Reiche Trail, Fountainhill Estate
Hike Leader & report: Libby Deysel
Debbie Giles and I did a recce of the trails on Saturday 11th specifically to see if the path to the waterfall was clear for Sunday’s hike.
Unfortunately we could only go part of the way before we were confronted with a wall of overgrown vegetation.
Plan B was made and we were able to partially complete the recce, before the heat of 34 deg. encouraged us to abandon the rest of the recce.
Sunday morning was cool, with a forecast of showers. 18 members gathered at the entrance to the Estate to complete formalities. We then drove to the parking area at the start of some of the trails.
We were able to view the waterfall from the Butterfly Trail and had good sightings of butterflies, giraffe and zebra. The tea break was at the Rangers hut, where we were able to sit on logs in a circle – rather like having an “Indaba”.
The weather changed and the showers started.
After the tea break we followed the path to the top of the gorge, where on a clear day there is a good view over Albert Falls Dam.
However, in spite of the misty conditions we did have good views into the valley and members were surprised at
the height we had climbed looking down onto the Butterfly trail below.
We stopped for a break underneath a Red Leaf Fig Tree – a very pretty tree, but no red leaves at this time of year.
We were lucky enough to have a couple of Birders amongst the group who were able to identify several bird calls – namely the Gorgeous Bushshrike, White-necked Raven, Sombre Greenbul and Golden-tailed Woodpecker.
The intermittent showers increased to more steady rain, so back at the cars it was decided to drive to the centre for lunch under shelter. We could then make a decision whether to complete the trail and follow the path around the dams.
By the time we had had lunch it was clear that there was not going to be any relief from the heavy showers, so sadly had to abandon the hike.