Photographs: Samantha Robb
Established in 1950, the Krantzkloof Nature Reserve stands a mere 4km outside of Kloof, between Durban and Pinetown. The Molweni and Nkutu rivers meet in the gorge, which is covered by thick forrest and vegetation. The flora, fauna, views and wildlife are spectacular and worth the day trip. Pack a picnic basket and blanket for a chilled escape or dust off those hiking boots and don a cap in preparation for an outdoor adventure.
You can choose a beginner trail, such as the green trail (45 minutes) or blue trail (around 2 hours) or more advanced options such as the yellow (5 hours) or orange (6 hours). Trails are marked according to difficulty level and time- more informations about trails can be found here.
Our goal:
Start at our friend’s house on the edge of the gorge, walk down to a waterfall and along the white trail. Then, cross over on the green trail and road briefly to the yellow trail. Continue on that for most of the way then up to the white. Take the white trail back home creating a loop. Simple right? White-Yellow-White. ha, nope.
What actually happened:
We began, energized and enthusiastic. The trail was uncrowded (although we did pass a family or two), marked with waterfalls and overgrown shrub. The views, breath-taking.
The temperature in the gorge was exceedingly hot. A few of us dipped into the pools below- what a game changer!
It felt like we were drinking the humidity whilst swatting mosquitoes in a form of lethal Amazon, totally dehydrated and energy levels failing. We had been hiking for hours and had no concept of distance.
The trail didn't seem to end and getting lost was no longer that early adventure thrill. Shirts were off, our breathing(gasping for air) was scaring away the wildlife and picture-taking had ceased. On top of that, three girls had lagged behind (far behind) and were out of sight. We found out later that they had scaled a fence to a main road to flag down a rescue of sorts. Laughable, horrendous but laughable.
Eventually, we made it to the top of the steep valley walls and found out link back to the white trail. Is it over? Not likely.
We crossed over to the opposite hill and trapped through the long grass and dried bracken fern only to meet another path. We trundled along that contour path in a forest that dipped and rose more than expected and were met by spider webs and tree caterpillars en mass.
Our final obstacle was a mess of fallen trees blocking our paths. The guys suggested turning back, but only briefly, because the looks they received by all the exhausted girls were daggers. Through it is.
Through the trees, sharp grass to a waterfall crossing and up the hill we saw the finish line, a stones throw away from sanity.
Tips:
Choose one trail and one only. Follow that trail (there are arrows). Trying to crisscross or loop trails will get you lost, says anyone who has ever hiked the gorge.
Give yourself at least a two day rest after leg day to manage the vertical climbing stairs.
Wear long socks (you will go off the beaten track and the grass is scratchy) plus a cap/sunglasses.
Take a small backpack
- Fill it with water (2 liters at least)
- Add energy treats (nuts, dried fruit, biltong, crackers)
- Throw bug spray in there
- Plus the sunscreen
- Finally, a phone and camera
If you pick the orange or yellow trail do you need to be fit? Not, not really (but then you're going to suffer).
Did I mention that our self-invented 7 hour trek was 18.5km (plus an extra for the who went in search of the waterfall to swim)? Ouch.
But, we topped it off with a swim, braai and food fiesta! Cheers.
Good luck, have fun, drink water.
Much love, Kate x