by Ralph Pina | Oct 12, 2018 | hiking, Jonkershoek Nature Reserve, trails
Up Swartboskloof and down Kurktrekker, Jonkershoek Nature Reserve The last time we ascended Swartboskloof I ended up under the knife to fix a ruptured disc. So this hike, once more with Santie – and Dorette – was something of a rite of passage, a reckoning... 
by Ralph Pina | Sep 11, 2018 | hiking, Jonkershoek Nature Reserve, trails
It was fantastic to get back into the mountains again on a serious hike for the first time since the back op in February. And the Boland served up the perfect day: warm, windless, impossibly blue, water coursing out of the rock and seeps everywhere, and the veld... 
by Ralph Pina | Aug 22, 2018 | Addo Elephant National Park, De Hoop Nature Reserve, hiking, Hluleka Wildlife Reserve, Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve, Table Mountain National Park, Tsitsikamma National Park, West Coast National Park
Here is a guide to the South African coastal hikes I have had the privilege of experiencing. Hopefully it is useful to those who are planning to walk our beautiful and diverse coastline. The list starts at the north-eastern-most trail – the Pondo Trail from... 
by Ralph Pina | Feb 25, 2018 | hiking, Table Mountain National Park
As I lie here recovering from spinal surgery, I thought I would post about my last hike of any consequence before the double bout with operating theatres, one planned and the other not. Santie organised this classic route ascending Skeleton Gorge from Kirstenbosch... 
by Ralph Pina | Jan 4, 2018 | hiking, Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve, Steenbras Nature Reserve
Gordon’s Bay was our family’s beach during the ’50s and ’60s. We spent many playful hours in its warm waters, holidaying at Thelma’s Guesthouse – now long gone – and watching the fishing boats in the old harbour. The black and... 
by Ralph Pina | Dec 19, 2017 | Cederberg Wilderness Area, hiking
December in the Cederberg is hot. So although Peter and I had all the best intentions of hiking into the wilderness from our camping bases at Sanddrif and Algeria, reality was decidedly less energy-intensive. We took a 9 km round-trip walk to the Maltese Cross and...
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