Narnia through the Bat Tunnel | 8 March – Mountain Club of South Africa

I have never read The Chronicles of Narnia by Roald Dahl, mainly because by the time he published it, I was way past fairy stories. Our kids were able to read it for themselves, so I missed out there too. As far as I can gather, Narnia is accessed through a wardrobe and features a lion and a witch, and many other characters of the magic fairy, elf or goblin type. Narnia itself is a wooded glade of exquisite beauty. If I have this all wrong please hate me.

So anyway, nine of us set out on Sunday 8 March to find out a bit more about this magical place. We started out from the top of Arbour Road in George and went straight up to the cross by way of the new direct route. One of our number found the going too steep and turned back. At the cross we turned left onto a new trail leading back to the railway line. A short walk along the line one comes to a descent track which is rather steep and loose. A fixed rope aids the descent.

The bat tunnel is actually a tunnel mined through the solid rock to drain the river upstream of a railway embankment. It must have been done at the time the railway was built, some 100 years ago. It is some 80 to 100 metres long and high enough for me to walk tall without stooping or bumping my head. The river runs ankle deep at normal times but judging by the detritus washed up into trees, it must run full during heavy rain.

A large number of bats have colonised the roof of the tunnel, hanging upside down in squeaking and writhing bunches. Swarms of them take flight and fly along the tunnel, missing one’s face by millimetres.

One emerges from the tunnel into a delightful green glade with a waterfall close by. That is about as far as we went, but I think more agile people would be able to go further. After refreshment we returned by the way we had come. It turned out to be a nice relaxed hike with a great destination and took under 5 hours.