Adventure on the Otter

The Otter Trail on South Africa's Garden Route is known as the Prince of Trails and ranks among the top treks in the world. It is a five day, four night hike filled with steep climbs and descents along rugged coastline, in and out of beautiful forestry and across 11 total rivers. They strictly limit the number of hikers on the trail, so we booked this trek all the way back in February, although it is not unheard of to have to reserve a spot up to 12 months ahead of time. Although our ability to book on somewhat short notice may have had to do with weather...read on...

Needless to say, we were 100% pumped (I might have been 10% nervous) when our time to hike had finally come.

As it is winter in South Africa, we expected weather to be a risk, so the night before we were to arrive at the trail, we went to bed with a clear sky and crossed our fingers that it would remain that way. Alas, we work to horizontal winds and rain, and by far the worst day of weather we'd seen yet in our three weeks in the country. Regardless, with food and gear piled into our packs, we enthusiastically set out for Day One of the Otter, with adrenaline to keep us warm and rain gear to (hopefully) keep us dry.

Each evening we arrived to simple, yet lovely, hut camps where we would eagerly discard our hefty packs to explore, relax and maybe attempt a bit of fishing (emphasis on attempt). When the sun went down and the cold settled in, we'd huddle around a fire to cook dinner, enjoy fine boxed wine and share the remarkable sights of the day with the other six hikers on the trail. We had the pleasure of hiking the Otter with a father and son from Cape Town and a couple and their two sons from Pretoria. From scouting for elusive Cape Clawless Otter foot prints in the sand and telling us about the wild genets that boldly tried to steal our dinners, to stories of bike rides from Egypt to South Africa and service in the South African army, we truly couldn't have asked for better company along the trail. I should also mention they generously shared food with us, including their delicious homemade biltong. Anyone who knows Zach and me understands that food is the quickest way into our hearts. Read further to understand how sincerely lucky we were to be in such kind company.

While Day Two blessed us with sunshine, Day Three made up for it with a downpour. Still feeling lucky to even be on the trail, we kept high spirits going into one of the most difficult days with torrential rains. We tried to focus on the new elements of our hike brought on by the storm to distract us from the endless climbs and being totally drenched and cold. For example, long sections of trails that had become ankle deep streams gave us the fun, yet utterly futile, challenge of keeping our feet dry...straddling the trail, hopping from stone to grass patch to stone again, and frantically leaping out when we inevitably would fall in and fill our shoes with run off. The storm also brought colossal waves and powerful white wash surf that would stop Zach and me in our tracks to admire amid rain in our faces and mud flowing into our boots. Gorgeous.

To truly and fairly convey the beauty of the Otter, I will Zach's photos speak for themselves at the end of this entry. First, however, I need to relay the adventure that was Day Four.

In the dark and early hours of Day Four, I woke in my sleep sack to the entire hut shaking under the wrath of the wind, the latched door rattling threats it was about to blow off the hinge and rain seeping in through the log walls. This was a whole new level of storm than Day Three. With our clothes hung about the room still damp from the day before, I was having trouble stirring up that tireless enthusiasm that fueled me previously. About an hour later, we opened our doors to a banging slightly louder than the wind: the rangers had arrived advising we join them on the escape route to their pick up truck. By that point, we didn't need much convincing.

All eight of us quickly packed up and piled into the covered back of the truck to what we planned to be a quick rainy drive to the next night's hut camp. After trying two separate routes to the next huts, we learned that there was no hope in reaching the huts and that the hikers who stayed there the previous night were, in fact, trapped there. As we looked at the escape trail that had become completely blocked by a trickling stream that had turned into a full blown waterfall, we solemnly, yet understandingly, accepted our early end on the Otter. Even getting us out of the park proved easier said than done. Our eventual exit involved hours of more bumping around drenched in the back of the truck, broken up by sawing through fallen trees in the roads and avoiding bridges that had been consumed by their rivers. If that all wasn't fun enough, we even had Windhoek beers to enjoy amid the absolute chaos.

Although I thought we might never be dry again, we finally made it out of the park, thanks to the expertise and hard work of the South African National Park rangers and the generosity of the Botes family who drove us all the way back to our hostel in their own car.

And now, the rest of the Otter Trail pictures (photography credit to Zach Bass :) )