The popular three-day Impofu hiking trail re-opens in Mountain Zebra National Park, near Craddock, today after its closure in July last year.
The 25-kilometre hiking trail will now operate as a guided trail, with hikers being led by knowledgeable, armed guides.
The closure of all hiking trails in July 2010 followed after the tragic death of a hiker who was attacked by a buffalo on one of the hiking trails.
The guards will now escort hikers on the three-day trails that take in some of the highlights of the 28 000-hectare Park including Bakenkop, the Park’s highest peak. The first day’s hike meanders through grassland and mountain shrubland, passing the famous Big Rock.
Day two is a mountain grassland experience with a chance of spotting herds of eland and mountain reedbuck. The final leg of the hike passes through riverine thicket, ending at the Mountain Zebra National Park restcamp.
The craggy heights of the Mountain Zebra National Park’s Bankberg embrace rolling plains and deep valleys, and have become an entrancing preserve for the Cape mountain zebra.
The proclamation of the park in 1937 saved these animals from extinction, and currently their population stands at 300 where they roam 28 412 hectares of land. Other mammals found here include the cheetah, Cape buffalo, black rhino, eland, black wildebeest, red hartebeest and gemsbok, while mountain reedbuck and grey rhebok frequent the higher areas. Caracal occupies the niche of primary predator.
Two mountain cottages provide the overnight stop for hikers in secluded and scenic areas of the Park. The huts, which can each accommodate 10 people, are equipped with solar-powered fridge facilities and gas cookers as well as an outside braai area.
Hikers carry their own provisions and bedding and must be 16 years or older to participate. Bookings are done through the Park on mountainzebra@sanparks.org
The suite of activities available at the Park includes cheetah tracking, 3-hour guided walks, guided visits to rock art sites and guided drives. Two short walking trails (1-kilometre and 2.5-kilometre trails) are also available to visitors as self-walk options.
The mountain cottages, formerly used exclusively as hiking trail huts, are also available as an ideal rustic getaway option for visitors with high clearance vehicles.
The park is open from 7 am – 6pm until the end of September. From October the park is open from 7 am – 7 pm.
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