Sacred Legacy
Looking up at the rugged peaks and densely vegetated gorges of the Gamkaberg, I imagine that life for the early inhabitants of this rugged mountain in the Klein Karoo must have been tough. It is a remote and inhospitable place, some 35 kilometres west of Oudtshoorn and squeezed between the Swartberg and Outeniqua ranges, that suffers from climatic extremes.
I am in the Gamkaberg Nature Reserve to explore the newly opened heritage trails that celebrate both a natural and cultural inheritance. More than a millennium and a half ago, Khoisan people worshipped and hunted here, and the reserve is home to about 40 rock art sites. The trails begin at the interpretation shelter, which is designed to incorporate some Khoisan symbolism and folklore, reserve conservationist Ntokozo Tembe explains.
The floor of the shelter is a full circle, representing the sun, while the fire hearth was the central social point in Khoisan culture. “This
