Exporing Kgaswane Mountain Reserve - Peglerae Trail - Rtb, South Africa

Hi Guys!
Hope you are having a great week!

I have recently been trying to get back into hiking (and leaving the house in general) so, when we got invited to go hiking at Kgaswane Mountain Reserve, we absolutely jumped at the chance!
We woke up and left for the reserve early, before sunrise, and after a short drive out of town, we were greeted at the entrance to the reserve by a very friendly and helpful member of their staff, who told us lots of great stories about climbing Everest as she escorted us about 8 kilometers into the reserve and assisted us in finding the trail we were going to hike.

We left the secure parking space and started our hike just after sunrise, with me stopping way too often to simply admire the view and try to get that perfect sunrise photo. In hindsight, I should've really brought my Nikon camera as the phone just does not do this place justice.

We opted for the shortest trail (5km) as my daughter was also hiking with us. Turns out it was slightly more challenging than the longer running trails.

The first part of the trail was a little bit steep and rocky, but still very manageable, my husband was even able to do it while carrying our not so little 2 year old.

Despite our (pardon the pun) rocky start, it was totally worth it, as we were greeted by the most amazing views of the misty mountains, and even the entire town, which once again, I wasn't able to perfectly capture due to my phone's zoom function being a little bit poopy.

On the way up we were also lucky enough to see some monkeys! I spent the next 10 minutes trying to get a clear shot of them but they were pretty sneaky and far off.

If you look closely, you should be able to see them. :)

After that we had another few meters of steep climb to get through.

The trail soon started to even out, and we were able to just hike, relax and enjoy the view.

We even found a few clear clean little streams and puddles, hidden all over the beautiful landscape.

Finally, we were getting close to the highest point of our route.

After making it to the top, we took a moment to stop and admire the view and enjoy the early morning sunshine.

The rest of the trail was just a quick downhill hike, after we crossed though a few fields with trees and headed back towards the parking area, feeling happy and energized, all before 8!

As a side note: We did find one or two empty bottles and some food wrappers on the trail, luckily I had a few empty pockets on my bag, but, if you plan on visiting this trail, I would recommend bringing a small plastic bag along. Animals are allowed to roam freely on the trail, so please don't litter and do stop to pick up any bits and pieces of litter you might come across. Every little bit helps keep the environment clean and the animals safe!

Credits: Footer banner designed on Canva
Photos are my own, taken using the previously mentioned mobile phone.
*I would also like to say a big thank you to the amazing people at Kgaswane for being so helpful and welcoming!

Till next time!