We arrived early one summer morning, all ready to go. My in
my trusty pair of walking Havaiana flip flops and everyone else in their hiking
boots. And I’ll have you know I didn’t get a sock tan and had the last laugh
when we walked through the river. Ha!
The Melville Koppies is a nature reserve and Heritage site just
off Beyers Naude at the bottom of Melville and across the road from Mark’s Park
(where the original Louw Geldenhuys farmhouse is). The walks are through
Melville Koppies Central. They do dog walks through Melville Koppies West. Melville
Koppies East is open to the public but people are advised not to walk alone (as
with most of these areas in Joburg)
The area is on a granite ridge and as you walk around, you
can see where the granite has been pushed to the surface. There are all sorts
of different colour stones – ranging from clear, to white to brown to black - in
different areas, I would assume as a result of different veins of granite and
conditions.
The guided walk took us up the koppie, through a foresty
area where we looked at all sorts of mushrooms, lichens and pretty flowering
plants growing there and also sampling the edible fruits and berries that grow
there. All the plants are indigenous. There is even a plant that looks like the
seeds of the Tree of Souls in Avatar.
We walked up to the top of the koppie and to where the Iron
Age furnace can be found. They have set up a roof and put up educational
signage boards and information about the ages of man in the area. Our guide
quickly ran through the 250 000 year history (Stone Age an onwards) and
who moved through the area and what they left behind. There are arrow heads
made of stone, cutting tools, pots, kraal walls and so on. They have also found
San artefacts.
Further up, is a view to die for! You get a 360° view of Johannesburg… its breath
taking! On a clear day you can see all the way out to Magaliesburg.
From there we walked down the back of the hill towards the
Westdene Spruit, that runs along Beyers Naude and into the Emmarentia Dams. It’s
a lovely, cool, quiet area and a nice way to end the walk. All in all, it’s
about 3 hours (I think). The guides are passionate about the area and their
particular specialisations, such as the plants, insects and history.
They do regular guided walks and also do speciality walks
like Geology, birding, ecology and trees. Visit their website on www.mk.org.za for more info.
