Bucket List Odyssey: Exploring ancient rock formations

Mountain Sanctuary Park - exploring the ancient rock formations older than Everest!

On our way to Mountain Sanctuary park we passed over Hartbeespoot dam and got some really great photos using my Samsung Note 4.

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Hartbeespoort has become a very popular holiday and weekend resort for those of living in Johannesburg and Pretoria. It is also the principal water recreation area of northern Gauteng and many forms of water sports are enjoyed on the dam.

A single-laned, tarmac road skirts the water's edge on the north side. Driving along its route you will pass through a 56.6 m long tunnel and it also crosses the dam. The Transvaal Yacht Club has been operating at the dam since its construction in 1923. I found out that the NSRI Station 25, located at the dam and its actually one of only three National Sea Rescue Institute inland stations and provides a water rescue service at the dam.

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We passed over the Hartebeespoort dam and got some really great shots of the blues and greens nature had on offer. We then headed off to our destination.

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The dam is 149.5 metres (163.5 yd) long and 59.4 metres (195 ft) high and is built across a gorge cutting through the Magaliesberg.

The reservoir is fed by the waters of the Crocodile River and Magalies River and covers approximately 18.83 square kilometres (7.27 sq mi), with a mean depth of 9.6 metres (31 ft) and maximum depth of 45.1 metres (148 ft).

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It has a surface area of 20 square kilometres (7.7 sq mi), and its normal range of annual water level fluctuation is 0.8 metres (2.6 ft). The mixing type of the reservoir is monomictic.

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The fog over the water was creating some really stunning views and for a moment you were forgiven for thinking you may be in Vietnam!

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Hartbeespoort Dam supplies irrigation water through a 544 kilometres (338 mi) long network of canals to 159.76 square kilometres (61.68 sq mi) of farmland on which tobacco, wheat, lucerne, fruit and flowers are produced. We passed several fields like this one filled with flowering sunflowers.

I have wanted to hike at Mountain Sanctuary Park for some time now and today we were going to explore the incredible rock formations. You will need several hours and if you like taking photos then perhaps longer. We will come back for a proper hike at a later stage and we had also tackled some great kloofing here too.

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The roads are dirt and gravel, however you do not need a 4x4 to get to the park.
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Huge Eucalyptus (gum) trees line the road.
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And of course a good old South African "tea-room" with the "coke a cola" sign!
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Huge Eucalyptus (gum) trees line the road to the main entrance

At the Park you are able to walk, hike, trail run and mountain bike all within the breathtaking and ancient Magaliesberg mountains. You must visit the spectacular huge and towering ancient rock formations and play beneath the leafy overhead canopies providing shaded adventures below. The Mountain Sanctuary Park is a privately owned nature reserve tucked away amid the peace and quiet of these ancient mountains.

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I love the Magaliesberg mountains and its one of my favorite adventure places. These mountains are really ancient and are considered one of the oldest mountain ranges in the world meaning that they are estimated to be 100 times older than Mount Everest. Pretty cool I would say!

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Today I was really excited as we finally arrived at the reception hut. The guy here was really friendly and gave us our maps, even marking it with a orange highlighter together with all the necessary information we needed. There were a few curios and touristy things on sale. We paid our fees and armed with various maps, we were ready to explore.

We went back to our cars to collect our water and after plastering ourselves with sunscreen and big sun hats on top of our heads, we made our way through the treed area near the camping sites.

The hikes range from an easy 15 minutes to the longer 8 hour hikes which are not restricted by guided hikes and set routes. You have the freedom to enjoy and explore over 1000 hectares of gorgeous land. There is also an established 12 km mountain bike route so you bikers are not left out!

We took along 2 lts of water each as it was really hot. The area we were exploring was dry and arid so water would not be readily available. Water is available from the rock pools below as well as within the ravines if need be.

To our right we passed the stone toilets, the braai area, camping area and some of the chalets.

They have a pool which is built from natural stone and it has a deck with a shop and large braai/picnic area. This is a small little chapel on the mountain which boasts hand-graved and handcrafted open glass doors and high windows. Handmade chandeliers hang from the thatched roof and a wooden deck allows you to get real close to nature.

There is varied 3 star accommodation and ablution blocks available, like stone chalets, log cabins and Cosy huts, all fully equipped and self-catering, each with private braai facilities. Some have their own-indoor fireplaces. You also have the option of camping using either your tent or caravan.

