Hiking the Hoerikwaggo Trail™ is one of the most interesting and rewarding, but often overlooked, ways of getting from Cape Town to Cape Point. Hoerikwaggo or ‘sea mountain’ is the khoi name for Table Mountain, one of the seven natural wonders of the world and the starting point for AWOL Tour’s recent five day hike of the Hoerikwaggo Trail™.
Hiking the Hoerikwaggo Trail™ is one of the most interesting and rewarding, but often overlooked, ways of getting from Cape Town to Cape Point. Hoerikwaggo or ‘sea mountain’ is the khoi name for Table Mountain, one of the seven natural wonders of the world and the starting point for AWOL Tour’s recent five day hike of the Hoerikwaggo Trail™.
Hiking the Hoerikwaggo Trail™ is one of the most interesting and rewarding, but often overlooked, ways of getting from Cape Town to Cape Point. Hoerikwaggo or ‘sea mountain’ is the khoi name for Table Mountain, one of the seven natural wonders of the world and the starting point for AWOL Tour’s recent five day hike of the Hoerikwaggo Trail™.
Colette, Alison and David, the AWOL Tours guests, were keen and experienced hikers yearning for an alternative and challenging outdoor experience in Cape Town. The Hoerikwaggo Trail™ delivers 75kms worth of varied and demanding mountain hiking trails with the added rewards of unsurpassed views, rich endemic plant and animal life and the significant cultural history of the iconic Cape Peninsula.
This hike is traditionally done from Cape Point to Cape Town but the views we experienced doing the trail in ‘reverse’ (i.e. downhill to Cape Point), made it almost better. We experienced wonderful highlights on each our five days in the mountains. This included the fynbos putting on her spring party dress and the endemic sugar birds provided amusing entertainment with their antics amongst her floral petticoats. The spoor along the way told us that other residents of the mountains such as porcupine, grey mongoose, steenbok, chacma baboon, eland and caracal, favoured this fantastic trail too. Sightings included tortoises, dassies, klipspringer, bontebok and the elusive large spotted genet.
Our final day was the cherry on the cake! We had just climbed Vasco Da Gama peak, with the Cape of Good Hope below us to the right, sweeping False Bay to the left and Cape Point just ahead, when we spotted a group of four Southern Right Whales just off the Cape of Good Hope. It was almost as if they were racing us to Cape Point, the end point of our hike!
Although the five day hike is fairly demanding, the Hoerikwaggo Trail ™ is classified as a ‘slackpacking’ trail which means you don’t have to lug all of your own equipment. This hiking experience is for those that enjoy the wilderness by day and luxury camping by night. AWOL Tours can take care of your luggage transfers, shuttling, and meals as well as arranging your overnight stays at all four of the beautifully appointed tented camps along the way, created and managed by SANparks. Cosy fires, braaivleis and stellar delights with a glass of wine are par for the course.
So, whether you are a seasoned stroller or a nervous newbie, for an unforgettable hiking experience along a world class mountain trail, let AWOL Tours show you the delights of the Hoerikwaggo.
Written by Jason Menzies
Colette, Alison and David, the AWOL Tours guests, were keen and experienced hikers yearning for an alternative and challenging outdoor experience in Cape Town. The Hoerikwaggo Trail™ delivers 75kms worth of varied and demanding mountain hiking trails with the added rewards of unsurpassed views, rich endemic plant and animal life and the significant cultural history of the iconic Cape Peninsula.
This hike is traditionally done from Cape Point to Cape Town but the views we experienced doing the trail in ‘reverse’ (i.e. downhill to Cape Point), made it almost better. We experienced wonderful highlights on each our five days in the mountains. This included the fynbos putting on her spring party dress and the endemic sugar birds provided amusing entertainment with their antics amongst her floral petticoats. The spoor along the way told us that other residents of the mountains such as porcupine, grey mongoose, steenbok, chacma baboon, eland and caracal, favoured this fantastic trail too. Sightings included tortoises, dassies, klipspringer, bontebok and the elusive large spotted genet.
Our final day was the cherry on the cake! We had just climbed Vasco Da Gama peak, with the Cape of Good Hope below us to the right, sweeping False Bay to the left and Cape Point just ahead, when we spotted a group of four Southern Right Whales just off the Cape of Good Hope. It was almost as if they were racing us to Cape Point, the end point of our hike!
Although the five day hike is fairly demanding, the Hoerikwaggo Trail ™ is classified as a ‘slackpacking’ trail which means you don’t have to lug all of your own equipment. This hiking experience is for those that enjoy the wilderness by day and luxury camping by night. AWOL Tours can take care of your luggage transfers, shuttling, and meals as well as arranging your overnight stays at all four of the beautifully appointed tented camps along the way, created and managed by SANparks. Cosy fires, braaivleis and stellar delights with a glass of wine are par for the course.
So, whether you are a seasoned stroller or a nervous newbie, for an unforgettable hiking experience along a world class mountain trail, let AWOL Tours show you the delights of the Hoerikwaggo.
Written by Jason Menzies
Colette, Alison and David, the AWOL Tours guests, were keen and experienced hikers yearning for an alternative and challenging outdoor experience in Cape Town. The Hoerikwaggo Trail™ delivers 75kms worth of varied and demanding mountain hiking trails with the added rewards of unsurpassed views, rich endemic plant and animal life and the significant cultural history of the iconic Cape Peninsula.
This hike is traditionally done from Cape Point to Cape Town but the views we experienced doing the trail in ‘reverse’ (i.e. downhill to Cape Point), made it almost better. We experienced wonderful highlights on each our five days in the mountains. This included the fynbos putting on her spring party dress and the endemic sugar birds provided amusing entertainment with their antics amongst her floral petticoats. The spoor along the way told us that other residents of the mountains such as porcupine, grey mongoose, steenbok, chacma baboon, eland and caracal, favoured this fantastic trail too. Sightings included tortoises, dassies, klipspringer, bontebok and the elusive large spotted genet.
Our final day was the cherry on the cake! We had just climbed Vasco Da Gama peak, with the Cape of Good Hope below us to the right, sweeping False Bay to the left and Cape Point just ahead, when we spotted a group of four Southern Right Whales just off the Cape of Good Hope. It was almost as if they were racing us to Cape Point, the end point of our hike!
Although the five day hike is fairly demanding, the Hoerikwaggo Trail ™ is classified as a ‘slackpacking’ trail which means you don’t have to lug all of your own equipment. This hiking experience is for those that enjoy the wilderness by day and luxury camping by night. AWOL Tours can take care of your luggage transfers, shuttling, and meals as well as arranging your overnight stays at all four of the beautifully appointed tented camps along the way, created and managed by SANparks. Cosy fires, braaivleis and stellar delights with a glass of wine are par for the course.
So, whether you are a seasoned stroller or a nervous newbie, for an unforgettable hiking experience along a world class mountain trail, let AWOL Tours show you the delights of the Hoerikwaggo.
Written by Jason Menzies