The Rim of Africa Mountain Passage is a walk that celebrates living on a grand scale, stretching over 700km from Pakhuis Pass in the Northern Cederberg to the beginning of the Outeniqua’s on the Eastern extremity of the Langeberg. A walk of no ordinary proportions, the Rim of Africa, modelled in part on other long distance walking experiences around the globe, such as Santiago de Compostela in Europe and the Appalachian Trail in the US, combines the exposure to wilderness, African mysticism and the rhythmical, physical exertion of walking to provide a magical experience and a marker in the celebration of life’s path

The route that the Rim of Africa has chosen, a corridor of high rock results in one of the most dramatic changes in the South African landscape, a geology deeply expressed in its flora and fauna. This is the great divide, the water shed between the wetlands and dry lands, the lush, green pastures of the dairy and wheat industry and the parched, tough lands of the sheep farmers. You walk along the cutting edge of two completely different ecological zones, namely the Succulent Karoo and Fynbos Biomes.

The water harvested by these mountains has played a critical role in the settlement patterns we have chosen over hundreds, if not thousands of years, remaining key to our continued existence in both the urban and rural contexts to which we have grown accustomed. These mountains have supported a rich and beautiful tapestry of events. They are a repository of cultural and biological history and, although in some cases threatened by various forms of development, remain intact as a vast wilderness.

A striking characteristic has been that water flows crystal clear down the Northern slopes and a rich-tanned water runs down the Southern slopes. This puzzling circumstance was cleared up when you realise that the quality of vegetation on either side is dramatically different, and so intravenously releases two different sets of chemical cocktails into these veins of life.

Access to water generated by the mountains is central to the daily routine of the walker. It informs the route, the stops and the water carrying capacity of every individual. There are sections of this journey where so much water abounds that you need to swim with all that you have.

There are other sections, however, that require a walker to carry as much as three days worth of water, in the hope that meager offerings are found in the weatherand time-carved sand stone troughs high on the barren, awe inspiring ridges. The next walk is between the 14 and 25 October 2009 and over a period of ten days will cover approximately 120km traversing the entire Cedarberg, Hexberg and the Northern part of the Skurweberg.

For further information, please
email Ivan Groenhof at ivan@rimofafrica.co.za or visit www.rimofafrica.co.za