ADVENTURE

Just how wonderful can any five-day walk be? By the time the 20th (or 30th?) South African has sung the praises of the Otter Trail, you get suspicious. But having walked the trail, I can only say that this is indeed one of the most exhilarating and beautiful walks anywhere in the world.

South Africa has a huge network of hiking trails. Of these, the 45km Otter Trail is the best known and one of the earliest. It follows the coastline of the Tsitsikamma Forest, a national park on the southeast coast of the Cape, part of the famous Garden Route. The landscape is extraordinary, with thick, indigenous forests of milkwoods and candlewood, forest olives, saffron, currant and the Cape fynbos, a mixture of hardy scented plants unique to South Africa, which includes aloes, proteas and heathers.

The trail rises for its full length steeply from sea level to the 'terrace', the heights above, and then falls back down into deep ravines where there are rivers to wade or swim, and all the while you are accompanied from somewhere below by the timpani of the Indian ocean crashing on enormous, disordered rocks. It is a restless, dangerous coast, alive with seals and whales, and the wine-dark estuaries and rivers are home to the Cape Clawless Otter. Higher in the rivers is another otter, the Spotted Neck, rarely sighted. There is a great variety of birds in the forest, including the beautiful Knysna Loerie, which is found only in this area.

Baboons often hang around the camps to see what they can scavenge. Many South Africans have a dislike of baboons, but I admire them for their intelligence, resourcefulness and their sense of family. These were rather imperious, the big males leaving the campsite with exaggerated dignity when threatened, like a drunk turned out of a pub.

The Otter Trail is an extraordinary adventure but it is a very tough hike, particularly when you are carrying 20kg. I did no special training, and I couldn't at first believe the weight of the pack when I hoisted it onto my back — you have to carry everything except firewood for the five days and four nights. Maybe a week of carrying rocks uphill for three hours each day would have prepared me.

Along the route are eight very basic huts, two in each camp, with bunks for six in each, a tap, a cold shower, and a lapa, a simple enclosure with a roof for South Africa's much-loved outdoor ritual, the braai, or barbecue. You share with whoever you find on the trail and this turned out to be very jolly. Two young local boys we met were extraordinary: they baked their own bread and cooked rather sophisticated meals while we summoned dry food from the dead. These boys seemed, annoyingly, to have little or no trouble with the vertical ascents, which are invariably followed by equally steep descents. I was with my brother, an experienced walker and fitness fanatic, but even he was surprised by the demands of the trail. But there are waterfalls with deep pools to bathe in, secluded bays to swim in, and breathtaking views to linger over.

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