After an extremely warm and sunny day on Saturday, I was pleasantly surprised when Sunday dawned overcast and quite cool – ideal weather for Segwati Ranch, where there is not much shade on the hiking trails.
We were joined by three members of the (ex) Roodepoort Hiking Club and hope to see more of them in the future. There were also other folk who joined us for the first time and, again, we hope they will come along on future hikes. There were twenty of us in all and we stayed together as one party and all finished at pretty much the same time.
There are not really hiking trails, as such, at Segwati, but game viewing trails, mainly for 4 x 4′s. Mountain bikers also make use of the facility and, even though we saw only three cyclists on Sunday, it did affect the game viewing, as the buck and giraffe apparently do not like the bikes and hide away. We were lucky enough to see giraffe, zebra, a lone eland and (very close up) Nyala. The motorbikes zinging along the Broederstroom road below the ranch on Sundays possibly also frighten the game. Twelve Cape vultures were circling close by and after the hike, we were entertained by a pair of Crimson-breasted shrikes with their stunning red plumage.
Part of the veld had very recently burned, but Spring is most definitely here, every plant and tree is showing new signs of life.
There is a thatched lapa with tables and chairs and braai facilities and we were pleasantly surprised to find that Management had set out kettle, cups,coffee, tea, etc. for us – what a treat! The ablutions are spotless, in fact, the entire resort is impressively well looked-after, litter free and welcoming.
J CLARK