* This article first appeared here in the Saturday Citizen
Around three hours from Cape Town, De Hoop Nature Reserve is a Cape Nature treasure trove with 36,000 hectares of natural splendour, dreamy landscapes, and unique wildlife encounters. Following in the footsteps of the Whale Trail, The De Hoop Collection now offers a brand-new luxury take on this famous coastal hiking experience.
Over four days, the new Vlei to Whales Trail is an easily doable walk of around 38 km, (compared to the Whale Trail’s 55km). The experience is fully inclusive: an in-house chef prepares all your set meals, and drinks of your choice are served as part of the rate. Every day, you get to experience a different part of the reserve and are dropped back at your exclusive villa for a night of luxury.
After putting out the word about the adventure, nine of my friends and family quickly threw up their hands, and a few weeks later we met at De Hoop Collection’s Fig Tree Restaurant for gourmet burgers, before setting out on the landmark wilderness retreat.
Day 1: A welcome to De Hoop
Our first day was a gentle six-kilometre introduction to the reserve, meandering through De Hoop’s various fynbos vegetation. After the first kilometre or two the distractions began to shift – no longer was I worrying about incoming emails, obsessing about current home renovations, or giving in to the constant demands from my mobile screen. Rather, the new distractions were focused on the fauna and flora passing by – all informatively explained by our entertaining field guide Eduan Oktober.
From time to time during the walk, we’d see slivers of the 19 km De Hoop Vlei – one of the largest freshwater wetlands in South Africa. As the light softened, and the fynbos began to glow in the late afternoon, we turned a corner to discover a canapé and Cap Classique buffet had been set up – a fitting way to mark the end of our first day’s walk. From here, a game viewer transported us to the uber-comfortable De Mond Villa, our home during the hike.
The villa has three en-suite bedrooms and large living spaces. Outside a further two bedrooms take the villa’s capacity to a ten sleeper, with all five bedrooms spilling onto verandas. Still gleaming from its recent refurbishment, the villa is appointed with African Jacquard textiles throughout the rooms, board games and books in the lounge, and a fridge laden with our inclusive drinks (house wines, beers and soft drinks which we had chosen ahead of time).
Outside, the large pool, braai, and fire-pit areas provide ample opportunity to appreciate the fresh air and natural beauty. There are also bicycles for evening rides, watching the passing wildlife and stellar stargazing to enjoy.
Day 2: Following the vlei
After a comfortable night’s sleep, it was an early start setting off along the Vlei. Even though we’d been briefly introduced to this magnificent water body the day before, we would now spend kilometres skirting its shores.
The vlei is SA’s oldest Ramsar wetland and is home to an astounding 97 bird species, and sometimes as many as 15000 birds are at or on the water. We were treated to the fluorescent flight of Flamingos, watery v’s prints left by the clubs of Coots, large Pelicans glancing the surface, and a host of other waterfowl to enjoy and discover.
Offering a reprieve from the morning’s 8km walk, a short eco-boat cruise taxied us across the Vlei to the grand old Melkkamer homestead for a delicious brunch. Built in the 1800s, the recent rains had raised the waterline to some of the building edges – a reminder of the wildness of this place, where we were only guests for a short while.
On our drive home, we were met by Cape Mountain Zebra, Duiker, Eland, Bontebok and Ostrich – and back at our villa, the fire-pit had been made ready, where a traditional South
African braai was already cooking on the coals of the bonfire.
Day 3: Whales and vultures
Thinking that day two brought all the wow factor De Hoop had to offer, day three added a whole new dimension. The game vehicle dropped us at Koppie Alleen – the mythically beautiful dune-framed beach which marks the end of the traditional Whale Trail.
From here we walked the last 7km of the Whale Trail backwards, climbing from beach to beach, taking in some of the most unique rock formations the South African coast has to offer (including a dip in the famous Hippo Pools). The area offers the best land-based Southern Right Whale sightings in the country – even though it wasn’t whale season, a few misty spouts were sighted.
After our scrumptious picnic lunch setup at one of the Whale Trail huts, our trusty game viewer drove us to De Hoop’s Cape Vulture viewing site. The 2km return walk takes you to a viewing platform to observe the Western Cape’s last surviving colony of these endangered birds up close.
Back at De Mond Villa, Chef cooked up a magnificent three-course plated meal to celebrate our last night together, and over the food and wine stories erupted from the memory of our day’s collective adventures.
Day 4: Last goodbyes
Gently waking to the sounds of the Vlei, it was hard to imagine that it was our last day in the ethereal Overberg surroundings. Not wanting to pry themselves away from the warmth of the fireplace and the views of the Vlei, half our group decided to stay put and enjoy a car transfer back to The Fig Tree Restaurant and the other half walked the last section of the hike.
Here, we eventually rendezvoused to enjoy a glass of bubbles together, before going our separate ways, overflowing with a thousand memories of our unforgettable ‘Vlei to Whales’ experience.
The all-inclusive trail starts at R14200 per person (minimum of 4 people). The trail runs all year through, with the most popular times being spring for birding, winter for whales, and autumn for flowers – although thanks to mother nature and De Hoop’s varying biomes there is always something to see on the sprawling reserve. dehoopcollection.com
