Hogsback's fairy tales

Claire Keeton and photographer Marianne Schwankhart roam an enchanted forest

The magical forests of Hogsback are said to have inspired JRR Tolkien when he dreamed up The Lord of the Rings. Or so village legend claims. Giant yellow wood trees in the forest conjure up Ents while fairy sculptures and unicorns evoke an enchanted realm.

Away With The Fairies is the name of the backpackers, and travellers to Hogsback get spirited away into misty forests brimming with waterfalls and forests in which fairies, water spirits and tree spirits dwell - if you listen to the mystics.

Artists, healers and green hippies are among those who have gravitated to this mountain retreat of a few hundred residents, which is also a popular tourist destination in the Eastern Cape.

But unlike the artists' haven of Clarens in the Free State, Hogsback still feels like it is off the map and not developed with tourists in mind. On Tuesday, for instance, most restaurants are closed.

Hogsback has always been popular among hikers - the highly rated six-day 106km Amathole trail ends at the backpackers - and the village is the base for a tough three-day mountain-bike race called Lord of the Chain Rings. The backpackers has a bath perched on the edge of a cliff. Guests can have a hot bath with a view - if they enjoy heights.

When Marianne and I wound our way up the narrow pass into the village for a day or two we decided to go hiking in the forests and explore its Fairy Realm.

We met the paint-smudged artist Patrick Smith next to a dragon made of cement, steel and mesh with flashing purple lights and a fountain. His creation starts next to a pond with a mermaid and an appeal to "remove the mask of life and enter the fairy realm".

Meandering along the 550m path through a scented garden to a grotto you meet fairies like Hobart the Hedge Fairy, Pan, and Metatron, the Archangel of Africa. Some of the sculptures are intriguing and charming, others trite. All the fairies wish for peace and unity.

We decided to walk for a few hours to the Swallowtail waterfall and Big Tree. Below the trailhead, ancient trees reach to the sky. The Big Tree turned out to be a yellow wood, 38m high with a girth of 8.5m and thought to be about 800 years old.

We heard samango monkeys and birds in the canopy. Three dogs scampered with us on a path which was mostly shady and flat, with only one steep section.

Even though the hiking wasn't strenuous we had been urged to have a massage with therapist Angie van Straaten, who also does "fairy readings" - a quintessential Hogsback experience. We didn't need much convincing when the clouds overhead turned into incessant drizzle.

Her space was unlike any spa and more welcoming. The walls have coloured paintings, a form of colour therapy, and a fire was burning near the massage table. Van Straaten has mastered the art of massage: she is powerful but gentle, finding painful and stiff muscles and releasing them in a rhythmic and relaxed way.

After my massage we sat down for a fairy card reading: "Working with the fairies for joy, insight and wisdom," is Van Straaten's motto. Each of the figures has a meaning to her and after I had pulled six, she gave an interpretation and then I chose other cards.

Now, I don't believe in fairies - my son has a tooth mouse, not a tooth fairy. Despite this I found Angie genuine and her reading had uncanny relevance to issues on my mind.

Marianne's much quicker reading had no resonance.

Fact and fiction in Hogsback seem to be refracted through the fairies, firelight and mist. If you want to know what's real, take a trip.

WHERE TO STAY:

Maplegrove (tel: 045 962 1116, email: the walkers@maplegrove.co.za; www.maplegrove.co.za) - owned by helpful couple Peter and Lyndsay Walker - is a comfortable, clean and warm self-catering chalet. We stayed in the chalet but it also has a cottage and cabin. The fireplace in the lounge worked well and plenty of chopped wood was provided free. One bedroom has French doors that open onto a patio with a portable braai. Rates start at R790 a night for the chalet, R50 per additional child.

Away With The Fairies (tel: 045 962 1031, 072 668 0602; e-mail hogsback1@gmail.com; www.awaywiththefairies.co.za) is a popular backpackers with a bar/dining area inside and a communal area outdoors. It offers camping, dormitory rooms and private rooms. You can buy a permit for hiking or mountain-biking in the forest. Rates range from R70 per person per night for camping to R375 per person per night for an en-suite room. Dorm rooms are R120 per person.

WHERE TO EAT:

Happy Hogs Pub & Restaurant: In keeping with its name The Happy Hogs has a stout, beaded wire hog in its dining room. Artworks on the walls, ornate mirrors and farm items add to the atmosphere.

Butterfly's Bistro: A coffee shop with a ceramic fireplace and an art gallery upstairs. Painted red, with the interior decorated in vivid colours, it stands out amid the greenery. You can also find curios and gifts, as well as art, for sale here.