Baboons and bicycles in tranquil Nature’s Valley

There is an apocryphal Nature’s Valley story that tells of a large troop of baboons that swaggered down the Groot River Pass one day bent on some suburban plundering, only to be headed off at the bridge by the baboon monitors.

A resident described the episode to me with wry amusement.

“The troop sat on one side of the bridge and stared at the monitors, and the monitors stared back at them.

“The baboons conferred among themselves for a long while, and then one of the youngsters made a dash for it, and got through a gap.

“He scaled the nearest roof and from there he looked down at the people that had gathered, as if to say — nyah nyah you can’t catch me.”

While it is not clear what happened to the bridge-buster, it seems the monitors prevailed that day in keeping out the horde.

Whatever the case, chacma baboons — chocolate brown forest types compared to their grey cousins from the vlaktes — are a central feature of the beautiful little Garden Route village of Nature’s Valley.

Complementing the countless stories of destructive home incursions and other more people-friendly antics, there is baboon proofing on the windows, a baboon alert WhatsApp group and a swashbuckling crew of baboon monitors armed with paintball guns, who move around town on bicycles.

One of the monitors, Riaan Salmans, 36, said they enjoyed their job and, although the baboons sometimes got through their defences, the situation was much better than it had been since they began work in August.

“We seldom fire our paintball guns but they know who we are and normally when they see us they disperse.

“The young ones are the scouts and they definitely monitor us even while we are monitoring them.

“So long as there are people here in Nature’s Valley, there will be some confrontation with the baboons but our job is to just push them back into the forest when they try to come into town. 

“We are employed by the ratepayers and they say we are making a positive difference so we are happy.”

My boys and I stayed in Nature’s Valley for three days after hiking a segment of the Tsitsikamma Hiking Trail,  and I loved its relaxed atmosphere. 

It’s great for cycling and you can meander around the tree-lined village streets from the single restaurant and shop to the estuary and SANPark’s De Vasselot rest camp.

From there, you can swap to a canoe and paddle up to where the lagoon meets the incoming Groot River, keeping a lookout for birds like the African finfoot and Narina trogon (named after the Khoikhoi mistress of the French ornithologist, François Le Vaillant). 

You can also stay on your bike and push up the pass towards Crags to the Nature’s Way organic farm stall for the best milkshakes you have ever tasted and a whole lot of other good things to eat and drink.

Nature’s Way also sells home-made cheese and is home to various charming farm animals including a giant pig, apparently half bush pig, who loves being sprayed with a hosepipe.

Back in town we stayed at Tranquility Lodge, a super-friendly spot owned by Kiwi businessman Devan Tuohey, who married a South African woman and also owns Face Adrenalin Bloukrans Bungee.

The lodge, which is co-managed by a senior member of Tuohey’s team, Vernon Wagner, and his wife Emmarentia, is handily situated 150m from the beach.

It was a great luxury to be able to roll out of bed and pad down for a swim each morning.  

Somehow in Nature’s Valley they’ve got people to heed the no-littering signage and consequently the sand is immaculate. What a pleasure.

The beach stretches east across the mouth of the Groot River Estuary to a gulley where small houndsharks gather in summer as part of their reproductive cycle.

It was low tide when we were there and the sea had sucked back out of the gully so there was no sign of the sharks, but hopefully we will return some day to have another look.

The night before our hike we stayed at Kamma-Otter II in a beautifully appointed room above a quiet garden where we had plenty of space to sort out our gear.

Nature’s Valley is where the Tsitsikamma Hiking Trail begins and the Otter Trail ends, and Kamma-Otter co-owner Ilse Kruger explained how her husband had finished doing the Otter Trail one day long ago and had declared to her this was where he wanted to retire. 

“So we did, and we feel blessed every day for our decision.”

You can contact Tranquility Lodge via phone 044-531-6663 or email book@facetranquility.co.za and you can also reach Wagner at 072-658-9858 to organise a shuttle to pick you up at any point along the Tsitsikamma trail.

You can contact Kruger at Kamma-Otter II via 082-637-0393.

HeraldLIVE