Seven hikers trapped in the Cederberg, 19 May 2010Five women and two men, aged between 23 – 63 years old, all of them from Kleinmond were rescued by CapeNature in the Cederberg last week, after they were trapped by adverse weather conditions in a tiny mountain cottage for three days. Rescue teams consisting of CapeNature, Clanwilliam SAPS and Provincial Search and Rescue teams from Clanwilliam and Mooreesburg found the seven hikers on Wednesday, 12 May, 7 km en-route back to Algeria (CapeNature office), two days after they were supposed to return from their planned four day hike. One of the women was unable to walk, due to an old back injury which recurred after sitting huddled in the cottage for three days and had to be airlifted by Cape Town based provincial helicopter rescue services, whilst the rest of the hikers preferred to complete the route after they were spotted by rescue teams. None of the hikers incurred any serious injuries, but were hungry since their food ran out on day three of their six-day excursion. Alarm bells started going off, last Monday when the hiker’s taxi arrived by late afternoon but they were nowhere in sight. CapeNature activated rescue operations on Tuesday, but was only able to start the search early on Wednesday, because of heavy rains and low mist over the mountains, complicating visibility. CapeNature’s Executive Director of Operations, Fanie Bekker has confirmed that they take the safety of hikers very seriously and said that the most important rules for hikers to follow are to be prepared for adverse weather conditions as nature is unpredictable, and also to stick to all hiking guidelines which are available to all visitors. The hikers started their route on Friday, 7 May. On day two of their planned 4 day hike, heavy rains prevented the group from reaching their cottage and they slept in tents. On day three they crossed two rivers to reach the overnight cottage, nearest to them. Once there, they were forced to stay put for three days, because the rivers surrounding the hut, came down in flood. MORE Please program these numbers into your cell phone – please ensure that your cell phone is kept on at all times. Remember that rescue operations are costly, difficult and could also endanger the rescuers. Relatively few rescue teams serve large mountainous areas, diminishing your chance of a speedy rescue. For further info on safety protocols please see: http://www.capenature.co.za/docs/1181/Trail%20Hiker%20Safety.doc « Go Back |