Joburg's Other Pot of Gold

Just an hour’s drive from the Big Smoke, SUE ADAMS finds herself in the hikers heaven of Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve.

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A mere 40 kilometres south east of Johannesburg, I found a different kind of gold to that in the mine dumps. Only eight kilometres off the N3 to Durban, Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve is a treasure of waving golden grasslands and rose-gold sandstone with rocky ridges and hidden kloofs.

Diversity is the real gold of this reserve, which has a backbone of the Suikerbosrand mountain range, with the highest point in the Witwatersrand at 1 917 metres above sea level. Rather like the back of a dragon, this range seems to pop up out of nowhere and offer a wonderful drive along the ridge.

The geology consists of two systems, with 70 per cent of the reserve the volcanic igneous basalt rock that creates the ridges and steep, notched kloofs. It’s the kind of geology that creates fertile grasslands, which in turn make excellent grazing. The other type of geology is mainly sedimentary sandstone deposited in horizontal layers – an environment perfect for proteas.

Named after the suikerbos or Transvaal sugarbush (Protea caffra), the reserve has prolific wildflows. Sibusiso Tusi, deputy director for biodiversity in Gauteng, said, "We get flowers such as the powder puff lily (Scadoxus multiflorus) and the agapanthus (