Cederberg Heritage Route - Klein Krakadouw Trail | South Africa | Cedarberg |
| The Cederberg Heritage Route is the collective name for three new walking trails in the Cedarberg mountains ranging between 3 and 6 days. The trails are fully inclusive: you stay at comfortable community guesthouses in the picturesque Moravian mission villages, guided by local community guides with you overnight luggage taken to their next night’s stay. The 3 night Klein Krakadouw Trail is ideal for people wishing to enjoy a long weekend in the mountains with a late afternoon arrival on Day 1, 2 full days of walking on Days 2 and 3 and an early morning departure on Day 4. |
 |
| Meals |
Fully Inclusive |
| Accommodation |
Comfortable accommodation in community guesthouses - bathrooms are NOT en suite |
| Departure Dates |
On request |
| Transport |
4x4 Landrover or VW Microbus and optional donkey cart transfer |
| Price Includes |
All meals, transfers, donkey cart ride, services of local community guide, all permits |
| Price Excludes |
Drinks (soft or alcoholic), items of a personal nature |
| Minimum Number |
4-6 people (but see below for prices for 2 people) |
| Climate |
Hot mediterranean - hot dry summers and cool wet winters |
| Best time to go |
Especially August to October but also mid March to May |
| Health Requirements |
Non-malarial area. Sunblock is essential |
| Combines well with |
General touring around Cape Town, Winelands and Hermanus areas |
| Other Ideas |
This tour is ideal for groups of friends or a family with older children. The pricing shown below is for groups of 4 people. It is slightly cheaper for groups of 6 people. We can also give you a price for 2 people only. This will be more expensive (usually R650 to R800 more per person depending on the tour chosen). |
| Notes |
|
 Day 1 : Arrive at Clanwilliam in late afternoon
Arrive in Clanwilliam in the late afternoon (not later than 5pm). You are then transferred to to a guest cottage in the beautiful valley of the Jan Dissels River (or similar) where you stay overnight on a DB&B basis.
Clanwilliam is one of South Africa's oldest towns. Colonialists settled the area by 1725. In 1820 about 350 Irish settlers arrived in Clanwilliam. You can still see some of the attractive 1820 settler houses in Park Street. Clanwilliam is now a centre for an agricultural community cultivating the uniquely South African Rooibos tea, citrus, table grapes and vegetables. The citrus orchards can be seen along the Olifants valley from Citrusdal to Clanwilliam. You may like to visit the Old Gaol Museum, the Strassberger's Shoe Factory to purchase a pair of locally made 'veld' shoes, or the Rooibos tea factory for a video of the tea-making process. Project participants at the CLLP make a number of attractive necklaces and bags available for sale at their craft shop.
|
Day 2 : Morning rock art walk and afternoon walk/donkey cart ride to Heuningvlei guesthouse FB
In the morning you are taken on a guided rock art walk of about three hours (Rating 1a) which will be followed by a picnic lunch and then a transfer by road to the top of the Pakhuis Pass. From there you will take the Donkey Cart Trail to the charming mission village of Heuningvlei where you overnight in a community guest cottage.
The Cederberg is one of the best areas for rock art in Southern Africa with 2,000 discovered sites. (The other three areas are the Drakensberg mountains in KwaZulu Natal, the Brandberg in Namibia and the Matopas in southern Zimbabwe.) It is not only the quality of the San's artistry that makes so many rock paintings appealing to the modern eye - many of the paintings show a strong sense of whimsy, flowing with movement and life.
Donkey Cart Trail - You can opt to ride in the traditional donkey cart of the area - an exhilarating 2 hour ride (including a couple of stops for photography), or choose to walk all or part of the trail. This is a 12 km trail on a wide track which would typically take 2½ to 3 hours to walk (Rating 2A) The mountain scenery is spectacular and there are usually a variety of indigenous flowering plants to be seen along the way.
|
Day 3 : Full day walk over Krakadouw Pass to Krakadouw Cottages, FB
Today you enjoy a guided hike of about 13km (between 6 to 8 hours) up to Krakadouw Nek and then down the Krakadouw Pass trail, through the heart of the Cederberg Wilderness Area, back to a guest cottage in the Jan Dissels River valley. The views are breath-taking. The trail follows the valley of the perennial Dwarsrivier stream through patches of beautiful indigenous bush and trees. It also passes an unusual round blockhouse built in about 1901 by the British forces during the Anglo-Boer War. (The trail is not steep with a gentle climb up of 300metres and then a 900metres descent, Rating 3B).
|
 Day 4 : Depart after breakfast
This morning you are transferred back to Clanwilliam where you depart for home.
|
