Fairy Glen – Plateau – Kasteelkopnek trail
The Kleinmond-Palmiet area features many scenic trails which are not managed by CapeNature, but by the Overstrand Municipality and volunteer organisations. Many of them originate from the vicinity of the Fairy Glen picnic site near the Palmiet River bridge. This...
Smitswinkel – Simon’s Town recce
"Do you want to join me to recce an alternative route from Smitswinkel to Simon's Town?", Santie asked. Love to, I said. The recent fire above the town had burnt the Swartkop ridge to a crisp and the route along the ridge from Smitswinkel to Simon's Town, a...
Paddling with wild horses
Rooisand Nature Reserve A herd of wild horses has roamed the Bot - Kleinmond estuary and wetland for perhaps a century or more. The free roaming herd is actually feral and comprises about twenty-eight individuals. Many websites repeat the three theories about their...
Rooielsberg peak
At 637 m ASL, Rooielsberg Peak is the high peak above Blousteen, south-west of Kogelberg Peak. There are no recognised trails up there and it is closed to the public.
Karoo corridor MTB tour
Mitzi, Marion's sister-in-law, owner of Makadas Adventures, planned this private cycling tour, and I assume, dubbed it the "Karoo corridor" too. In 5 days most of us covered 265 km, climbing through 2942 m and descending 2957 m. Some rode more and some rode less - and...
A walk on the Wild Coast
The Pondo Trail, Pondoland Besides a previous Wild Coast hike from Port St Johns to Coffee Bay, Pondoland, The Wild Coast and the Transkei have constituted a gap in my outdoor experience of South Africa. The beauty and the undeveloped nature of the coast south of Port...
A northern Kruger cultural safari
July 2023 Kruger has been calling since our last visit in 2019 before the nightmare of the pandemic lockdowns. Along with long-time friends, Debbie and Paul Watson, we were happy to decide on a route through the northern sector of the park over about ten days, staying...
Twelve Apostles loop
This is another loop along the Twelve Apostles, ascending via the Diagonal (up the kloof on the left, above) and descending via Oudekraalkloof to return along the Pipe Track - 12.9 km in total and climbing through 1039 m. Santie chose the route, which included a lunch...
Balloch High Rim hike
During April we three MCSA Stellenbosch section members - Sonja, Paul and me - made the long trek to that part of the Eastern Cape that forms the southern border with Lesotho, to participate in the MCSA national mini-camp hosted by the Free State section. Although I...
Namaqualand coast hike
From the Spoeg River to the Groen River Late January arrived with an unexpected adventure: a 3-day hike down the Namaqualand coast within the borders of the Namaqualand National Park. Kevin, a longtime hiking companion, was the instigator. He had wanted to tackle the...
Miaspoort Trail to Huguenot Peak
Longtime hiking buddies, Kevin and Yolanda, invited me to join them on this ascent of Miaspoort to Huguenot Peak. We had not been out on an adventure together for some time, so the reunion was welcome. The climb from the old Du Toitskloof Pass road is quite strenuous....
Boating the Lot River
After the hugely enjoyable canal boat trip on the Canal du Midi five years ago, another French self-navigating boating holiday was always in our future. With seven months of long leave due before retirement, the opportunity presented itself and we convinced the...
Cycling Connemara
Having booked another canal boat adventure in southern France and been invited to Belgium by the Verhoevens, the first week of our European visit was still undecided. As Marion is of Irish descent, a trip to the emerald isle has been on the cards at some stage. So...
Baviaanskloof Cycle Tour 2022
After an absence of five years, a cycling trip to the Baviaanskloof was required. We planned it according to our usual, proven format: a small group of riders (6) who are accompanied by two vehicles (2 drivers), short to moderate distances per day and a leisurely pace...
Betty’s Bay to Rooiels
Some recent excursions up the Rooiels valley had shown that an old trail joins up with an old jeep track that ascends out of the Palmiet valley. A relatively easy, though long, walk is thus possible from Rooiels to Oudebosch/Harold Porter Botanical Garden, or vice...
Klein Hangklip
As the name suggests, Klein Hangklip is a smaller replica of Hangklip peak located further south at Cape Hangklip. Hangklip is the sentinel east of False Bay's entrance. In the age of sail, many a navigator mistook Hangklip for the Cape of Good Hope and ended up being...
Five days in Groot Winterhoek
I was privileged to be invited, with five others, by Santie to share her birthday hike in the Groot Winterhoek Wilderness Area - one day for each decade. Although we had wonderful weather - windless and sunny - and simply being out there with like-minded people was...
To the Rooiels source
I think we decided on the route for that day at breakfast. The only criterion was that we would walk from my house and not drive anywhere. Santie would be on a mission anyway: to log her 1200th species on iNaturalist. My previous hike up the Rooiels River valley had...
Rooiels River walk
This was my first hike from our new home in Rooiels, having moved to this coastal paradise in the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve five weeks ago. We quickly came to realise that we have landed in the middle of a contest between the preservationists/conservationists who...
Pipe Track to Hout Bay Corner
Via Corridor and Llandudno ravines December in the Cape saw a lot of unseasonal rain allied to some nasty Black South-Easters. The latter means low cloud on the mountains and unpleasant conditions. But desperate for a walk of some sort, Santie and I decided on a Table...
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