GRIQUA EXPRESS SLACKPACK
A brief history There are many reasons to love South Africa, and a few reasons to hate it. One of the best reasons to love it is its great wildernesses. Another is its colourful past filled with strong people. One…
Slackpacking And Hiking Adventure Tours In South Africa
Slackpacking And Hiking Adventure Tours In South Africa
Category KZN Midlands
A history of hiking and the joys of slackpacking the Natal Midlands by Teigue Payne
When backpacking trails were first conceived of in South Africa, in the 1970s, the old government overestimated the ability of the people it hoped would use the National Hikingway Trails that it installed. For that reason, the daily distances of…
Hiking the Natal Midlands
‘The R103 is not the only Midlands Meander,’ said Julia Invernizzi as we – a group of 8 slackpack hikers of various backgrounds and fitness levels – sat together in the shade, digging into her delicious homemade trail mix (…
Cycling the Battlefields
Cycling is a great way to tour the Battlefields of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) – as I discovered when I joined Spekboom Tours’ inaugural tour of the historic sites of the Newcastle-Ladysmith and Spioenkop areas recently. That region is a combination of…
A karkloof hike in support of the Karkloof Conservancy
Despite a day of hot blustery winds, some 35 enthusiastic hikers turned up at the trailhead of the historical Karkloof “Shawswood farm” for a 15 km fundraiser walk for Karkloof Conservancy. The hike constitutes the first day part of a…
Meander the Midlands
It is the first day of a two-day Meandering the Midlands cycle tour and thankfully the Dargle mist and rain had turned and instead we were greeted with clear blue skies and a gorgeous wintery light with which to explore…
Cycle adventures in the Midlands
KwaZulu-Natal’s Midlands Meander is surely South Africa’s most successful tourist meander. A measure of this is that it is being copied in many other areas in South Africa. Nonetheless, many visitors view the Midlands Meander as an extended rural mall…
The Path Less Travelled: Slackpacking in the KZN Midlands
Creature-comfort slackpacking in the tranquil mistbelt forests and grasslands of the Dargle Words: Carol Brammage. Pictures: Carol and Dave Brammage Walking in ancient mistbelt forests, home to shy samango monkeys and other wild creatures, is both grounding and inspirational. It…
The Samango Hiking Trail in the Dargle Valley
Written by Alison Chadwick Having just completed the 5 day Giant’s Cup Trail whereby you carry all you need on your back for 5 days I was looking for something not so strenuous so when the Dargle Samango Slackpack Hike…
The Karkloof Falls to Falls Slackpack
Written by Alison Chadwick This hike in the beautiful Karkloof a mere 20kms from Howick in the KZN Midlands encompasses 3 major waterfalls namely Grey Mare’s Tail Falls (101m), Karkloof Falls (105m), and ends at Howick Falls (111m). Our group…