Trip to Hogsback

About 150 km from East London is a small village in the mountains called Hogsback. Lonely planet describes it as a "magical resort high in the beautiful Amatola Mountains". It is also in Hogsback that Tolkin is said to have been inspired to write the Hobbit. All this seemed like a good reason to visit the place on a daytrip on a hot May day. We enjoyed the forests, the streams and the views during a walk in the area, a visit to one of the local eateries ("The edge") and a bit of driving around. What struck us the most is how it has a completely different atmosphere from the area around it, which is dry and without much vegetagion. Hogsback is a very pleasant place for walks and to get "away from it all". Oh, by the way, one of the local ladies confirmed that Tolkien could not have written the book based on Hogsback, as he was too little when he left South Africa. Possibly, he based it on what his grandmother told him about the place.