Kosmos Hiking Club

The vast majority of hikers in South Africa are residents of Gauteng. It is a pity that the areas around Johannesburg and Pretoria offer so little opportunities for hiking. Klipkraal, being only 80kms from Alberton, offers the opportunity to help fill this gap. 

 Klipriviersberg Nature Reserve is situated 11km south of the city centre, next to the southern suburb of Mondeor and consists of 615 hectares of open veld and koppies. The reserve was first proclaimed in 1984 although the area has a rich history that can be traced back 250,000 years to the Stone Age. Many artifact from bygone eras are to be found in the reserve including ancient stone circles, the remains of early dwellings that are thought to date from about 1500. The reserve was bought by the Johannesburg City Council in 1950.

Situated close to the small former mining hamlet of Poortjie about 40 minutes journey by car from Johannesburg lies this gem of a weekend getaway. Stay the weekend at these well appointed cottages and explore the area on foot. There is plenty of game to be seen including large numbers of the graceful Eland. The trail was laid out by Prof. Leon Hugo 

 Situated just 40Km north of Pretoria lies the Tswaing Asteroid Crater which is believed to have been created when an Asteroid collided with Earth about 200,000 years ago. All that is left of the collision is a crater surrounded by a ring of hill about 100m high and a kilometre across. These hills are believed to have been originally twice this height. Tswaing is the Tswana work for Salt Lake and refers to lake at the bottom of the crater.

We tend to associate Gauteng with massive urban sprawl around which there are areas of highveld grassland with patches of exotic vegetation. Now and again one comes across something very special though and in this case it was an area of ground that would compare favourably with areas of Mpumalanga. The area in question is close to Cullinan, north of Pretoria 

 The history of the reserve can be traced back a long time, to 1895 in fact, when President Paul Kruger proclaimed the valley as a game sanctuary, the first on the African continent. In 1994 the reserve became the responsibility of the nature conservation and resorts section of the City Of Tshwane Municipality. In 1999 game was reintroduced into the reserve. This included Impala, Kudu, Blue Wildebeest and Ostrich. These were added to in 2002 by the introduction of Giraffe and Red Hartebeest. Sable antelope were reintroduced in 2003.

 The picturesque and historical town of Cullinan is more famous as the home of De Beers Premier Diamond Mine than for its nature. However, the Oppenheimer family, major shareholders in De Beers, have always had a strong interest in nature conservation and have vast areas of land throughout Southern Africa, devoted to nature conservation. They partner Birdlife South Africa in the development of birding routes as an example and own Ezemvelo Nature Reserve near Bronkhorstspruit. The ground on which Windy Brow now is, was once part of the farm on which the famous Cullinan Diamond was found and until this year was still owned by the mining company. Recently, this 300ha piece of ground was purchase by the former manager who has major plans to upgrade the facilities.

Castle gorge is another one of those hidden gems of nature that occur in close proximity to the metro's of Johannesburg and Pretoria. The weathered rock formations and the crystal clear pools will bring back memories long after your visit has ended.  

The Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve covers an area of 11,595ha and was named after the Transvaal Suikerbos, (Protea Caffra). The reserve is within an hours drive of Johannesburg and lies close to the town of Heidelberg. The main feature of the reserve is the Suikerbosrand Mountain Range that forms the backbone of the reserve and varies in height between 1,545m and 1,917m above sea level.