Exquisite Cederberg - Claire. Date of travel: Mar 2009
I have just returned from a long weekend away in the Cederberg. Breathtaking mountains and rock formations, the only thing was that we were there in the middle of an intense heatwave so we were unable to do any hikes or walks due to the extreme temperatures. We stayed at Mount Ceder, where the sedimentary and sandstone mountains formed part of a shallow sea millions of years ago. And the fossils of fish, invertebrates and sharks prove it! Absolutely mind-boggling. When I next return I'd like to stay at Krom Rivier or Algeria as these places have more hikes etc. A great trip for anyone wanting to explore this amazing part of the world and recommended to all travellers in the Cape Town region.

A special place - Mary Markham. Date of travel: Apr 2007
The Cedarberg Wilderness Area is great for outdoor recreation - it offers lots of fantastic campsites and many hikes, as well as cold mountain pools to cool off in. Jamaka is my favourite camping spot, more low key and remote, but places like Algeria have all the facilities. Permits are required for hiking, but there are some awesome, weathered rock formations worth seeing, as well as some bushman paintings at Stadsaal caves.

Clanwilliam Rocks! - Stuart Brunner. Date of travel: Jan 2007
Clanwilliam Dam is loads of fun if you are into wakeboarding. My SA mate had a house there and we went up for a weekend. The dam is pretty big so we had loads of fun on the boat, swimming and wakeboarding. It got super hot on our second day, around 32 degrees but I was stoked because I'd just come from an English winter. The actual town is small (we stayed on the dam a minute's drive away) but it had a supermarket, bottle store and fishing gear... everything you need. As the South Africans say, "lekker" place.

Spectacular rock formations - Janet. Date of travel: Sep 2006
The Cederberg is famous for its spectacular rock formations. The best known are the Wolfberg Cracks, Wolfberg Arch, Maltese Cross and Stadsaal Caves. These rocks are composed of sandstone and shale formations of the Cape Supergroup. The formations were deposited between 500 and 345 million years ago. Some formations such as the Bokkeveld Group are rich in marine fossils such as trilobites, brachiopods and crinoids. (Please remember that all fossils are National Monuments, protected by Law, and may not be disturbed or removed). The Cederberg gives its name to the Cederberg Formation, a narrow shale band that is locally referred to as "Die Trap" or in English "The Step", because of its characteristic manner in which it weathers. The harder sandstone and quartzitic formations such as the Peninsula, Nardouw and Witteberg tend to form the higher mountainous areas, while the softer shale formations such as the Bokkeveld and Cederberg form fertile valleys. The Cederberg's spectacular rock formations result from a number of factors including the flat lying nature of the geology, well defined fracture and jointing patterns, chemical composition of the rocks, climatic conditions and time.