The call of the wild comes unpredictably. Sometimes it rings out when you’re in the thick of deadlines or other pressing matters. Other times it comes as a simple whiff in passing; from a chance encounter with a traveller or the smell of pine trees.
I had just watched ‘Into the Wild’, the newly-released film based on Jon Krakauer’s book of the same name. It traces the true story of Christopher McCandless, who, after graduating, cut up his credit card, burnt his money, and headed off into the wild. It was here, in the middle of Alaska, that he lived out the rest of his days. Leaving the cushy Cinema Nouveau theatre, I felt the whiff.
A few days later, I was offered the opportunity to join a group of hikers on the Hoerikwaggo (Khoisan for “Mountain in the Sea”) Orange Kloof trail. For two days we hiked solidly up and down the peaks between Silvermine Dam and the Arial Cable Way Station on Table Mountain. Granted we stayed in luxury A-frame tents and had our luggage portered for us. But we were still in the wilderness, moving across the earth as our precolonial ancestors once did.
The trail is the first phase of what will soon be a six-day, five-night trail, modelled on South America’s Inca Trail. Tents are made of recycled alien trees, as is everything else -the kitchen, showers, toilets and walkway connecting them all. Yes, showers. Hot and cold. And flushable loos. And a kitchen that looks like an Alaskan log cabin and is spacious enough for even Jack and his beanstalk.
When we finish the hike on day one, after walking about 17.5 kilometres, the comfort of our campsite is a welcome reward. We waste no time in diving into the cool river water a short distance from our camp. One hiker, a German tourist in South Africa for his first time, shouts out, “I’m in a wild river in Africa!” With no rapids and little flow or wildlife at all, the river is anything but wild for us locals. But it is surrounded by an overgrown Afromontane forest once could get lost in for days; I’ll give him that.
The trail provides a balanced mix of indulgence and simplicity. Whilst you shower with warm water and biodegradable soap in a spacious room with lockable doors, you can also look out the back into Mother Nature; the two of you together in the nude.
At night, we gather in our communal Alaskan log cabin. A fire crackles outside, trying to fight the howling wind. Sascha and a South African couple sit inside enjoying a dinner of pasta and wine. I crack open a tin of tuna and peas and eat them cold from a steel bowl. I guess I wasn’t expecting the luxury I received.
As the bottles of wine and whisky empty, so the singing and djemba drum-playing starts. But with a 9.5 kilometre uphill slog awaiting us in the morning, we head off to bed soon after.
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