While Stellenbosch is known for its oak-lined streets, decorated with a coffee shop and an art gallery at every corner, there is nothing quite like a stroll along the Eerste River – soaking up the sun as it dances on the water, says KARLA DE BOD.
The Eerste River trail is a 5km loop along the eponymous river in Stellenbosch. Established in 2011, it has been developed into a walking and mountain biking trail by the Stellenbosch Trail Fund (STF) and is now an ideal route for both adventure seekers and those looking to enjoy a scenic stroll.
Home to various outdoor events, including the Absa Cape Epic, Maxirace Cape Winelands and Savanna Origin of Trails, the Eerste River Trail requires frequent maintenance. As these tasks vary from clearing vegetation to repairing infrastructure, it is no easy feat. However, for the STF’s maintenance team it’s a walk in the park – or rather a stroll along the trail.
Nurturing Nature
The STF is a community organisation that aims to create and improve hiking, biking and running trails in and around Stellenbosch. In the past six years it has built and maintained more than 50 km of trails.
“The most important thing for the STF is the safety of the trails,” says Unathi Msopi, the maintenance coordinator at the STF, whose team consists of 13 members and seven volunteers. Unathi was passionate about trails long before joining the STF eight years ago, as he has been an avid cyclist for 20 years. He believes the best way to manage and maintain the Eerste River Trail is to ride it – and he has, more than a hundred times.
“I ride the STF trails at least three times a week, so when I see something that needs to be done, I plan for the team to do it as soon as possible,” he says. “My day usually starts at the Old Landbousaal, where the maintenance team meets. From there, we plan our day and hit the trails. We usually return for lunch and then the team heads back out again.”
The Eerste River Trail is cleaned every morning by the STF team, who collect up to 40 black bags of litter every week. During the summer season, the team’s focus is to maintain the trees alongside the trail. Each tree is watered three times a week, with 105 litres of water used per tree.
In addition, fallen or damaged trees are chopped up and sold for wood as a means of income. All this is made possible by Investec, which sponsors the cleaning and maintenance of the trail.
As a registered non-profit organisation, the STF is funded entirely by donations from local trail users and corporate sponsors. One of its sponsors, Remgro, has put its hand up for the development of pathways
and bridges that connect the Eerste River Trail with other areas in Stellenbosch, enhancing the community and the trail’s infrastructure.
Restoration and Community Connection
In November 2022, the pedestrian bridge across the Eerste River and a network of pathways built and sponsored by Remgro were officially opened by Jannie Durand, CEO of Remgro Limited, and Mayor Gesie van Deventer. These developments connect Stellentia Avenue and Aan-de-Wagenweg, ensuring safe routes for non-motorised transport by providing lighting, CCTV monitoring and panic buttons for security.
“It is a privilege to be involved in the continued development and improvement of Stellenbosch,” says Jannie. “We are proud members of the Stellenbosch community and look forward to being a part of the various plans to invest in the broader community.”
Remgro started with an Eerste River rehabilitation project in 2016, which included the pedestrian bridge as well as footpaths and cycle lanes alongside the Eerste River Trail.
This was part of the first phase of Remgro’s plan to convert the Lower Dorp Street area into a vibrant business sector, while creating alternative routes for workers, learners, pedestrians, cyclists and tourists between Stellenbosch station, Die Boord, Onder Papegaaiberg, Stellenbosch University and Coetzenburg.
The project’s environmental efforts include removing alien plant species, planting indigenous vegetation and rehabilitating the riverbanks for flood control and stabilisation.
“The paths create lovely alternative routes for residents and tourists who visit our town. Get on a bicycle or put on your walking shoes and come discover the lovely paths!” says Gesie, who thanked Remgro for its assistance in beautifying the town.
A Mile-Long Art Gallery
Further initiatives to make the town beautiful include the Stellenbosch Art Mile project, brain child of Charité Mouton with project management by Ben-Carl Havemann, Hanlé Hill and Andi Norton from the Stellenbosch Outdoor Sculpture Trust.
The Art Mile is an outdoor gallery that adorns the Eerste River Trail with interactive art installations and sensory experiences. In this ever-evolving space, nature, art and community converge to produce an inclusive and dynamic creative environment.
Stretching from the pedestrian bridge in Krige Street to the Coetzenburg bridge, the Art Mile has two components. Firstly, the educational and experiential part with play areas, an outdoor classroom and benches. Secondly, an annual art exhibition.
This year, under curatorship of Clara Babette, the Art Mile’s theme, ‘Tapestry of Time’, explores the deep geological eras that have shaped the Eerste River’s landscape.
When Clara first walked the Eerste River Trail’s route at the beginning of the Art Mile’s planning, she noticed the ancient river stones, the various indigenous and introduced tree species, and the enchanting birdsong. Through this, she says, she was struck by how we, as human beings, have a fleeting existence in the face of geological time scales.
“[What fascinated me was]how the river stones and trees, to name a few, have experienced time in a way that humans can’t imagine, and how these [natural entities] hold these geological scales within the very matter of their being. They have witnessed and weathered the passing of time far beyond any human’s perception of time – they have experienced deep time,” says Clara.
This concept looks at the timescale of geological events on earth and stresses how vastly different and unimaginably greater it is than the timescale of human lives and experience. “It is from this understanding of time that the theme for the inaugural Stellenbosch Art Mile was born,” she explains.
The Art Mile encourages engagement with the landscape, history and design of the Eerste River area. “The artists who were chosen range from emerging to established, and most of them are local to the Western Cape,” Clara adds. “Each of the artists engaged with the theme in nuanced ways.”
The works of Nina Kruger, Ledelle Moe, Jean Brundrit and John de Jager, to name a few, offer a profound reflection on time, place and the natural world. Nina Kruger’s Shifting Shadows uses 6000 woven eucalyptus seed pods to explore the fleeting nature of time, while Ledelle Moe’s Exploding Geographies embeds soil from various countries into cement sculptures, addressing themes of land, location and displacement.
Jean Brundrit’s Over the Horizon features photographs of Antarctic glaciers, captured with a lens made of ice to emphasise the ephemeral beauty of nature. And John de Jager’s Speel Speel! combines ancient serpentine stone with the game of noughts and crosses, highlighting the passage of 440 million years through the striking detail in the prehistoric material.
Each artwork along the Art Mile is selected based on its site-specific relevance, creativity, sensory stimulation, educational value, potential for interaction and playfulness. At each artwork, visitors will find a QR code where interested parties can donate to benefit the maintenance and future interventions on this project.
While continuing to be maintained as a safe and secure trail route for cyclists and hikers, the Eerste River Trail has been reimagined to be 5 km of serenity – decorated with art, community and stories.