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Cederberg Heritage Route - Groot 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 5 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 four night trail has a greater focus on walking with 3½ days spent hiking. You arrive before lunch on the first day and enjoy a guided rock art walk in the afternoon. The following morning you walk (or take the donkey cart) to Heuningvlei and then continue after lunch to the remote hamlet of Brugkraal. The next day you enjoy a full day’s walking up to Boontjieskloof, in the heart of the Cederberg Wilderness Area, and then down to Heuningvlei with swimming in the rockpools en route. The final day of walking is the Krakadouw pass walk over the mountains to Boskloof with a morning departure on Day 5. |
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| Meals |
Full Board |
| Accommodation |
Comfortable guesthouses and community guest cottages in the Moravian mission villages |
| Departure Dates |
On request |
| Transport |
4x4 Landrover or VW Microbus and optional donkey cart trail |
| Price Includes |
All meals, transfers, donkey cart ride, services of local community guide, all permits |
| Price Excludes |
All drinks (soft and 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 |
All year round but especially August to October and mid March to May. December to February can be very hot for hiking! |
| Health Requirements |
Good general level of fitness is recommended but no health risks. Sun block is essential |
| Combines well with |
Cape Town, Winelands and Hermanus |
| Other Ideas |
This tour is ideal for groups of friends or families with older children. The pricing shown below is for groups of 4 people. It is slightly less expensive for groups of 6 people. We can also arrange a walking tour for just 2 people. This will be more expensive (usually R650 to R800 more per person depending on the tour chosen). |
| Notes |
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 Day 1 : Arrive in Clanwilliam. Afternoon guided rock art walk. Overnight at guesthouse FB
Arrive in Clanwilliam by the late morning. Lunch will be followed by a guided rock art walk of about 3 hours in the beautiful Jan Dissels River valley with the Cederberg mountains towering in the background. You stay overnight in a guest cottage in the same area.
The Cederberg is one of the best areas for rock art in Southern Africa with 2,000 discovered sites. 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.
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. 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.
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Day 2 : Morning rock art tour and jeep track walk/doney cart ride, afternoon walk to Brugkraal for overnight FB
You are transferred to the top of the Pakhuis Pass with a short guided rock art tour on the way. From Pakhuis you take the Donkey Cart Trail to the charming mission village of Heuningvlei for lunch.
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. The mountain scenery is spectacular and there are usually a variety of indigenous flowering plants to be seen along the way.
After lunch you take an easy 8km guided walk, on a donkey cart trail via Witwater village, to the small settlement of Brugkraal where you stay overnight in a community guest cottage on a DBB basis. The walk passes through a mixture of small farms and open country with the Cederberg mountains to your right and rocky hill country to your left.
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Day 3 : Boontjieskloof full day walk to Heuningvlei for overnight FB
Today you enjoy a guided day hike of about 15km (6 to 8 hours) from Brugkraal via Grasvlei up to the Boontjieskloof Hut, in the heart of the Cederberg Wilderness Area, and then down to Heuningvlei. There are swimming opportunities en route in pools in the perennial Grasvlei stream. There are fascinating rock formations and an interesting variety of indigenous vegetation along the way. The Boontjieskloof Hut is one of several simple stone huts in the Wilderness Area that were built originally to provide shelter for the forestry workers. They are now mainly used by backpacking hikers. (The trail is not steep with a gentle climb up of 250 metres and then a 300 metres descent, Rating 3B). You stay overnight in a community guest cottage at Heuningvlei.
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Day 4 : Full day walk over the Krakadouw pass to Boskloof for overnight FB
Today you enjoy a guided hike of about 13km (between 5 to 7 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 down 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). Stay overnight at Krakadouw cottages.
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 Day 5 : Depart from Clanwilliam
This morning you are transferred back to Clanwilliam where you depart for home.
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1 Jan 2008
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31 Dec 2008
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| Per person sharing |
ZAR R 2,900 |
| Prices may be based
on current exchange rates and are subject to change prior to booking. |
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| Contact us for more information or book your trip by clicking on the appropriate button below. One of our consultants will gladly help you with any questions you may have.
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