Hiking The Amatola

This marathon trail between king Williams Town and Hogsback traverses verdant indigenous forest and scales majestic mountain peaks. It’s not for the faint of heart, however...

- Ron Swilling

It’s for the young and very fit,” my friend had warned me before I signed up for the 106km Amatola Trail. That was enough to scare my hiking socks off, as did some of the reports that filtered back to me about the high mileage and taxing terrain, and I ummed and ahhed for several months trying to decide whether to gather my courage and commit myself. Eventually, I succumbed, planning to be super-fit by the time, of course.

The six-day trail in the Eastern Cape is known as one of South Africa’s finest and most strenuous trails. Amatola, the Xhosa word for ‘the place of many young calves’, refers to the protected glades which are ideal for raising cattle. Also known as the ‘Waterfall Trail’, it has a series of cascading waterfalls and river pools to dip in, should the weather be fair. In an area known to have variable weather, however, hikers have to be prepared for cold, heat, snow and driving rain.

Time seemed to speed up and gain momentum, as it tends to, and before I knew it I was planning unappetising dehydrated meals for the six days of the trail, counting every gram of luggage and apprehensively watching weather sites. Unlike many of the popular South African trails, this one seemed especially daunting. With approximately twenty kilometres to cover most days in mountainous terrain, it demanded more endurance than usual and allowed little time for error. After a long drive from Cape Town to Hogsback and far too little sleep, we were soon hopping off the shuttle at Maden Dam in the rain, bedecked in rain gear from head to toe, with oversized backpacks and a slippery and muddy path ahead.