Wathaba Next Weekend?

Kick-off your boots and dip your toes in the Schoonspruit as it burbles past your camp at Wathaba Hiking Trails. There are two-day routes in the Skurweberg mountains – a great weekend escape for friends and family.

- Mia Louw

Wathaba means “to be delighted” in isiZulu. What a great name for a hiking destination: Rambling along past waterfalls and trekking through forests also makes me happy! But what about Skurweberg, which means “rough mountains”? That one’s a bit of a misnomer: The hilly landscape in Mpumalanga between eManzana (Badplaas) and eNtokozweni (Machadodorp) is actually rather pleasant.

There are two circular day trails at Wathaba for moderately fit hikers: the 4km Bosbok Route and the 10km Lynx Loop. Accommodation consists of three rustic river “camps” next to the Schoonspruit, and two self-catering units a bit higher up the mountain that offer a little more luxury. A weekend backpack trail called the Bloutrein is also nearby, connected to a neighbouring farm.

The area has plenty of natural springs and streams, all of which feed the 480km-long Komati River, which flows into Vygeboom Dam and ends up in the Indian Ocean at Maputo Bay.

Wathaba manager and nature conservationist Christia Newbery says there are seven waterfalls on the farm, and most streams flow throughout the year, even during the dry winter months.

Hiking legend and trail builder, Albert Bossert (78), built the Wathaba trails in 2007. He had a small team of men assisting him, but very few lasted until the end. “Two days into working – clearing the path, moving rocks and so on – the men would sneak away for a break, never to return,” Christia says. “It was excruciatingly hard work.”

Sijila Msitini was the only one of Albert’s assistants who stuck it out, and he still works at Wathaba today. “Sijila brush-cuts our trails: It takes him about five days to do the Lynx Loop,” Christia says.