Adventure Activities
While the Magaliesberg is generally the haunt only of serious rock climbers, there is one little corner open to any old walking vegetable. Mountain Sanctuary Park gives you access to Cederberg Kloof and some wonderful montane grassland trails. If you're really clever and assiduous, you'll be able to locate the secret grotto at the head of the kloof.
In Kgaswane Mountain Reserve at the western end of the Magaliesberg there's a two-day circular hike through terrain wonderfully varied and craggy, with vegetation a fascinating 'ecotone' between Highveld and Bushveld (outcrops of large marula trees are a surprise).
There's plenty of natural water, lush montane vegetation and great views from the escarpment edge - and then there's the game. The trail gives you the chance to see the Harris buck where Captain Cornwallis-Harris first recorded them back in the early 19th century. Today we generally just say: 'Oh look, sable'.
Enjoyed those water parks as a child? Ride a real slide - careen down the seven slides to heaven at Sekororo in the Olifants River. Be warned - after the third bum-numbing slide there's no turning back, so pad-up!
Hot Air Ballooning
Once the jet-blast noise of the burners is turned off and the big bag of hot air starts to rise slowly, you enter the silent, elemental world of ballooning. It's practically windless, because you drift with the wind above the treetops and hills, the sounds of birdsong and the hustle-bustle below drifting up from another, far more fretful domain.
Flights are typically just after sunrise when there's a breeze rather than a wind, before the air gets bumpy with rising thermals. As you descend, it occurs to you that there is no danger in flying, only in landing, another reason not to fly in strong winds when a balloon could become a sail.