News24 | Getting Outdoors: A world of wonder at the Vergelegen Trail is this week’s pick

The Vergelegen Trail: A one-day, 12km guided hike is an immersion in nature, over many parts of the 3 000-hectare property which are not usually open to the public.

• In this weekend’s Pick of the Pack, Riaan Manser describes why the Vergelegen Trail in Somerset West is the perfect place to get outdoors.
• The trail showcases Vergelegen's provincial heritage site, the pristine Lourens River, lush orchards, Nguni cattle grazing areas, fynbos conservation initiatives, and wildlife.
• Hikers celebrate their day with a game-viewing vehicle ride back to the estate's Stables bistro for a three-course lunch and take home a bottle of Vergelegen's Florence wine.
• Riaan is a pioneering South African explorer and is the newly appointed News24 Outdoors editor, driven by Ford.

“We must... smell the Earth... taste the rain... touch the wind... see things grow... hear the sun rise and night fall, (and) care,” artist and poet John Cleal once wrote.

“Wisdom begins in wonder”, thought Socrates, about 2 500 years ago.

And Nelson Mandela, locked away on his little island in Table Bay, once said defiantly: “In my thoughts, I am as free as a falcon.”

Free as a falcon, one feels indeed, exploring one of Africa’s most celebrated estates: the achingly beautiful Vergelegen Estate, in Somerset West, in the Cape Winelands.

READ: Riaan Manser | Welcome to News24 Outdoors: Getting out shouldn’t be like pulling teeth

The estate is famed for its long-adored attractions such as its historic homestead, its monumental camphor trees and sumptuous wines.

But a new adventure on the estate takes one into the realm of News24 Outdoors, with: A one-day, 12km guided hike: The Vergelegen Trail. An extraordinary immersion in nature, over many parts of the 3 000-hectare property which is not usually open to the public.

The valley is ringed by a towering amphitheatre of guardian peaks, and hikers are guided through these gems:

• Manor house and gardens: Vergelegen is a provincial heritage site, and the route starts in the historic precinct for hikers to admire the lush gardens and beautiful homestead.
• Lourens River and orchards: The trail leads to the Lourens River, where a section of land is a protected natural environment, then passes through orchards.
• Nguni cattle grazing areas: The route continues into the grazing area of the docile Nguni cattle herd – numbering about 400 indigenous cattle with spectacular multi-coloured hides – and resident bontebok.
• Fynbos biome: Vergelegen is home to the largest privately funded alien vegetation clearing project in South Africa. Find out more about this visionary conservation initiative, and view fynbos, wetlands and renosterbos.
• Game camp: Hike alongside the fenced game camp, with possible sightings of wildlife such as eland, rare Rau quagga, black wildebeest and small antelope.
• Champagne tree: This marks the end of the hiking trail where, weather permitting, hikers are treated to a glass of Vergelegen Cap Classique and wine tasting while enjoying views of the surrounding mountain ranges and over False Bay.

Hikers now get to relax, drawing in shimmering views, as a game-viewing vehicle delivers them back to Stables bistro, for a celebratory lunch.

“If I had influence with the good fairy... I should ask that her gift to each person in the world would be a sense of wonder so indestructible, it would last his whole life long”, Rachel Carson, famed American marine biologist and writer, urged.

That gift is here.

*NOTE: While the route is not difficult, there are some strenuous uphill sections and descents where hikers need to take care on loose gravel. Hikers are advised to wear appropriate footwear or hiking boots.

Price: R2 900 per person, including the three-course lunch, and a bottle of Vergelegen’s Florence wine to take home.

Find out more: Vergelegen Trail

Riaan Manser is a pioneering international explorer with multiple world-firsts, and is the newly appointed Outdoors Editor of News24 Outdoors, driven by Ford.

If you have an Outdoors story to tell, email feelgood@news24.com.