I am overjoyed to hear that short hiking trails have reopened in Mountain Zebra National Park, near Cradock. These were closed in mid July 2010 after the horrific, fatal incident between a hiker and a buffalo bull. Hiking in wild spaces is one of the great privileges of living in South Africa and I would hate to see it stopped because of this kind of incident. People have to accept that one of the things that makes hiking in wildlife areas is the danger element. But it needs to be looked at as a whole. Thousands of visitors to parks and reserves in South Africa go on walks and guided walks and considering the number of people that are out and about incidents such as this one are incredibly rare.
Of course any incident like this is tragic, and I suppose SANParks needs to take appropriate precautions, but I am a little disappointed to read that they have now fenced the entire rest camp and short hiking trail area. This 4,2-kilometre electrified fence was constructed over a period of two weeks, at a cost of over R250 000. The fence encloses the cottages, reception area, swimming pool, camping ground and short hiking trails. The electrified fence was constructed at a low level in front of the cottages so that it will not interfere with the scenic view from the accommodation units.
This may make it safe – its probably 100% safe now in fact – and in that we’ve all lost a little bit more of the wildness some of us know and love. On a positive note, while the fence excludes large wildlife, you’ll still be able to look out for spoor and signs of animals such as kudu, common duiker and steenbok on the short hiking trails. Small mammals like rock dassie, scrub hare, cape hare, porcupine, ground squirrel, meerkat, grey and yellow mongoose are also found in the area as well as vervet monkey and baboon and these will all be unaffected by the new fence.
The two longer hiking trails: the 10-kilometre Idwala Trail and three-day, 25-kilometre Impofu Trail remain closed at present and will re-open later in the year as guided hiking trails. Visitors will be accompanied by an armed guide on these trails.
Although the three-day hiking trail is closed, the two mountain huts which provide overnight stops on the hike are still available for accommodation bookings and can be accessed with a high clearance vehicle.
The two mountain huts each accommodate ten people in two bedrooms and a “hikers bedroom” with six bunk beds where own bedding must be provided. The huts are equipped with solar-powered fridges, gas stoves, kitchen equipment, a braai area and ablutions.
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