When in Africa we wear leopard print!
I have wanted to do the river hike for the longest time but have never had an experienced hiker to walk it with. It’s not wise to head up to the mountains alone so I’ve been waiting patiently for about a year now.
A few months back I joined my aunt on a hike with a group of older ladies who hike at least twice a week. So I try to join them every couple weeks, if not every week to learn the paths from them and keep my aunt company.
Pam is the leader of the group and all knowing when it comes to our Cape mountains. So when she mentioned that she wanted to do the Silvermine River Hike I jumped at the opportunity. Finally!!!
We started at 7am last Tuesday. We met at gate 1 of Silvermine which is a section of the Table Mountain National Park and were prepped for some hot weather - a few days of heat wave were upon.
We started down a jeep track but soon hung a right onto a single track that headed up the small shallow river that headed uphill towards the dam. It’s about a 3,5km walk to the dam wall. So off we went.
The terrain kept changing from open fynbos (our indigenous plants have very fine leaves and structure which is why it’s called fine bush or fynbos) to tall tress along the rocky river, to white Sandy paths. Quite a contrast. The dogs took a swim first chance they got to cool off in the shallow river. The river has a bronze colour due to the minerals in the water.
And eventually to wooden boardwalks through dense forest and beautiful ferns in the morning light. The variety on this walk is just beautiful and is definitely not monotonous.
One last final stretch and we reached the dam wall below the dam which was built well over a hundred years ago. As we walked along the dam wall up towards the next path we spots a leak that’s apart been there for years. Um?! Years?!! Yes, and they don’t seem to have any plans to fix it.
As we walked up the path along the dam wall it soon revealed the dam itself. A gorgeous tree lined stretch of water, absolutely still, and begging to be swam in by the dogs. Pam through a stick for her poppet who immediately went diving in after it and came back (with no stick) but grinning after the cool off.
We stopped for a snack break and took on the stunning views as the sun continued to rise. Dogs for treats and walked on the waters edge while the humans planted ourselves on the bench and boardwalk for a little leg break. The ladies tend to walk slowly but here pretty good at keeping a consistent pace and never let anyone get too far behind. Me and my photo taking tend to put me in the sweeper position bringing up the rear.
Break over, poppet had one more swim and then we headed up the jeep track for our circular walk back through the fynbos and very overgrown single tracks further along the path.
I’m glad Pam knows exactly where she going because I definitely would have missed a few of the turns. Now that I have seen then for myself I’d be able to keep an eye out for them, but if you’re not concentrating you wouldn’t even know there was a path.
The “beware of baboons” sign is a common feature in all our mountain reserve parks. And hikers are completely used to there being a chance of encountering baboons in the wild. The main thing is not to engage, absolutely do not feed them and keep your distance. There are various troops on the various peaks of Table mountain including a couple rogue baboons that have gotten a little too familiar with the residential neighbourhoods. Our garbage bin has been raided in the driveway more than once and left in a complete state.
We caught a quick glimpse of the Indian Ocean as we past over the top of a ridge and then made our descent back towards the original jeep track. By now my feet were getting a bit tired and it was HOT!
Pam made sure to show us the various route options in case we decided to do this circular walk again. There are a couple different options but all of them will get you back to the jeep track, which takes you to the car park. Once there it was a short walk to the car and a sprint home for a coffee!
We are so blessed to have these mountains on our doorstep and be able to hike and walk in nature year round.
Here’s a map of the route we walked:
This is an easy walk for most able folk but is an almost 8km circular route, so not a short walk. You would also want I spend some time admiring the views and flora so it generally takes about 2 - 2 ½ hours.
If you’re ever in Cape Town look us up! We’re always looking for hiking buddies.
