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Otter Trail (Day 5)

By Mo Ibrahim | March 12, 2018

[Andre Hut → Nature Valley] (10.8 km)

The final day of this amazing adventure; the day you’ll be back in civilization:) Depending on your transport arrangements and timing, plan your start for this day bearing in mind that this is an easy short day that will take you only 3 hours to finish, with stops.

The first section will be along the pebble beach you spent the previous night on and it’ll involve some challenging boulder hopping.

Then the final uphill of this entire trail will start immediately after you hike along the beach for less than a kilometer. The uphill will be inside the forest and by now you’ll be expert in this terrain so it won’t be tough for you.

After this last uphill you’ll reach the top of the plateau with amazing final views of the towering cliffs above the ocean. You’ll continue hiking on the top and will have this amazing feeling that you almost finished this thrilling adventure.

It is all flat from here, so take your time, enjoy, take your last pictures, and keep going till you reach the metal gate marking the end of the trail!! CONGRATULATIONS YOU DID IT

From this point you’ll have an amazing view of Nature Valley beach

and the trail will take you down all the way to the beach and civilization.

Now you’ll start meeting people: day trippers and beach goers and they’ll all congratulate you:) so enjoy your glory moment and don’t forget to stop by the rest camp to sign-out from the trail and collect your Otter Trail Certificate…YOU ARE OFFICIALLY AN ADVENTURER!!

Otter Trail (Day 3)

By Mo Ibrahim | March 12, 2018

[Scott Hut → Oakhurst Hut] (7.7 km)

This is the first day when you’ll start encountering the famous river crossings of the Otter trail and you’ll have to plan your hike according to the tide chart to be able to cross these rivers at low tide. The third day of the Otter trail is relatively short, yet it has some challenging uphills. The total distance between the two huts is 7.7 km which will take you around 4 hours, with rests, so you’ve time. However, your start time will depend on the low tide time as the second river that you’ll have to cross, the Lottering River, is after 7 km.

In this day, you’ll hike on a terrain that, most probably, you never hiked before and you’ll go to places you won’t believe your eyes for their beauty, so get ready and prepare for an amazing adventure:)

The first part of the hike will be, the now familiar, uphill from the hut inside the thick forest. Shortly after that the terrain will completely change and you’ll hike close to the ocean shore.

It is an unbelievable background for a hike, what more can an adventurer want other than a blue ocean, green forest, and beautiful sunshine:) You’ll stop a lot here for the perfect ocean picture.

The trail here will involve some boulder hopping and uphills, but every few kilometers you can find hidden pools where you can swim…amazing!

After 2.5 km, you’ll reach the first of the two river mouths…the Elandsbos river…and it is out of this world.

Crossing this river is very easy, at maximum you’ll only have to take-off your shoes, but the views and the feeling of exclusivity here will make you cross this river back and forth from the excitement.

The next section of the trail is the toughest. From here it’ll be an uphill after an uphill and all exposed to the sun without the shelter of the forest trees, but I personally, didn’t realize how tough it was because I was owed by the beauty surrounding me (pic).

After around 4 kilometers, the trail will reach the top of a cliff and start to flatten, to much of your relief. Then in 2 kilometers you’ll start seeing the Lottering river mouth and the huts on the opposite side. At first sight you’ll be scared of the crossing as the huts are directly situated above the river mouth which is deep and wild.

But don’t be as when you start going downhill towards the river, the trail will take you away from the ocean and the crossing will be at a very shallow area. The dissent from here is very steep, so be cautious; and if you reach the river at low tide, you’ll only need to take-off your shoes and cross.

You are now almost at the huts, only 20 minutes left, so secure your bags after you cross the river and go for an amazing swim, but don’t let the fun distract you as the high tide will come. From here to the huts it’ll be a slight uphill and when you reach the huts, you’ll realize that they are situated at an unbelievably amazing spot…so enjoy!

And remember, if you want to check the difference in the water levels between low and high tides, you can go back to the crossing area and try your luck:) and don’t miss the amazing sunset over the ocean.

Otter Trail (Day 2)

By Mo Ibrahim | March 12, 2018

[Ngubu Hut → Scott Hut] (7.9 km)

Having slept your first night in the wilderness of Tsitsikamma forest and tasted your first experience of the Otter trail beauty, you’ll be all enthusiastic to start your proper Otter trail adventure.

In day 2, the Otter trail will take you to untouched wilderness beauty that is beyond belief, but you’ll also start your experience with the famous Otter trail steps:) This is fairly tough day but full of diverse rewards. In this day you’ll hike 7.9 km that should take you around 4 hours of hiking, but plan for double of that time because you’ll spend a lot of time enjoying the natural beauties of this day! So have a good breakfast and start early to give yourself plenty of time to enjoy the highlights of this day.

The first section of the trail will be a big uphill in the forest from the Ngubu hut to the top of the plateau. You’ll hike inside the dense green forest away from the ocean but surrounded by the morning sounds of the birds.

When reaching the top of the plateau, there will be a viewpoint above the ocean which will serve as a nice rest stop; however, after that you’ll have a series of small downhills and uphills, inside the forest, till you reach Skilderkrens rock.

Once you put your eyes on this magnificent rock, you’ll know right-away what amazing views await you from its top; it is a very rugged rock that stands all alone on top of the ocean!!

Although hiking to the top of Skilderkrens rock is not part of the trail, believe me…its well worth the detour! So leave your bags at the junction and hike, actually you’ll find yourself running, to the top.

When reaching the top, just take your time and admire the 360 degrees views surrounding you. From the dramatic waves crushing on the rocky cliffs, to the lush green forest below you, to the wide blue ocean in front of you…so take lots of pictures from every possible angle & enjoy:)

After getting back to the trail, proper, don’t forget your bags:) and continue your hike. The next section of the hike will be very enjoyable as it’ll continue downhill inside the forest till you reach this day’s second highlight…the Kleinbos river! This is a nice relaxing picnic spot, but first you’ll have to do some rock-hopping to cross the river, then pick a spot, have lunch, and enjoy.

But wait, this is not what all this river has to offer!! If you venture a little bit upstream, you’ll do some more rock-hopping, then find yourself at a magical water pool imbedded into the forest, so put on your swimsuit and take a dip:)

Being refreshed and ecstatic, get ready for some more uphills and the famous Otter trail’s steps! Take your time, have as many rests as you need, and continue hiking in the forest till you reach the junction for the Blue bay!! At this point you’ll be tired and start doubting whether it is worth the detour or not, especially that it involves a big uphill on your way back to the trail, but I’ll just show you this next picture and the decision will be extremely easy.

Take the detour, you can leave your bag up and hope a baboon doesn’t take it:) we did that! And go down to the bay. You are now in heaven…not only that it is an exclusive heaven, only you and 11 other hikers in this paradise! No matter how I try to describe the beauty of this bay, I won’t be able to really capture it in words…but it is one of the most beautiful sights that I’ve ever seen. Not only that, but you’ll have an opportunity to swim in a clear blue ocean water, surf some waves, and relax in amazing surroundings…it is simply heaven.

I know you’ll want to spend the night there, and who doesn’t, but unfortunately, you’ll have to go to your hut, so when you are ready, hike back up to the Otter trail, which turned up not as tough as I previously thought. Now take a final rest because the next section of the trail is a big uphill.

It is the final push towards Scott huts, tough one though, so take your time, and put all your effort into it. After this big uphill, you’ll reach an emergency exit, after which it’ll be all downhill to the huts. The huts are located at the Geelhoutbos river mouth, so another opportunity to swim:)