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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...
Hike above Kogelbaai

Hike above Kogelbaai

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 Klipspringer...

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Zebra stripes and yellow streaks

Zebra stripes and yellow streaks

The MCSA Stellenbosch's first official post-lockdown outing was a weekend hike to Zebra Peak (1458m ASL; Sebrakop on national geo-spatial maps) on Piketberg. It is located on private land on the plateau rim, north-east of most of the cultivated lands. With the...

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HH Epic Trail

HH Epic Trail

Hepic Trail for short. The Hepic is a private hiking trail that follows the route of the original Epic cycle trail above the railway line that snakes out of the Helderberg bowl. It is located north-east of the Gantouw Pass below Hanskop. Access has to be arranged...

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Turret Peak mission

Turret Peak mission

Koue Bokkeveld mountains In 2009 the inaugural Rim of Africa mega-hike was aborted two days shy of our destination, Turret Peak, due to adverse weather. By then we had been on trail for 10 or 11 days. But I have always wanted to eventually get to Turret Peak, so when...

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Welcome to RalphPina.com

Thank you for visiting my outdoor blog. RalphPina.com documents my experiences over many years of appreciating, and adventuring in, Nature. It celebrates visual beauty, advocates minimal impact, reflects on humans’ relationship with our ecosphere, spans the planet but focuses on the wild diversity of southern Africa. Photos, videos and GPS maps of hiking, cycling, kayaking, abseiling, canoeing and windsurfing..

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