The Leopard Trail

The Leopard Trail is an incredible four day hiking trail in the Baviaanskloof World Heritage Site
In addition to being set in the incredible landscape of the Baviaanskloof, the Leopard Trail is unique in terms of its community partnership model and the process through which hikers got to play a role in designing and now funding the trail.

Designed by Hikers
During the initial phase of developing the trail, enthusiastic hikers were given the opportunity to be involved in designing all aspects of the trail – including the route, type of overnight accommodation, services and even the logo. This is therefore, and will continue to be, a people’s trail – a hiking trail designed by hikers.

In Partnership with local Communities
The Leopard Trial is a community focused project established by the Another Way Trust (AWT) in partnership with the Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency (ECPTA) and Baviaans Tourism, targeting the potential within the Green Economy of the Baviaanskloof for the benefit of the local marginalised community.

“The Leopard Trail will be breaking new ground through its commitment to and partnership with local communities. The trial will empower residents in one of the most impoverished areas in South Africa to realise their dreams. It will also give hikers and nature lovers’ unrivalled access to the natural splendour of the Baviaanskloof including pristine bushman paintings. The task of raising finance is always a long and tough road but the hikers that have heard about it are so excited and can’t wait to get walking, as are the community involved in getting it together, so we are banking on crowdfunding to kick-start the project before our long term financing comes through,” Linden Booth, the project manager for the Leopard Trail.

The trail has reached this point of being designed and tested by the implementing partners without any operational or capital funding, with each party covering their own costs.

Using the analogy of a hiking trail, the process of creating The Leopard Trail is currently at the end of day one. The key people involved have a shared passion, and have already walked a fair distance together in terms of getting the agreements in place and building a solid relationship.

The next step, day two so to speak, is all about getting the resources together to make it happen.

The Community
All the various services needed to run a world class trail will be provided through community entrepreneurs under the close guidance, mentoring and support of the Trust, building local capacity over time. These will include reception, catering, baggage handling, firewood, etc. These businesses will be guided and mentored by the AWT to ensure that services offered are up to standard and, more importantly, that the businesses are sustainable and profitable. The hiking trail will directly support local communities and conservation, while providing world class service delivery.

By using this approach, hikers on the trail will walk with the added ‘feel good’ knowledge that they are directly contributing to making the community and environment of the Baviaanskloof sustainable.
In an area where devastatingly high unemployment levels meet ridiculously stunning landscapes and outrageous biodiversity, the Leopard Trail is a life changer for the people who live there, and the visitors that get a chance to walk it.

Another Way Trust
The principal objective of the Another Way Trust is to be a vehicle for social, economic and personal transformation in the Baviaanskloof. The AWT is a registered Not for Profit Organisation (NPO) which has worked closely with the Baviaans Municipality and the ECPTA over the last few years.

In the last three years the AWT has completed projects that have created Vero’s Restaurant, The Baviaans Craft Shop, the Cob Cottage, the Baviaanskloof Honey Cooperative and Marta’s Restaurant. All these businesses now run as independent entities entirely owned and managed by local entrepreneurs.