Last weekend, before the massive storm that hammered the Western Cape, scores of mountain lovers descended on Driehoek for the annual Keeping It Wild weekend hosted by Sustainable Ceder and LoveOurTrails.
This year the main themes were post-fire overview of the situation in the Cederberg (a large part was burnt in summer 2025/26) and developing a new mountain tourism and hiking corridor to the east of Tafelberg, an area that was not burned. The content presented as a real opportunity for Rim of Africa to explore new routes so as to keep our way wild, take pressure off burned and popular routes as well as engaging and benefitting communities along our Traverse.
On Friday night we enjoyed home made sop en brood washed down with quantities of locally produced (Cederberg) beer and wine while listening to a panel discussion on veld management and fire. Cape Nature expressed some of their challenges in relation to scheduled (planned) burns which are used to manage veld age and alien vegetation regrowth. We heard that widespread burns tend to reduce biodiversity in the area, and we touched on the post-fire trail maintenance weekend organised in early March where more than 150 volunteers worked with Cape Nature to check and repair 100km of trails. The work done that weekend will have had a huge mitigating effect on this week’s storm impact. Jasper Slingsby delivered a slideshow prepared by his father, Peter, which showcased the buildings in Langkloof and the people who built them and live there today.
On Saturday at 7.30am more than 100 volunteers piled into 4x4s and headed to the other side of Tafelberg, via Dwarsrivier and Matjiesrivier. A slow drive that takes you past many of the iconic homes that we had been shown the night before. The road was slow going which nobody minded because the views of Wolfberg and Tafelberg held us in a state of awe. When we arrived at Langkloof we were greeted with coffee and roosterkoek prepared by the Langkloof community with all proceeds going to the build of a tented camp facility. And then we went to work on what proved to be the highlight of the weekend. Rim of Africa was well represented by our guides and hikers, our love for a good trail and the mountains themselves spurred us alongside other volunteers, the community and Cape Nature and by the end of the day the groundwork of a fabulous campsite was laid.
On Saturday night we all went back to Driehoek farmyard where we were treated to rieldans, homemade burgers on roosterkoek, more wine and some excellent talks. Speakers covered stewardship implementation, colophon beetle habitat, firefly identification, wildlife conservation and much more before we headed for bed, and the wise and sober headed for home ahead of the downpour which began at 3am. Post storm Dawie and the team in the Cederberg are more than just mopping up, having received more that 300mm in three days, equivalent to all the rain they saw in 2025.
Blake Dyason of Love Our Trails, also a committed Rim of Africa guide, was largely responsible for organising the weekend together with Dawie and Lizette from Driehoek. An organised camping site at Langkloof makes a lot of sense for those who wish to see the Cederberg in all its original glory. To kickstart this project they have set up a Back-a-Buddy campaign called Help us put Langkloof on the map, to which Rim of Africa Trust has made a small contribution from our Mountain Restoration fund which is largely funded by Rim hiker donations, thank you all. The other way to support is to put Langkloof and the eastern Cederberg on your bucket list .
2 Responses
Great article,thank you so much🙏
Regards Dawie and Lizette
Thanks Lizette, there was so much lekker stuff happening. Difficult to put it all into words. Thinking of you guys who have been through a lot this last year.