On our last day in Swellendam we walked in the Marloth Nature Reserve.
We parked down the road from the ticket office (R40/person) and set off to see the Duiwelsbos Waterfall. The map we were given showed the shape of the path, but there were no distances, heights, or times. The website says the walk is 2kms (return? one-way?) from the Koloniesbos car park and that it will take 2 hours, and the map below is from the website – but we relied on the ticket office information…
The hillsides are covered in protea bushes and although the season was over we were lucky to spot a few flowers lurking in the shade – I love their stiffness! I think these are protea repens, the sugarbush protea.
Ericas were flowering, including a white variety.
There were lots of other interesting plants and I would have loved to linger…
The path lead upwards into the indigenous forest of the kloof to the waterfall but the humidity defeated me – I was very dizzy – and we had to turn back before reaching the waterfall itself. The walk was lovely, although slippery in places, and steep. There are no waymarks but the path is clear; under the circumstances it would just have been useful to know the distance. The sound of the water was constant and relaxing and the ferns were beautiful.
The views were amazing.
You may be interested in
A walk to the Duiwelsbos Waterfall – interesting blog, lots of information & photographs about flora, and another walk in the Marloth Nature Reserve
The Duiwelsbos Trail
The Swellendam Hiking Trail – not for the faint-hearted, and certainly not for me!
The Rim of Africa Walk
Anne Guy
Great proteas and ericas…in the wild…stunning!
Candy Blackham
It was very beautiful, and I would have loved to poke around and find more flowers…