|
The Hiku Hikes have been happening in the East Coast Resorts area (mostly) since March 2023, when Silke led a Hiku Hike in collaboration with a yoga retreat including a journey through dance at Glengariff Lodge. From 2023 to 2025, she offered the Hiku Hikes on a monthly basis, mostly in the East Coast Resorts, but also in Cape Town, Makhanda, Hogsback, and even one in France! 2026 saw a change with one Hiku Hike per season. Thus far, there have been two Hiku Hikes in 2026, Summer Scribbles and Auras of Autumn. Words for Winter is scheduled for 26th July, and Spring Songs for 5th September.
Write your heart into place, capturing your experience on this guided, silent walk - listening in to the mystery of what is. NO WRITERLY EXPERIENCE is necessary for this activity, merely a wish to preserve your living self in a unique moment in space and time, by writing words down in response to your environment. The hike is also ideal for travellers keeping a journal of their experiences. Depending on the weather, the 'Hiku Hike' takes place at designated nature venues in the East Coast Resorts. En route, I stop to read a poem, offering basic technical commentary. While walking, you compose your own poem or reflective piece of writing, based on your sense experience of the surroundings. You have a chance to draw together your jottings. Editorial tips and feedback are given at the end of the walk. Watch my presentation explaining the Hiku Hikes on www.facebook.com/share/p/u17e3KTk3CiAEHrV/?mibextid=Nif5oz and see this gorgeous creation by Nikita Mabuya, who has attended three Hiku Hikes: she was so frustrated about not being able to attend one, that she poured her energies into making this beautiful production - www.facebook.com/GiveYourWritingTheEdge/videos/1740915980113725 Bring pen and paper (phones and ipads will work in the shadier parts), hats, warm gear if there is a breeze, water bottle, and small cushions or towels to sit on. You need to be sufficiently able-bodied to walk, slowly, up- and downhill. Cost: Varies depending on venue, ranging from R350 to R455. Includes a copy of Hiku Hike Harvest. Duration: ca. 3 hours Bookings: Reserve your place with a 50% deposit. Contact Silke on +27 (0)66 2546846 Upcoming Hiku Hike Sunday 26th June 2026
The third Hiku Hike of 2026 is happening at Emerald Vale Farm.
9:00 - 12:00 'WORDS for WINTER' We will meet over morning coffee at Emerald Vale Farm and then amble silently along a farm track to a dam, pausing to write as we are impelled. Along the way, we stop to hear a poem read out loud. I also provide input on what to do with your jottings and you'll have some time, sitting along the dam, to play with those. We'll return for refreshments and share our creative discoveries around the table, lastly letting go all inhibitions to create a collaborative piece of doodles and words. R450 per person includes refreshments, snacks, materials and input. Bookings: 066 254 6846 Reflections on Hiku Hikes 2026 so farThe first Hiku Hike of 2026 was called Summer Scribbles, held at Driftwood Studios in Rainbow Valley on 7th February. We had two participants from Denmark, artist-in-residence Hannah Halsebakke, and her husband, together we were six, learning that writing involves so much more than sitting still at a desk and thinking. Hannah wrote afterwards:
"Just to experience how a couple of hours using our senses and language together could sprout surprising words and rhythms was magical. I really enjoyed your recitings and sharing of literature and your own writing." The Auras of Autumn Hiku Hike was a beautiful immersion in the complex experiences and meanings which that season makes available to us. As with Summer Scribbles, each participant was there wholeheartedly, contributing with bright creations - singly, as well as collaboratively. Participants really enjoyed experiencing first-hand how different natural media available to us - writing, speaking, drawing, moving - can work together and help the writerly process. 
Reflection on the Hiku Hikes 2025We'd had a good 2024, with successful Hiku Hikes taking place in January, February, April, May, July and October and December, with two respectively in March, June, and August. Then, on the year's first Hiku Hike for 2025, on 11th January 2025, we were honoured to be joined by a guest artist from Chicago. On the second Hiku Hike, we were surrounded by the fragrant Mystacidium Capense orchids giving their last to the season. March's first Hiku Hike took place at the well-named Misty Cliffs in Cape Town, with a second one taking place that month on Chintsa East beach.
Silke launched her third publication, Hiku Hike Harvest, on 18th March 2025 at the Literature Heritage Ecology Conference, hosted by the Amazwi South African Museum of Literature in Makhanda. The book contains a selection of the fruits of these meditative, creative walks. If you want a copy, please email her at [email protected] or WhatsApp her at 066 254 6846. In April two Hiku Hikes took place, including our first one on a Wednesday. In May, Hiku Hikers enjoyed getting inspiration from a round walk along the river, the beach and back through the coastal bushes at Glen Eden, and in June we did two 'maiden' Hiku Hikes in the Gonubie Bird Sanctuary, and at Emerald Vale Farm in Chintsa East. July was a special month, with the first ever wheelchair-friendly Hiku Hike taking place at Areena Riverside Resort. The second Hiku Hike in the Gonubie Bird Sanctuary went beautifully, and, finally, at the end of the month, we explored the forest on the farm at Tea in the Trees in Chintsa West. On Women's Day, 9th August, a Hiku Hike with a difference took place. Starting at Driftwood Studios in Rainbow Valley, we walked down to the pebbly beach, making jottings as per usual. We integrated some gathering of washed up litter, making ourselves conscious of things in our life we want or need to discard. On tossing the items of plastic rubbish into the black bag I proffered, participants deliberately, silently discarded unwanted inner burdens, whereby the item of litter became an objective correlative in a ritual that was both practical and spiritual, simultaneously serving the environment and self. On our return, we enjoyed tea, coffee and rusks in the studio, and each one edited their work. After that, the fun started as participants created a collaborative poem. Each one added a line in a colour of their choice. Definitely worth repeating! Nor was a return to the cherished Magozo Trail in October an error, as both Hiku Hike 'veterans' and one newcomer thoroughly benefited from a creative reboot. The final Hiku Hike of 2025 took place on 27th December. |
|
What previous Hiku Hikers have said