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I find it really hard to sit still for very long, but I could very easily find myself chilling with a book under a shady tree, listening to the birds and take in the peace and tranquility that has become the hallmark of the Mountain Sanctuary Park. I will come back with my hubby for a quiet week end away or with my 3 adult children for a weekend filled with adventure soon!!. They offer abseiling which will required the use of guides and gear. Many also enjoy rock-climbing at various allocated points in the sanctuary, you can inquire at the park for more details. Apparently you will need to bring your own guide and gear, as climbing here is traditional. There are no bolted routes for sport climbers. Another adventure looms!

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You are spoilt for choice when it comes to cooling off after a hard day's day’s hiking and biking, the choice of swimming in one of the rock pools close by or jumping into the swimming pool set in a deck overlooking this gorgeous and picturesque valley.

Its not too far but leave early to get the best of your day, there is just so much to see and do here. Mountain Sanctuary Park is a really beautiful nature reserve situated approximately 90 km from Pretoria and 110 km from Johannesburg.

Because the reserve is privately owned and has been able to grow into a protected refuge for wildlife for many years. It is home to naturally occurring animals like the stunning Klipspringer, the shy cute Duiker, Vaal Rhebuck, Mountain Rhebuck, Impala, my favorite the Zebra, Baboon, Brown Hyena, Jackal, Leopard and many other smaller animals that can call this park their home. Overnight guests can get a chance to see many of their nocturnal residents including the ultra cute pint sized bush-babies. Pretty awesome if you ask me.!

This rocky terrain starting to appear in front of us is pure mountain-bike heaven, with routes suited to all abilities.

According to the guy up in the entrance hut the Barnardsvlei Road suits novices, while the physically demanding Breedt's Neck Mountain Pass will test the mettle of experts. A demanding 12km trail also forms part of the annual Magalies Monster bike race.

The boys had wide eyes and were planning to come back with their bikes. Well this could be interesting.

As you walk along the rocky paths, you look out onto vast areas of plains filled with beautiful grasses and scrubs with an abundance of butterflies and chirping birds.

If you’re very quiet, you might be lucky enough to spot endemic fauna such as klipspringers, monkeys, jackals, warthogs and an amazing array of birds and butterflies all waiting for you and your camera!!

The mountains are filled with birds in fact over 300 bird species have been recorded. Cape vulture and Verreaux's (black) eagle nest in cliff-side colonies with jackal buzzard, falcon and swift. During winter the flowering red aloes attracts iridescent sunbirds, while summer warmth lures migrating storks. You will also find many starling, robin, cuckoo, barbet and owls.

These magnificent and tall rock formations which are dated millions of years old have created beautiful pristine rock pools surrounded by indigenous vegetation, creating an adventurers paradise and a chance to escape the fast and stressful city life. if you want to replenish your soul this is the place to do it in!

My advice is to come really early to catch the cooler part of the day as in summer it can get really hot here as the area is very open. Another option would be to have lunch nearby and pop in and catch the afternoon early evening lights over the rock formations creating the perfect lighting for your photograph.

There are some really beautiful plants like our protea bushes and the different coloured grasses are really gorgeous. from a distance you feel as though you can roll in the hay, but on closer inspection you will find many hidden rocks!!

I love all mountains and while the ancient Magaliesberg mountains are not quiet the majestic and huge rolling mountains of the Drakensberg or do they look like our incredible Cape Fold Belt mountains when it comes to magnificence climbing venues and our own bit of trekking it does offer us a wonderful place in which to climb, clamber and explore.

And it is possibly their age that makes them so inexplicably rejuvenating for those who spend time within their boundaries and why I like to spend time here so close to home it where I find my soul and clear my head space!

It was amazing to see the markings on the rock surfaces along the way that you felt as though you were walking through our own Jurassic park!!

The foliage on the sides gives way to a fynbos type of bushes which create a really gorgeous scent that fills the air as a breeze picks up.

And there they were, our prize for the day the incredible rock formation wonderland stood proudly before us...and Wow.. it really took our breath away. You did not know which to look at first as all were so unique and interesting.

We had been transported to another land, in fact another planet. The rock formations weathered by time and the elements stood proud on the landscape before us, their red colours contrasted against the blue clear skies created a breathtaking back drop to our adventure today.

The Bushveld Complex: About 2000 million years ago is made up of a massive geological phenomenon which occurred during what is known as the Bushveld Complex.

Deep beneath the surface of the earth, molten magma began to build up pressure. It formed a 65000 sq km reservoir of liquid rock and intruded between all the sedimentary layers of the Transvaal Sequence.

