by Ralph Pina | Feb 13, 2021 | Groot Winterhoek Wilderness, kloofing
Almost by accident I was nominated to lead a MCSA Stellenbosch section kloofing trip down the Visgat canyon. Visgat is a highlight of the MCSA Cape Town section’s summer calendar and they kindly allocate a few dates to Stellenbosch. The fact that I could have... 
by Ralph Pina | Feb 11, 2021 | conservation, De Hoop Nature Reserve
My recent post, The Whale Trail in the Pandemic, has attracted enormous traffic, by the standards of my site at least. In it I opine that biological control of Acacia cyclops (rooikrans) in De Hoop Nature Reserve is failing because my – admittedly unscientific... 
by Ralph Pina | Jan 24, 2021 | conservation, De Hoop Nature Reserve, hiking, trails
As South Africa emerged from the hard lockdown in mid-2020, I became desperate to escape to the outdoors. On the off-chance that the Whale Trail was open, I contacted Cape Nature and easily obtained a booking for the trail in January 2021. The hugely popular trail was... 
by Ralph Pina | Dec 24, 2020 | Cederberg Wilderness Area, hiking, wilderness trail
… go out in the midday sun (in the Cederberg in summer) Or so the song goes. Except that the hiking group comprised a Belgian, a German, a half-Dutchman, a half-Greek-Cypriot and a boeremeisie – the instigator. All keen hikers and outdoorspeople. Almost... 
by Ralph Pina | Dec 7, 2020 | hiking, Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve
Studying satellite photos – on Google and Bing maps – of the mountains above Kogelbaai, I was able to discern a definite zig-zag path to the jeep track on the plateau north of Kogelberg Peak. So armed with a GPS waypoint for where the path leaves the...
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