26.17 Hogsback Village, Eastern Cape: Hogsback Mountain Trail, a tough one.
After walking, mainly climbing through dense forest along a 'goat trail' for more than an hour, we reached a jeep path. We made the right as suggested by the lodge guide which turned out to be the wrong way. We retraced our footsteps and made the left turn which took us to the top—although to be fair, the path gave us no assistance. We sat on the jeep trail, removed our brunch from the backpack, including utensils. Moments before we began to eat, the editor rather nonchalantly remarked,"Wouldn't it be funny should a car come roaring up the mountain?" Very funny, indeed! Within less than a minute, we heard the approach of a land rover, our first sighting of fellow humans on the trail. They were employees of the timber company that owned the land. The timing was amazing. We had to move the dining table, chairs, kitchen sink and other appurtences we carried up to show the correct degree of appreciation to our delightful editor for her culinary skills. Heading f...