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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Rim of Africa photos

by Ralph Pina | May 12, 2009 | Cederberg Wilderness Area, hiking, trails, wilderness trail

Here are the photos from the Rim of Africa Conservation Mega Trail. It was an epic. [HTML1] Go to my Rim of Africa photo album A Google Earth track of the trail, almost every step captured on a Garmin Foretrex 101, will follow shortly, along with a short account -...

A caracal in Stellenbosch

by Ralph Pina | Apr 16, 2009 | conservation

A few weeks ago, after the fires that charred the mountains in the Jonkershoek valley, I was cycling to work through the Jan Marais Nature Reserve which is located near the centre of town. As I rounded a corner I was stunned to see a beautiful big caracal standing in...

Hiking in Kogelberg

by Ralph Pina | Mar 22, 2009 | conservation, hiking, Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve, scenic walks, trails

The Kogelberg Biosphere and Nature Reserve is my playground. When we're not kayaking here, we are hiking its many routes. Kogelberg is the jewel in the crown of the Cape's floral kingdom protected areas that make up the World Heritage Site. [HTML2] If the slideshow...

Jonkershoek hiking

by Ralph Pina | Dec 7, 2008 | hiking, Jonkershoek Nature Reserve, scenic walks

Five k's from my home in Stellenbosch is the rugged Jonkershoek Nature Reserve. The area boasts the highest rainfall in the Western Cape, and two major rivers rise at the valley head: the Berg and the Eerste rivers. The Panorama route (or half of it) climbs the...