Exploring Table Mountain’s Biggest Patch of Indigenous Forest Orangekloof
Exploring Table Mountain’s Biggest Patch of Indigenous Forest Orangekloof
Exploring Table Mountain’s Biggest Patch of Indigenous Forrest Orangekloof. Orangekloof is by far the greatest adventure to embark on. With my 7 local guest’s that was part of a group of 12 ladies that spent the night sleeping at the overseers cottage, managed and owned by a devision of SANPARKS – Table Mountain National Park on top of Table Mountain.
Explore Table Mountain’s Biggest Patch of Indigenous Forrest Orangekloof got underway with no hesitation. I informed my group of the do’s and don’ts on the Mountain and seeing they were local, they already knew the rules.
We started our hike from the Overseers cottage overlooking the east facing slopes of Table Mountain. I very quickly made it clear that although no picking is allowed, it is important to remember that I am their adventure guide and on my tours I insist on the touch and smell experience. Above is the Cape Snow everlasting one of the main Fynbos species in the Daisy family.
There are five dams on Table Mountain and the first dam to be build to supply Cape Town City with water was the Woodhead Dam in 1890, constructed by Scottish stonemason’s.
Orangekloof can only be accessed through applying for a permit as I’ve mentioned earlier, it is the biggest patch of indigenous forest left on the Cape Peninsula Table Mountain chain and is and will forever be protected. It show cases what Houtbay looked like before early Europeans came to colonise and cut most of it down for use of firewood and building materials.
Exploring Table Mountain’s Biggest Patch of Indigenous Forest Orangekloof
As we head into Disa Gorge the excitement was electric and everyone curious about what we going to see. I too were flooded with curiosity as of my experience I know that when an area gets restricted and the Fynbos is allowed to recover, one never knows what one will see and this makes the Orangekloof hike special and memorable.
The Afromontane forest Biome grows abundantly South – East and East facing throughout Africa and this is but a small insight to how beautiful and luscious the East of Africa looks.
Exploring Table Mountain’s Biggest Patch of Indigenous Forest Orangekloof
The trail through Disa George needs a little bit of maintenance but it was evident that the work is being done and this will make it a more safer and luxurious trail to hike in the future. The fynbos that has had time to mature undisturbed was fully over grown and this means that a healthy environment that’s left untouched can once again flourish as it has in the past.
The ladies enjoyed me sharing the story behind The Rooiels tree also know as butterspoon and I made sure to show them why it is called that.
I always enjoy passing by the Old Grand Daddy Yellow wood tree, offering amazing shade and a tranquil setting for having lunch on a hot day. We were fortunate to have some overcast and misty weather. With our time being limited we kept going through Disa Gorge into Orangekloof.
Fynbos Like the Rooikanol was in full bloom and the Geraniums showcasing their lovely colourful flowering variations.
As we descended upon Orangekloof we came across the fine specimen of the Disa Racemosa Orchid. We were also passed and warmly greeted by the SANPARKS officials protecting Orangekloof and the rest of the Table Mountain National Park.
We passed by the Old pump house that was used for channeling water to the filtration plant at Constantia Nek responsible for supplying water to the central parts of Table Mountain in the earlier years.
Our Table Mountain Orangekloof adventure was soon coming to an end. Shirley was quite chuffed with my structured guided tour of the best kept secret on the Cape Peninsula in Table Mountain National Park, that she requested we stay Intouch for when she has tourists coming to Cape Town. This was awesome as I was greatfull to be Networking with one of the greats in the South African Tourism industry.
For more information on how to explore the restricted area of Orangekloof, please contact me in office via
+27(0)657155688
or email
fauna.flora7@gmail.com / christopher@my-hiking.com
@c.s.hiking