Hogsback

This peaceful and picturesque village is the perfect place from which to embark on some of South Africa’s best hiking trails and experience a number of its finest waterfalls and oldest Afro-montane forests. Hogsback allegedly takes its name from the shape of the three striking peaks that overlook the village, referred to as the Three Hogs. One of the village’s earliest inhabitants was a gardener from Oxford by the name of Thomas Summerton, who set about trying to re-create the English countryside in his new homeland; he's responsible for many of the pretty gardens, apple orchards, and tree-lined avenues that give the village its distinctly rural English feel. Today, Hogsback has become a mecca for artists and artisans, as well as a few other endangered species. The village has long been associated with J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, though there is nothing to actually prove this connection. But spend some time in this magical place and it’s not hard to see why the rumors might have gained so much credence.