No Fixed Abode: Nature Trail

Sat 21 May 2016 - Around Clarens

Clarens was chilly this morning and we finally got out at 10am to get around the local walks just as the sun was getting warmer. The first path, named the Titanic, was at the end of our road and started gently for us to warm up and notice the abundance of new holiday properties being built in this area. Then the inevitable slog uphill took us to a large rock, hence the track name, and we had our first glimpse over the whole of Clarens and the surrounding valleys. This led on to the Sky Contour trail which gave views to the west with mountain ranges in the far distance. The local community manages these tracks and provides a very adequate trail map with colour coded routes for each of the tracks. We admired the homemade signage and how well it was placed along the route to make navigation easy for everyone. Arriving at the viewpoint we quickly ate lunch in sunshine but with a brisk breeze and soon headed off again to warm up. As we had made good progress on the timings so far we decided to extend our walk by joining for a short while the Kloof mountain trail which then led us on to the longer Caracal contour trail, designed for mountain bikes, and we followed the level path running across the hills. It was an easy stroll opening up views of the other side of Clarens, not the holiday homes or residential or tourist accommodation areas but the township side with row upon row of identical small buildings with unmade streets, set out of town and near the highway. This is where the majority of the town’s inhabitants live. We came down to the lake and circumnavigated it to follow the Spruit trail which got us back to the town by the village green, in good time for a beer or two at the brewery just before it closed. Back at base we had an early dinner, popped on the electric blankets and snuggled under the duvet in readiness to watch the FA cup final with Man Utd beating Crystal Palace on the worst internet streaming service ever, which certainly tested Glenn’s patience. We are quickly realising SA possibly has the worst internet we have encountered on our travels so far.