My favourite otter story concerns a company that got a permit to farm fresh-water crayfish in a small fast-flowing southern Cape river.  Scenic capture dams were built, the water was stocked with spawn, the farmers sat back and waited for their first harvest of succulent fresh-water crays.  But the crayfish did not flourish and no harvests occurred.  Surprised, they persevered but eventually gave up – sadder and wiser – and departed, leaving behind the fattest and happiest otters in creation! It would be nice to think that the Otter Trail is in memory of fat and happy otters.  This trail, one of South Africa’s oldest and definitely best-known, was once One of Those Things You Do Before You Die.  Rugged, awesomely beautiful, varied and challenging, it is regarded as one of best hiking trails in the world. In 1964, the Department of Forestry handed a strip of thickly wooded coastline, part of the Garden Route, to the National Parks Board in admission of its uniqueness. It was proclaimed the Tsitsikamma Coastal National Park and the first park warden – Dr GA Robinson – decided the best way to showcase the park to visitors would be through a hiking trail.  It took three years of hard work but in 1968 the Otter Trail was formally launched.  Numbers were limited to 10 people per day.  Within 10 years the trail was so popular that it was booked out a year in advance and had acquired considerable snob value. The challenge of the Otter Trail is that it requires fitness and endurance.  The overnight huts provide nothing but a shelter and a fireplace, so you have to carry everything with you.  The trail goes steeply up and down, following the contours of the coast, over cliffs, down to beaches, crossing 11 rivers (the last one requires a swim and a climb up through a cave).  And to add spice to the adventure, the weather on this coastal stretch is highly unpredictable.  Rain squalls and icy, driving mist blow up without warning, making the miserable hikers bitterly cold and wet at any time of year.  But when the sun smiles and the wind is a mere light cool breeze, then this trail is as beautiful as anything to be seen on planet earth. Out to sea the dark blue waves pound on the black and grey rocks, punctuated by dolphins body-surfing in the waves.  Inland, the forest tumbles over the cliffs like a green waterfall, with arum lilies and other flowers providing splashes of colour like spray.  Inside the forest, tall trees stand as silent as cathedral columns.  The many short rivers of the coast have carved narrow high clefts in the cliffs, through which their amber waters flow into the sea.  The mouth of the Storms River is, of course, the beginning of the Otter Trail.  The first day of the trail is the shortest, to allow hikers to report to the reception desk at Storms River Mouth, to arrange transport back from the end of the trail at Nature’s Valley, to break in their hiking boots and to gather all their blisters together.  Once all the formalities have been observed, it is time to literally hit the trail.  It begins in spectacular fashion, with a dive into deep vegetation.  The trail then winds along the edge of the forest, with glimpses of crashing waves through the dense mat of overhanging greenery.  Over the five days, the trail is full of charm and surprises.  There are areas that wind through tall trees with sunlight slanting down like rays from stained-glass windows, little burbling streams and waterfalls, man-high forest ferns, waterfalls with deep pools for swimming, places where you suddenly emerge from the deep forest into high vistas of the rocky shore, little detours down to tiny curved beaches with white rocks instead of sand, beautiful rivers winding placidly through high cliffs.  The last overnight hut on the trail is right on the shoreline, just metres away from the restless surf. If you are really quiet, you might encounter animals along this trail:  dassies, monkeys, buck and bushpigs.  Most animals, like the leopard, caracal, honey badger, mongoose and genet might be fleetingly glimpsed but they are so shy and well camouflaged that it will be highly unlikely.  There are plenty of birds, including the Narina trogon and the Knysna loerie.  And the otter – you might see its tracks in the sand, but actually sightings of these legendary animals are extremely rare. The Otter Trail is not easy, but seductive in the extreme.  On the trail, I was enchanted by the smooth white pebbles on the beaches, and kept putting pretty ones in my pack.  But wow!  The trail was hard going and I puffed like a grampus up the slopes.  When we got to the end, I discovered I had accumulated about ten kilograms of stones. And, of course, the entire parking lot was paved with millions of pretty white pebbles – I could have collected my fill then instead of carrying them around with me for four days. So next time I do the Otter Trail (which will be soon) I will surreptitiously put my collection of stones into someone else’s pack….