Jack and Jill Hiking Club – A great weekend at Babanango Valley

THE JACK and Jill Hiking club went to the Babanango Valley Lodge on the weekend of the August 14-16.

Babanango is situated 50km from Nqutu and the Babanango Valley Lodge is mainly visited by school groups. It is the perfect location for outdoor education in history, geography, ecology/life sciences, leadership/team building, Zulu culture, tourism, bush schools, hiking or purely fun camps!

The Babanango Valley Lodge offers three camping facilities, and Jack and Jill Hiking Club was accommodated at the Main Camp site, which has permanent tents that can house six to eight children per tent, a lapha, an outdoor fire place, kitchen and excellent ablutions.

The club started early on Saturday morning with a 12km hike up a mountain where the members were treated to a lovely view of the Babanango valley, and in the far distance the White Umflolozi River could just be seen.

It was a lovely hike and our guide, Rob, was excellent, informing us about all the interesting facts about the area. He took the hikers to the old homestead of Paul Pollitzer and the old copper mine, and provided all the history related to the old copper mine and Paul Pollitzer.

The hikers were all acclimatized to the cold winter days so when Saturday was a lovely hot summer day, the hikers were all quite exhausted from the heat of the day by the time they returned to camp. Some very energetic hikers took a drive to the Rock Pools where they could put their feet in the lovely cool water pools.

The weekend was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Next month’s hike will be Cannibal Cave in Clarens. For further information you can contact Willem Bouwer on 082 856 7664.