So there we were, Nadim and I leaving Johannesburg at 7:30AM on a cold Sunday morning - the 31st of May. The plan was to drive 49 km south to the Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve to get in some practical hiking training. The cold-front didn't help much - bringing in moderately chilling winds up onto the highveld interior. But that wasn't a problem once we started the 10 km "Bokmakierie" trek and began warming up those stiff muscles.
With each of our backpacks equipped with 2 litres of water, some fruit, camera, jacket and 2 kg gym weights (yes, you read right – to simulate fatigue one would experience at altitude on Kilimanjaro) we set out on our hike. We chose the Bokmakierie hike which is a good one to climb, even for the casual hiker who justs wants to get the blood pumping and enjoy the highveld scenery and rocky terrain. The Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve is home to numerous animals - those that we came across including impala, baboon, zebra, reedbuck, eland and many bird species. There’s also a few carnivores including wild-dog, hyenas and jackals. Apparently there’s cheetah as well, but obviously we weren’t going to come across any considering that we were climbing up the hilly area of the reserve. Even if we did, we wouldn’t have been in danger (I hope) since cheetah rarely attack humans.
The actual hiking trail is well-designed. It has an initial gentle gradient for a kilometer. It then becomes a reasonably steep climb for another kilometer. Once at the top of this koppie you get a great panoramic view of the outer-lying Johannesburg areas with the gold and brown farmlands looking like patch-work knitting 400m below you. You also get a spectacular yet hazy view of the Johannesburg skyline lying far out in the horizon (approx. 45 km away). The air is crisp, the sun bright, clouds stretched out high in the blue sky and the rustling of the winter grass simply sublime!
So after snapping up a few photos, we headed on with our hike. Another kilometer at the top of the plateau and then we had to begin a steep descend roughly for another 2 kms which also traversed the side slopes of the koppie. At this point we were approximately half-way through the 10 km hike. We came across a few more uphill climbs into rocky foothills accompanied by declines into grassy areas before heading up the final steep climb which stretched 3 kms! It dawned on our bodies at this point that we weren’t just doing a leisurely Sunday stroll! The peak of this uphill was met with yet another spectacular view of the rolling grasslands below in which we could see herd of impala, zebra and reedbuck grazing in the warm winter sun. Stopping for snacks, we passed a few other hikers, and then carried on on the top of the plateue for another 2 kilometers before we could see the endpoint in sight – far below lay the thatched roof and parking of the reception area from where we began. After a steep decline for a kilometer we reached the end of the hike.
We did the hike in fairly good time too – 2h50 minutes for a hike that has a recommended time of 4 hours. I suppose that’s a good thing in terms of fitness. This is a hike that I would recommend to anyone living in JHB to do – it’s amazing how many beautiful nature walks there are so close to home.
With exactly a month to go until the Kilimanjaro expedition, the excitement is increasing and so is our fund-raising initiatives. Alhamdulillah, we have reached the R50 000 mark recently and feel that bit by bit, the challenges, the training, the campaigning and awareness we are raising are all starting to pay off. Reminding ourselves of the goal to help children of Gaza makes all the effort just so much more rewarding.
Was-salam,
Muhammad Taher Khan
- Kilimanjaro Expedition Member
“To the Children & Future of Palestine”
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