New hiking trail to open in Limpopo’s Blouberg
A new community-based hiking trail has been opened in the Blouberg in Limpopo, bordering the beautiful Blouberg Nature Reserve.
A new community-based hiking trail has been opened in the Blouberg in Limpopo, bordering the beautiful Blouberg Nature Reserve. The trail was developed by four young, entrepreneurial interns who were appointed on Open Africa’s Seraki Blouberg Route as part of a youth development project, giving travellers the opportunity to explore this mountain in a new way.
A short, day hike up to the rock pools is on offer, while those keen on spending more time exploring the mountain can hike 3km to the community-owned cultural camp on top of the mountain, where they can spend either one or two nights camping or in rustic, self-catering chalets.
Local non-profit organisation Open Africa has been working with local communities in the area on a project funded by the Finnish Embassy’s Local Cooperation Fund and Barclays Africa. The project aims to develop entrepreneurship skills for youth and rural enterprises.
Open Africa works with small businesses to establish rural tourism routes that offer travellers authentic experiences, while generating income and jobs for local people. Its rural tourism routes are being used as platforms for local youth to gain a broad understanding of the tourism industry while giving them hands-on business experience.
Each route employs up to five youth interns between the ages of 18 and 35 and route members offer them a variety of opportunities to gain experience. This includes everything from office administration to guiding and guest relations while the route association involves them in route management, business planning and product development.
Open Africa also helps set up management structures for these routes and its route management programme builds the management capacity of the association’s members while enabling them to implement local development projects through what is known as a Challenge Fund.
The interns along the Seraki Blouberg Route identified the hiking trail, camp and village tours as opportunities for the community to be involved in tourism while also helping to improve the potential of the area as a tourism destination. The business plan for the project was drawn up with assistance from Open Africa and will eventually be implemented with the funds provided from the route’s challenge fund.
Currently the camp at the foot of the Blouberg mountain is being managed by Transfrontier Parks Destinations (TFPD), who work towards creating a viable and sustainable tourism industry that balances the needs of the local community with the surrounding natural environment. Three of the young business-minded interns currently work as guides and take visitors around the mountaintop. A guided tour to the local BaHananwa village is also on offer, adding a cultural flavour to any traveller’s experience in the Blouberg. The trails are also suitable for mountain bike enthusiasts.
The hiking trail is set to open to the public in early 2015. For more information on the trails and booking information, please contact Transfrontier Parks Destinations on +27 21 701 7860 or info@tfpd.co.za
