The Cederberg has a couple of basic stone huts in the wilderness area but until the trail was developed there was nothing more comfortable. Now, as we were experiencing, you can hike all day and arrive at a village to find a cup of tea, hot shower, wholesome meal and a soft bed waiting.

In keeping with the aims of the trail — to spread the benefits wide — our chefs, Rene Veloen and her mum Helena Ockhuis (the Ockhuis? were the original farm owners and every second person we met seemed to carry the surname), were from different households and they appeared soon after our arrival to ask what time we?d like to dine.

Supper arrived on the dot ? a vast meal of meatballs, chicken, braaivleis, boerewors sweet potatoes, a local specialty sous bonntjies (beans in curry sauce) and fresh salad presented by our beaming chefs. I?d stated that I was vegetarian and was impressed by the varied offerings. There was always a tasty tuna bake, macaroni cheese or vegetable hotpot laid out.

Helena giggled when we asked what the rich sponge dessert was. "I call it telephone pudding," she explained. "It?s so quick to make that I can do it in the space of a phone call."

On the Wuppertal trail

From Heuningvlei, the routes diverge with hikers on the five-day Wuppertal trail spending the next day either hiking or swimming among the incredible rock formations, rare cedar trees and wild flowers or, if they are strong hikers, scaling Krakadouw Peak for its spectacular views. They then spend a second night at Heuningvlei before continuing on the trail, via the village of Brugkraal, down to the Moravian Midssion village of Wuppertal, the oldest settlement in the region.

Our route led up from behind the village to Krakadouw Pass. It was a magnificent hike. Our guide, Joey — you guessed it — Ockhuis, has lived in the valley all his life. He took us to a rock shelter with some poorly-preserved paintings where one of his friends had lived for 35 years while working on the road to Pakhuis Pass. We?d come down that road the previous day and he pointed out a well-preserved stone canal system, which carried water to what had been the garden.

We stopped for a quick break at the stone hikers? hut at base of Krakadouw Peak, wishing that we had the extra day to scramble up to its craggy summit, and then headed on up to the neck. The path steepened, but was surprisingly well maintained with stone steps and rainwater channels.

A diverse landscape

The great walls of Krakadouw rose above us punctuating the deep blue sky, and at the saddle the exposed, weathered sandstone rocks were a burnt orange — a stunning backdrop to the clusters of purple and pink everlastings.

Once over the pass, the scenery changed dramatically. We dropped down sharply into a green, vegetated kloof and enjoyed the shade provided by stands of yellowwoods. Joey held out some small plants for us to taste — yum yums — a sweet, refreshing clover. After a couple of hours the gradient eased off and a round fort came into view on the ridge above us.

"The British built this blockhouse in 1901 during the Anglo-Boer War," Joey told us. We had no idea that the troops had penetrated so far into this mountainous terrain.

Below us we could see the Boskloof cottages and the end of the trail. We sauntered along the river, enjoying the sunshine and the yellow daisies. Although no walk in the park, the pace and terrain of the hiking section had not caused our averagely-fit group any problems.

Our celebratory braai that night, in Klein Boschkloof, a delightful guesthouse on a citrus farm, was under a star-studded sky the like of which I have never seen. The Cederberg is only two hours from Cape Town yet there was not a single artificial light to be seen. It?s a rare privilege to venture so deep into the mountains and to experience life in the communities. It had been a very, very special trail.

More information
• For reservations contact Cederberg African Travel, tel +27 (0) 27 482 2444, email info@cedarberg.co.zaor visit www.cedheroute.co.za.
• Fiona McIntosh is the author of Slackpacking: A Guide to South Africa?s Top Leisure Trails, published by Sunbird.
• Courtesy of www.MediaClubSouthAfrica.com