Bekker Trails Round 2: But Not A Redo

I somehow ended up back at Bekker Trails.

Round two.

Not a redo - don’t be ridiculous.

A completely different trail, with a completely different hiking partner.

(If this comes up in conversation: it didn’t happen. Especially not to Basil. And Boris definitely doesn’t need to know.)

This time, I brought my son, Pepper.

Pepper, like his mother, suffers from what I can only describe as "advanced directional confusion".

Not the cute “oops, wrong turn” kind. No - this is “hand us a map, a compass, and written instructions and we’ll still emerge in another province” levels of confusion.

So naturally, we chose hiking.

The 8km Trail

I had coordinated with Shawn - who recommended his 8 km route.

His description? Flat farm hike.

Well-marked.

No chance of getting lost.

Shawn… respectfully… what part of my personality suggested this would go well?

He offered to meet us at 7:00 a.m., ., which would’ve been lovely if Pepper operated on anything resembling a schedule.

So we arrived at 7:45.

He explained that due to a recent bike race, markings needed adjusting.

Then came the directions:

“Follow orange and blue… gate… left… right… up… down… another gate… road…”

Now, I’m sure that’s not exactly what he said, but it is 100% what we heard.

With what can only be described as misplaced confidence, he sent us off, promising to meet us further along while he fixed trail markers.

Getting Lost Immediately (As Expected)

We got lost within minutes.

Minutes.

But - and this is important - we were absolutely convinced we were on the correct path.

Shawn pulled up in his bakkie like a man who has just located two escaped toddlers.

“You guys really are bad,” he said.

Sir. I have been transparent about this.

This is not new information.

Trail Reset

He kindly loaded us into the bakkie, drove us to the actual start, and re-explained everything.

Did we absorb it?

No. No, we did not.

But I did retain one key detail - on the way back, we’d go through a ravine.

A ravine?

I held onto that detail like it was the entire plan.

With my custom designed sign

The Trail

The trail began… rustic. And by rustic, I mean overgrown, web-filled, tick-adjacent chaos.

Pepper, walking ahead, took the first spider web directly to the face.

A strong start.

After handing him a stick, he proceeded to swing it around like he was preparing for battle.

There was flailing. There were sound effects. It was… a lot.

Naturally, I armed myself with the stick and took the lead.

Pepper vs The Bush

Now, Pepper claims to love the bush.

This is untrue.

He loves the IDEA of the bush.

The version without spiders, ticks, heat, or… the bush.

Twice - twice - he casually mentioned after the fact that he had seen:

A “scary-looking creature” on a rock and something emerging from a hole

Excuse me?

Those are not casual, post-event updates.

Those are live alerts.

Potential shots.

Pepper, I need real-time reporting. Please act accordingly.

Where is this child's mother??

Trail Markings for Dummies (Us)

At some point, Shawn clearly realized that we were, in fact, a liability.

Because suddenly, along the trail, we started seeing markings like:

• “H-A-G” with an arrow.

• “S T R A I G H T”

Spelled out. Slowly.

With intention.

Did we get lost again?

Miraculously, no.

We totally made it back to the car.

I then phoned Shawn to ask where the ravine was.

This was followed by the slow, painful realization that we had, in fact, taken a scenic detour and completely missed it.

Honestly, Shawn, I feel like more could’ve been done here.

A live commentary, perhaps.

Maybe subtitles.

Just throwing ideas out.

Despite everything, the trail was beautiful - calm, scenic, and peaceful (aside from Pepper vs. spider webs).

RATINGS

Trail Information

AREA

Skeerpoort

COST

R 80

Trail Details

TRAIL DIFFICULTY

Shawn - not flat.

There were inclines. Real ones.

And declines.

But for regular hikers? Easy enough.

TRAIL LENGTH

8 km

TRAIL MARKERS

Custom designed.

Reader, I wish I could say that fixed everything.

....not for us.

TRAIL HIGHLIGHTS

A genuinely beautiful morning in nature. Calm and peaceful.

Also, the landscapes? Stunning.

WEATHER CONDITIONS TO CONSIDER

In summer, this trail will cook you like a Sunday roast.

There might be relief in the ravine.

We wouldn’t know

ABLUTIONS

Yes

SAFE FREE PARKING

AMENITIES

Clubhouse at the start, with various camping options, rooms, and braai facilities - because of course

WILDLIFE & BIRD LIFE

Ticks. Spiders. Thriving.

Also cows and horses, who contributed to the farm vibes.

The gorgeous "BEAST"

And of course, Shawn’s dog, Beast - who is, ironically, the most friendly fluff nugget I have ever encountered.

NOTE TO SELF

Trees are not landmarks. Neither are rocks.

Definitely not the clouds.

FAMILY FRIENDLY

Yes

PET FRIENDLY

Yes

ON A FINAL NOTE

Because Shawn genuinely lives for these trails, he constantly changes things up. Which means you could hike there every weekend and still not do the same route twice.

Which is great.

Unless you struggle with directions.

Then it’s… an ongoing experiment.

Would I do it again?

Absolutely - I need closure with that ravine.

Would I get lost again?

Absolutely.

(TO)SOLO OR (NO)SOLO

(NO)SOLO for me.

Not because it’s unsafe - far from it.