As the magma seeped in, the weaker, older structure of the Transvaal Sequence subsided and and slabs of rocks thousands of meters thick tilted into the molten magma, forming jagged ranges of mountains around the basin. This magma intrusion resulted in a wide variety of igneous rocks that contain considerable mineral wealth.

North of the mountains many ores are found – manganese, vanadium, nickel, tin, chrome, vast quantities of iron ore and the richest platinum deposits in the world.

Over the millennia the exposed edges of the tilted rocks were weathered by ice and the elements to form the mountains we see today. Further to the south it broke out into parallel ridges, the highest sections makes up the Magaliesberg.

This rock looked like layers of pillows with a bird resting on top!!

The Magaliesberg range actually begins near the Bronkhorstspruit Dam in the east, and then extends across 120 km to Rustenburg in the west. Proclaimed a protected natural environment in 1977, the 2,300-million-year-old mountains supports a vast variety of different habitats, from the expansive grasslands and bush-veld Savannah to inaccessible forested kloofs where 130 tree species and a variety of flowers, ferns, grasses and fungi proliferate. We got to see many of these while kloofing!

This huge rock looked like a duck!!

We spent a couple of hours bouldering and scrambling up and down the various formations

It was really hot but the beautiful blue clear skies were great and not a cloud in the sky!

This big rock in front of Vanessa looked like a rhino lying down!

The Twins are found about 600 metres east of Table Top Rock. The two are rather interestingly eroded rock spires. These layers of rock were deposited two billion years ago by a giant inland sea, making these spires older than even the Himalayan Mountains.

If you look between the rocks and grasses you will spot many tiny wild flowers and on the rocks are many different types of lizards scurrying over the hot surfaces.

Danny giving his thoughts on which direction we should be walking next.

We came across a pond in the rocks where various tadpoles and small frogs had formed. The boys including me where fascinated and spent some time watching them darting along the water.

We found this large anthill

snacking on the move!!

The bright orange highlighter suggests that after The Twins, we would follow the Weikloof stream towards the Slide Pools. Here, the ancient sea has created ripples in beach sand, which over millions of years, and due to immense pressure, crystallised into Quartzite, a very hard and weather-resistant rock. It’s spectacular to imagine that the ripples I am looking at now are over 2 000 million years old. This for me was another wow factor!!

It is not hard to believe that these mountains were once home to roaming elephant herds, rhino, buffalo, giraffe, large felines and a variety of antelope, but today it's the much smaller species that are likely to be seen. Porcupine, polecat, bush-baby and mongoose roam the forest, along with our cute vervet monkies, duiker, genet, baboon and klipspringer. Elusive leopard also live here, but their reclusive nature and wonderful camouflage means they're seldom seen during the day. thank goodness not something I would like to encounter while hiking on the other hand it would be rather exciting.

This rock looked like a statue head!!

I was very excited to hear that because of the areas rich geology, biodiversity and human heritage, there are plans underway to have the Magaliesberg declared a UNESCO biosphere, thereby ensuring the preservation of this ancient natural treasure for future generations.

WHO TO CONTACT

Mountain Sanctuary Park
Tel: +27 (0)14 534 0114
Email: owen@mountain-sanctuary.co.za
HOW TO GET HERE

From Johannesburg: Take the R512 (past Lanseria). At the Broederstroom T-junction turn left. After Pecanwood turn right at the Sun City/Brits turn-off. At the T-junction turn right towards Brits/Sun City. At the four-way stop (Engen on right) turn left towards Sun City. Follow this road for about 38km past Majakaneng, Mooinooi and Buffelspoort. After Buffelspoort turn left at the three-way stop. After about 10km turn left towards Maanhaarrand. Follow the Mountain Sanctuary Park signs. The road is tarred up to the final 2.5km.

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To reach Mountain Sanctuary Park by road from Johannesburg, take Hendrik Potgieter past Little Falls until one reaches the T-junction near the Sterkfontein Caves. Turn towards Hekpoort and then take the Venterdorp road to the left. Follow the road through the town of Magaliesburg and then past Mount Grace and Lover's Rock. Once you have the majestic cliffs of the Magaliesberg mountains on your right, look for the sign to Marikana just past the Maanhaarrand trading store (look for the Utopia signboard on the left). Follow this dirt road over Breedtsnek, the turn off to Mountain Sanctuary park is on the right. The road is not good so allow yourself plenty of time to travel this section.

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