Hennops Pride

A little bit of paradise 20 minutes outside Pretoria and an hour from Johannesburg.

As we entered the premises, there was no-one at the gate. "Great," I thought. "No entrance fee. They must only charge over weekends." We drove down the slanting pathway  and had to cross the Hennop's River over a dilapidated (plywood reinforced) bridge before entering the picnic site.

As we found parking, a guard walked up to us. Turns out the entrance charged that day was R30 per person. Not too bad considering that we heard the fee was R30 per person as well as R70 per car.

The picnic sites and braai areas are very nice. There are lots of trees providing shade from the hot Africa sun and a kiddies pool makes it fun for the whole family.

The trail down to the river was very nearly the end of me. I was carrying my camera bag on my back talking to Mark and my dad. Not paying too much attention, I turned around quickly and was dragged down the steps by my camera bag. Luckily I didn't fall very far, but my ego was sufficiently bruised to be very agitated with my companions' giggles.

The swing bridge across the river was quite exciting. It seemed quite neglected, which only added to the sense of adventure. The cables holding up the bridge was frayed and a couple of planks was missing from the floor. Exciting stuff!

Crossing the bridge takes you on a trail up the koppie (hill). This offers some really cool views as well as some climbs up and down rocks which get the blood pumping without being really dangerous.

As you climb down the tyre-ladder, you come to a "Hole in the Wall" type of rock formation. It is very pretty. People must camp there overnight, because we saw a lot of candle wax in the little crevasses and holes in the rocks.

After spending a few minutes looking at the rocks and the pretty views from he top, we made our way back to the parking area. The water in the river isn't the cleanest I've seen, but it is also not the dirtiest. People do swim in the river and I have even done so myself, albeit 7 years ago. You swim in the foam at your own risk.

 

Directions: Travel North on the William Nicol past Fourways Mall, Indaba Hotel and Diepsloot. Drive under the R28 Krugersdorp Highway and travel for 3.6 km. Turn LEFT on to R511 and drive for 8 km. (Signpost reads Hartbeespoort and Brits). You will drive past Idle Winds Conference Centre. The first river you cross over you travel for 40 m and turn LEFT into Hennops Pride.

Tariffs:

A little bit confused here, but we paid R30 per adult.

Words and Photos By Louis Beetge