08 October 2005    to      09 October 2005

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Our old favorite was on the agenda again, but this time we did the Coetzeestroom section. In many respects it turned out to be more interesting and varied than the Wattles section. After getting to the Barrets base camp at about 5pm we met another group that was doing the Wattles section and all had a very pleasant evening together. Petro arrived a bit later after getting "lost" on the way there. Barrets is very interesting in that it consists of two railway coaches that are used as sleeping quarters. Next morning before leaving, we took our usual "group" photo.

The first section takes one through a bit of plantation forest.

The morning was quite misty and the forests where filled with an eerie fog. If one kept quite for awhile one could hear a great variety of birds though. In fact on the way back on Sunday, we heard that a small plane had crashed into one of the mountains nearby due to the thick fog.

A short while later we entered a steep gorge of indigenous forest which also contained a small stream.

Here the rocks were extremely slippery and great care had to be taken not to injure oneself, but the scenery was well worth the effort. Here's Petro taking the safer way to get down! In this section I got lucky and found a nice watch in the water..still running!

Eventually after leaving this section we got onto a forest road which started ascending quite steeply. Along one section they had cut down part on the plantation and we had a rest after the sweat.

The trail then takes one across the main Ngodwana - Kaapseehoop road where we entered the plantations on the other side. Somewhere along here we photographed this beautiful butterfly.

Once you leave the plantation the terrain becomes quite rocky. Along here we decided to have lunch. A colorful rock with lichens.

The trail winds it way along the side of a valley. At this point we could see our hut on the other side of the valley but it was still quite a way to go.

Towards the end of the valley, the path took us down a kind of a break away section. Here the cliff that drops down towards the valley had broken away in places leaving a gorge.

While walking along this section, we came across a small cave.

After a few hundred meters, the trail exits the gorge again. Here we came across a rather interesting insect with some very vicious looking fangs in front. After some investigation, I found out that this is a "Red Roman". In some other parts of the world its called a "Sun Spider". Apparently they are not spiders even though they have eight legs. They are not venomous, but can inflict a painful bite. Of the 900 species throughout the world, 240 species occur in southern Africa. They vary in size and the local one's are quite small, about 15-20 mm, but in the arid areas they can reach 70 mm or with legs included, can measure upto 160 mm! The head is large, with large jaws. Another interesting thing I found out about them is that the name 'sun spider' comes from their habit of running from shadow to shadow, so if you stand close to them they like to run after you to get into your shadow to avoid the heat.

Eventually we got to the Coetzeestroom hut which is quite well equipped and spacious.

Next morning we were on the quite early. The day was going to be a hot one.

The first section of the second day was fairly flat with stretches of grassland.

Along a small stream we came across this old gold prospectors house. The area has small quantities of alluvial gold in the streams and a lot of prospecting was done in this region towards the end of the 1800's.

Not far from here we crossed the main Ngodwana - Kaapseehoop road again. A small stream running towards the Battery Creek gorge that we crossed soon after.

Crossing the gorge was not so easy. The trail does a very steep descent here to the bottom and out the other side again.

Along the other side we went through plantation forests again with some stretches of rocky terrain. Here we came across this interesting "mushroom" rock. It was midday by now, and the sun was really hot, so we were grateful to get to Barrets again. Coetzeestroom is definitely a hike we can recommend.