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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Cape of Good Hope Trail 11 years later

by Ralph Pina | Jan 1, 2019 | hiking, Table Mountain National Park, trails

I had been wanting to walk this trail again for a while but had found it a little difficult to determine how and where to book it. Eventually it was booked in time for Peter's annual pilgrimage to Africa - and coincidentally it was timed for almost eleven years...

Grootvadersbosch and Boosmansbos

by Ralph Pina | Dec 30, 2018 | Boosmansbos Wilderness Area, Grootvadersbosch Nature Reserve, hiking

At Peter's suggestion, prior to his annual pilgrimage back to the Cape, we booked a couple of nights' camping in Grootvadersbosch with the idea of perhaps hiking to the Boosmansbos forest. We had undertaken the 2-day wilderness hike way back in 1999 in mist and rain....

Botmaskop

by Ralph Pina | Nov 14, 2018 | hiking, Jonkershoek Nature Reserve

Botmaskop is a 910 m peak near my home and is the first mountain I see when I leave for work each morning. Its form is unique in the Jonkershoek ranges, resembling the prow of a dreadnought. The hike up takes about 2 hours, following a spur through municipal tree...

Western Panorama Trail

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 with past...