It's been a long time since I've been able to stand and turn in a 360-degree circle and not see one hint of human civilization for as far as the eyes could see. That is exactly what De Hoop Nature Reserve offered us, when we visited there last week.
We pitched up, dusty, dirty and without a reservation and the result was in fact, a very pleasing one! We were plopped into a nice couch, in front of a blazing fireplace and were offered free filter coffee and biscuits while they sorted out where we could stay. Nice start!
The day only got better as we walked to our newly organised accommodation to find we were the only ones occupying the quaint and very well appointed 'rondawels', right in front of a sprawling vlei teaming with birdlife and offering the most amazing view of pure wilderness I have yet to see in the Western Cape.
We jumped on our bikes to set off on what we thought would be a boring ride through the fynbos and were pleasantly surprised (or scared shtlss!) as a gigantic Eland bull emerged from the bushes right in front of us and got as much of a fright as us, resulting in it charging down the jeep track towards safety. The great appeal to De Hoop is that cyclists get free roam of all the tracks and paths, otherwise reserved only for the staff. This coupled with the fact that the animals don't fear cyclists (like they do humans on foot or car), means you can really see a lot of wildlife and also get really, really close to it should you be brave enough! We rode at a slow and leisurely pace through the jeep tracks (surprisingly not sandy, being this close to the coast!) for about 15km and managed to see Eland, the rare Bontebok, a huge male Ostrich, Cape Mountain Zebra and some fantastic birdlife (African fish eagle, pelicans, robins, herons, cormorants, shrikes) all from the seat of our saddle. Believe me when I tell you it's a very different experience than viewing game from a car- you feel very vulnerable and exposed!
To top it off, we cycled towards the beach, dumped our bikes and climbed a dune only to be greeted by no less than 10 Southern Right Whales dancing for each other in the ocean below us! We sat on the dunes fascinated by their lobtailing, breaching and spyhopping before cycling back to camp in search of some more challenging trails.Most of the riding here is on very flat, unchallenging jeep tracks and so I led Louise to the hiking trail on the way home. This was more like it! Nice rocky, technical singletrack allowed us to get home but at a cost! Once you are focussed on the trail, you tend to miss much more wildlife and don't get the same sense of awe and inspiration from the area, so it really is better that most of the riding in the reserve is on easy jeeptrack. The other cost was me going over the handlebars in a tricky section and really battering myself up in the process-rather embarrassing in an area known by cyclists for its un-technical, flat trails!
We got back to our cosy beds and realised we din't have any food with us. Lucilky there is a fantastic pub and restaurant in the reserve and upon arrival, we were told they were having a fancy Christmas in July feast. Talk about getting your timing right! So we joined the other guests under a massive milkwood tree, surrounding a blazing bonfire and devoured an amazing 3 course meal for R100 (less than £10!), whilst meeting new and interesting people from all over the country.
Anyhow, De Hoop will definitely be on our list for future visits . It is a soul-healing place where city dwellers get to experience all of Africa's best- huge space, fire-red sunsets, friendly people and a fish eagle's cry to wake you up in the morning.
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