Day 14: Jeffrey's Bay - Plettenberg Bay

Total Distance Covered: 1,412 km
Distance Remaining: 598 km

We could not have asked for more perfect weather to hike in today. It was slightly cloudy and then became completely overcast and was cool enough that, even at a fast pace, we didn’t sweat. If only we’d had this kind of weather a week ago when we were hiking 200 and 160 km days.

We covered 125 km in total and kept our pace just under 8km/hour. We’ve been lucky to see a lot of absolutely beautiful land thus far on the hike, but today was uniquely stunning. The Tsitsikama area is absolutely beautiful and Nature’s Valley, in particular, is breathtaking. As we hiked, we were treated to glimpses of the coastline and ocean every so often to the south and just to the north was the near constant companionship of the small mist-draped mountains. Having now hiked through the city at the start of the hike in Gauteng Province, the dry grasslands and farms of the Free State, the hills and mountains of the Eastern Cape, it was wonderful to reach the lush vegetation, coastline and gorgeous scenery of the Western Cape today.

The natural beauty of the area we hiked through today is fascinating…the winter and summer rainfall regions of South Africa meet here in the Kouga region, creating a temperate climate in which the lush evergreen forests of the Tsitsikamma meet the fynbos of the Cape Floral Kingdom and where the semi-arid Klein Karoo Scrub Bush meets the Valley Bushveld. The untouched mountains of the Baviaanskloof Wilderness and the Gamtoos and Langkloof Valleys form a fertile passageway in which the warm, dry air of the Karoo desert meets the moist air of the eastern seaboard. This is also where the warm currents of the Indian Ocean meet the cold waters of the Atlantic, creating the unique conditions for a remarkable diversity of marine life.

Beyond the natural beauty of the area, this is where the ancient San hunter-gatherers migrated to meet the Khoi pastoralists to form the world’s oldest known cultural group – the Khoisan, who recorded their existence in the rock art that still survives in thousands of caves and rock formations throughout the area. Sadly, we didn’t have time to stop and see any of the ancient rock art. NEXT TIME!

After we’d finished hiking for the day, we had an hour to spare before we were to meet our hosts. So, we stopped to see the beautiful Storms River gorge and then hiked 1km (which, when worn out and sore at the end of the day, feels exceptionally far) to see what the locals all refer to as the “Big Tree”. It’s an absolutely massive yellow wood. Can’t quite compare to the redwoods in the United States, but still would take 8 adults holding hands to reach around it, so it’s really something to see.

That evening, the Plettenberg Rotary Club took us out for dinner. Despite us all being exceptionally tired and needing sleep, the hake was delicious and the company very good.