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Thanks to you and The Another Way team.  We had a truly memorable hike and loved every minute of the Leopard Trail.  We were quite an age-diverse group from Gauteng, Cape Town and the Eastern Cape – a group that is a very loose collective of hiking friends.  We had an immense amount of fun, talking, debating, reminiscing, following histories, trying to make sense of our world, identifying plants and birds….. We saw a pair of beautiful black eagles.

The mountains were splendid and magnificent, and delivered generously in every respect.  I loved the camping sites each evening.  Day One was delightful.  We were most appreciative of the big tent as it got quite chilly but we all cosied up inside for supper and thoroughly loved it.  The Day Two camp was chilly again but the tent again provided respite from the cold.  The sites were a little small for the three and four person tents with guy ropes but did not in any way hamper us.  Day Three trail was just my best.  I loved the three saddles and their vegetation. The proteas were in blooming beautifully.  Day Three camp site was quite the most exquisite.  We all loved walking Casey’s Kloof to reach our overnight spot and found loads of leopard spoor.  We swam in the reservoir and enjoyed the sun.  I loved Fond Farewell best of all.  It provided some good exercise and exquisite views along the way and at the top.

The weather was fine, a little cold at night but nothing we found uncomfortable.  We had some rain and mostly it was cool until the last day when it was quite a scorcher.

I wish I had known about the Waterfall Hike because I think I would have stayed an extra day to explore this trail.  I found that four days was probably just a day too short and would love to have had the extra day of hiking.  I have just bought the Getaway magazine for its story of the trail.  Sonya Schoeman wrote so well.  It must have been scorchingly hot because she seemed to have suffered the distances.  None of us found the trail tough.

The only thing I personally wasn’t wild about was the motivational / meditation signs.  I prefer my own revery and meditation.  There were many jokes about “we’re not talking about the hike”.  But that was minor.

Your kitchens were excellent and were well received by all.  Thanks especially for the Victorinox knives.  They are quite the best knives.  We have a fantastic tradition that includes exceptional cuisine on our hikes.  We ate the most exquisite foods prepared each evening by different groups amongst us.  We had black rice salad inspired by the Cape Town restauranteur Karen Dudley, a winter-slaw inspired by Yotam Ottolenghi, mango salads, delicious dahl curries, a green Thai vegetable curry amongst a range of other delights.

Many, many thanks for a splendid time in those magnificent mountains.  We feel so privileged to have had the leopard trail experience.