Family Escape

After getting the shivers again from too much city time, the Cederberg began calling my name this month. A spot of webtrawling and phoning-about soon offered up a solution to the blues: just two-and-a-bit hours from Cape town is Koningskop, which would match my needs – a good campsite and a trail that wouldn’t damage a shiny new test car.

- Andrew Middleton

While camping, I usually avoid human contact like one should avoid cheap Indian food, but on this particular long weekend the site was packed. There are 50 grassy, mostly shaded sites, though, so it wasn’t a problem... and the little kids running around reminded me of the good old days.

There’s a big dam right opposite a restaurant (open only in busy season) where you can do a spot of catch-and-release while the youngsters play in the pool. There’s even a jungle gym and a small shop that sells massive bags of wood and the usual necessities that everyone forgets.

Surrounding the property are two 4x4 routes: the 12km ‘Petoorskrans’, an extreme challenge for modified 4x4s; and ‘Boesmansklip’, a shorter, scenic route that will test the mettle of a standard bakkie, but without breaking it. (7km).