07 July 2007    to      08 July 2007

Click HERE for Bigger Map

The Slagthoek base camp is a nice big disused farm house. We arrived early as usual, except Sue who only got there at about 7 in the evening. Another group of 14 also arrived there and carried on partying till the early morning hours, so that spoiled the Friday a bit for us. Nevertheless, we still managed to make our famous garlic snails!

Next morning we managed to get going not too late.

A few hundred meters from the base camp stood some old farm implements, and Rob could not resist reliving some of his childhood memories of the farm he grew up on just 30km outside Blikiesdorp in the northern cape.

Trying to decipher some interesting spoor we picked up.

Some old ruins in the veld, possibly from one of the early farm houses judging by the walls.

Its a really beautiful trail that leads into a gorge with flowing water. Here Silvia is trying to negotiate some of the larger boulders in the river bed.

One of a couple of waterfalls.

After awhile one leaves the gorge and climbs a hill. Here we decided to have a break.

At the end of the hill the path descends down to the Olifants river.

We had the Klipcamp as our overnight hut, so after the descent we turned right along the Olifants river. It was at this point that we came across a crocodile in the river. Judging by the size of his head it must have been between two and three years old.

The last stretch takes one along a jeep track to the overnight camp.

Some of the scenery around the camp.

The camp itself is huge and the huts are built on various levels. It was not completely completed when we got there, and seems to be intended for very large groups.

The place had a "Donkey" but no wood. Fortunately we had our portable shower with.

Next morning it was quite cold, but we still managed to get going within a reasonable time.

Day two is a lot tougher than day one and close to the beginning one has a long climb, but the views are worth it.

Some of the spectacular views from the top.

Along the way there are a few interesting descents. Eventually we made it back to the base camp by about 2 in the afternoon. Its a very nice trail well worth doing.