programmes about Leopard rehabilitation and restoration projects, plus a visit to the Baviaanskloof Wilderness Area at Smitskraal, where you have chance to see buffalos, Hartebeest, Baboons and other wildlife.
Website: Baviaanskloof Heartland trail