On a recent trip to the Cederberg she discovered that drinking diluted dassie urine may help to cure arthritis. Scarlett Steer also learned that she doesn’t know the Cederberg as well as she thought.

The Cederberg again? Surely not. I know what you’re thinking – I thought the same thing. Been there, done that and got the snapshot in front of the Maltese Cross to prove it.

Like me, you most probably have camped under the pines in Algeria, braaied a chop next to the Rondegat River, misjudged the distance from the Wolfberg Arch to the Wolfberg Cracks, and done a hiking or 4x4 trail or two. 

Sure, the Cederberg’s ancient mountains may have been formed before the Dead Sea reported in sick, but they hardly fall into the category of uncharted territory. Right? Well, that’s what I thought …

Then I was invited on a guided tour. See, up until now, I’d never been a fan of the “guided tour”. It conjures up images of 60-seater coaches, blue-rinse perms, weak orange squash, and three-bean salad at roadside picnic spots.

But in just three days I was to learn that I had been misguided in more ways than one. And I also learned that there’s more to the Cederberg than mountain hikes and family camping trips. Maybe it’s because I had not one, but two guides …