A new luxury camp for hikers, built on a previously forbidden section of Table Mountain National Park is now officially open.
The two-day Orange Kloof Hoerikwaggo trail takes hikers from Silvermine Dam via Constantiaberg, Vlakkeberg and Constantia Nek to the tented camp in Orange Kloof.
The second day, Table Mountain - or Hoerikwaggo or Sea Mountain, as called by the original inhabitants of the Cape - is ascended via Disa Gorge. A ride in the Cable Car with panoramic views of Cape Town concludes the trail.
The two-day trail is the first phase of the Hoerikwaggo Classic Trail, which after completion will take hikers on a six-day and five-night guided and self-catered journey from Cape of Good Hope to Table Mountain.
The Orange Kloof tented camp has been designed and built by TMNP managers, artisans and local workmen entirely out of local material, most of it - including alien vegetation - from Table Mountain National Park itself.
According to Park manager, Brett Myrdall the Hoerikwaggo Trail will become an icon for SA tourism in much the same way that the Inca Trail has done for Peru.
"The construction of the trail and Orange Kloof Tented Camp has been made possible by funding from the City of Cape Town and the National Department of Environmental Affairs & Tourism," said Myrdall.
He said that 430 people from the surrounding townships have been employed for three years, building stone paths, making the mountain safe and accessible and improving Cape Town's tourism infrastructure.
Table Mountain National Park also offers the Hoerikwaggo 3 day Table Mountain Trail and the People's Trail - the latter catering specifically for disadvantaged youth.
All the trails are guided by guides who were once unemployed and living in disadvantaged communities. They were recruited by Table Mountain National Park and subjected to rigorous training, that transformed them into qualified and proud professionals with sound knowledge of safety, first aid, navigation and the mountain's geology and history.
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