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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A farewell to Stellenbosch Mountain

by Ralph Pina | Oct 29, 2021 | hiking, Jonkershoek Nature Reserve

After 34 years of living and working in Stellenbosch, not to mention 4 years as students here, we are preparing to move to the Kogelberg coast for the next phase of our lives. Although I don't have any notion of deliberately taking leave of familiar peaks and trails,...

Recces and repeats

by Ralph Pina | Oct 15, 2021 | conservation, hiking, Hottentots Holland Nature Reserve, Jonkershoek Nature Reserve, Table Mountain National Park

I haven't posted in a while, so those who believe that if an outdoor activity hasn't been posted on digital media somewhere then it didn't occur, might think that I have been idle. Although there have been other distractions - like grandkids arriving for a long visit,...

Simonsberg

by Ralph Pina | Jul 24, 2021 | hiking

Simonsberg has been a looming, brooding presence in my life for almost fifty years. It towered to starboard daily on the short walks to engineering classes, and later on the cycle commutes to work. In stressful times when I needed calm and to gaze at something...

Smitswinkel – Simon’s Town Traverse

by Ralph Pina | Jun 24, 2021 | hiking, Table Mountain National Park

As with most hikes on the Cape Peninsula, this traverse is visually spectacular. It can be walked in either direction, but on this occasion the MCSA trail leader thought it better to tackle the steep section in the morning because high northerly winds were expected...