If I could give a rating of 0 for this place, I would.

If I could give a rating of 0 for this place, I would. Full disclosure: I cannot comment on the quality of the hiking trails and the facilities within Phaladingwe, but there is something to say about its management.

On the 27th of April, we drove down to Phaladingwe Hiking Trails from Johannesburg. I have looked up the place on Google prior to the trip; it was great to find that they were open from 7 am to 4 pm, including public holidays, and, most importantly for us, they welcomed dogs. In reality, it was a completely different story. We arrived at the property at 11:30 am behind a convoy of other vehicles only to be told by an attendant at the gate that the trails were “closed” for hiking. On inquiry, he revealed that the property allowed visitors to enter the grounds only between 7- 11am, and those already inside could then remain until closure time of 4pm. Needless to say that we were astounded, as there is absolutely no mention of this on any of Phaladingwe`s pages. It was a long drive and we had a dog in the car, so we decided to try and request a concession from the management directly.

On contact, the primary response from Margaret on the phone was that their web pages have not been updated to reflect the 7- 11am entry policy because the person responsible for the website`s management has passed away and it is not “their fault”. However, as a paying, uninformed, visitor, I respectfully disagreed. The phone was subsequently handed over to a man, whose name I unfortunately did not catch. He proceeded to lecture me on my irresponsibility: as a hiker- “I have to come save all these people when they go onto the trail and they struggle in midday heat because they have absolutely no idea what they are doing” and “We do not allow or like people on the trails in the middle of the week”, as a person- “I am sick and tired of you people” and, on discovering that we came with a dog, as a dog owner- “oh you even brought a dog, what a great dog owner you are and now I have to come and save you and your dog when it will be unable to withstand the heat on the trail”. According to this individual, it was “people like me” that deliberately went out of their way to make his job as hard as possible, and what their website said ultimately didn’t matter in practice.

“People like me” are very experienced hikers, as is our dog, and we never place ourselves or our pet in environments we are not comfortable in or unprepared for. Overall, the false information, and the overall attitude of Phaladingwe`s Hiking Trails management towards their customers makes this place an abhorrent destination.