VISITING Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve was like stepping back in time to see what the whole of the Witwatersrand must have looked like before the discovery of gold transformed much of the natural veld forever. For me, it was also a nostalgic look at the past. I grew up on the highveld and this glorious place of rocky grassland and marshes, acacia-clad slopes, wooded kloofs, low mountains, koppies and rocky ridges echoed the natural landscapes of my childhood.
The little gem of a provincial reserve, which was proclaimed in 1974, has grown to about 19 000 ha in size, thanks to recent land acquisitions. Administered by the Gauteng Department of Agriculture, Conservation, Environment and Land Affairs, it is situated on the outskirts of the historical East Rand town of Heidelberg.
We often spend time with family who live fairly close to Suikerbosrand but until recently have neglected to visit this, one of Gauteng’s most impressive natural treasures.
On a recent trip to South Africa’s powerhouse province, we decided to remedy the situation and we set aside a whole morning to explore the reserve. We could have spent longer there as even this wasn’t quite enough time to do it justice.
Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve and the Suikerbos range of mountains in which it nestles are named after the Transvaal suikerbos, or sugarbush trees, known more formally as Protea kaffra, that are found on the sandstone ridges. With an altitude that varies from 1 545m to 1 917m, it offers interesting and varied terrain and a good mix of habitats, including seasonal streams. It being winter, its rolling grasslands had turned blonde, contrasting with the olive woodland areas and the bright reds and rusts of the piles of smooth, rounded rock that make up much of the mountain range.
The reserve offers visitors three short walking trails of 11,5km, 4,5km and 1km and overnight hikes that take between one to six nights.We opted to spend our limited time in the reserve exploring the 67km tourist road, a one-way loop that winds its way through the mountain range.
It was a very scenic route and on the way we saw quite a bit of game, including blesbuck, red hartebeest, springbok, black wildebeest and zebra.
Other antelope species that occur there include oribi, eland, grey rhebuck and common and mountain reedbuck but they proved elusive as did two resident mammal species, the brown hyena and Cape fox, that I would have love to have spotted. With its variety of habitats and a bird list of 200 resident species, including some highveld endemics and a good selection of typical grassland dwellers, the birding was pretty interesting, too. We saw a couple of jackal buzzards but missed two other resident raptors, the secretary bird and the Verreaux eagle.
The well-signposted road took us on an undulating ride through the mountains and over rolling grasslands to the sparkling blue Sedaven Dam, then onward through acacia woodlands to the extensive Holhoek picnic area in time for lunch. I should imagine it would be quite busy over the weekends but this being a weekday, we had the idyllic little spot all too ourselves.
Then it was time to leave and we drove out the reserve into the busy traffic and the fast-paced real world that is our busiest, most densely populated and heavily industrialised province.
How precious our green heritage, wherever we live in South Africa, but in highly urbanised Gauteng green beauty spots like Suikerbosrand, places where residents can experience pristine nature and recharge their batteries, are absolutely vital. How wonderful to know that pockets of highveld, these landscapes of my childhood, still exist and are safeguarded for future generations.
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