Aka De Kaap is weer Hollands…
Continue reading Photos and thoughts from the 2010 World Cup
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 Rooiels coast On this crisp morning, Deon and I launched at Rooiels and paddled out to look for the first Southern Right whales of the season, but it seems it’s still too early. So we settled for a paddle down the coast to Pringle Bay and brunch. A fairly heavy swell was running and we gave the point break at Rooiels, the scene of an earlier mishap, a wide berth and settled into an easy rhythm. Although glassy, the waves that reflected off the rocky coast made the water confused. We were none too keen to risk the beach break at Pringle Bay, but we found a sheltered, rocky channel behind the kelp beds and landed easily. A short walk followed by a healthy brunch in the sun meant that we were well into a perfect day. Helped by a following sea and a light southerly we powered back to Rooiels, beached without mishap and so exorcised the ghosts. A round-trip of 15 km. It was silent on the water save for the rumble of surf on rock – and thankfully the motorbike fraternity doesn’t seem to do Saturdays… The Google Earth map follows below… Long-time hiking buddy, Peter Groves, has produced a monumental work that documents our three weeks in Buenos Aires and Patagonia recently. It is liberally illustrated with his magnificent photos. I highly recommend a visit. A guide to the 18 pages of his site follows…. Another mountain club uitstappie to Haelkop peak (1390 m), one of the loftier peaks that rim the Jonkershoek valley.
This intriguing idea was carved in Spanish on a wooden sign as we left Puelo on our first multi-day trek on the Los Hitos trail to Chile. And when you enter the ancient forests of northern Patagonia you realise what the importance of forests and wood are to, not only the landscape, but also the culture. Wood is a solution for almost every problem in these remote areas: building material, primary energy source, wood chips as line markings on a soccer pitch (near Segundo Corral), stepping “stones” on a muddy trail, bridging a stream, etc. The forest is alternately a searingly beautiful ecosystem and an oppressive, menacing green blanket, depending on whether the sun is shining or it is raining. But it always seems to be eerily silent. The absence of wildlife and birdsong is strange.
 Lago Perito Moreno near San Carlos de Bariloche, Chico Circuit
 VWS crew runs through the fireline to safe ground. Copyright 2010 Andrew Hagen. All rights reserved. Served from the VWS blog. Amazing photo isn’t it? See Andrew’s fantastic photos of VWS Jonkershoek operations and read the VWS report. The fire started after a lightning strike. Hats off to the volunteers for their selfless service in support of CapeNature and SANP in defending our unique biodiversity (I can’t claim to have been there as I was trekking in Patagonia at the time). On 18 April from 08h00 to 14h00 VWS Jonkershoek is holding a Fynbos and Fire Awareness Day at the Assegaaibos reserve in Jonkershoek (opposite CapeNature offices). Become a volunteer! As you may know I have just returned from 3 weeks’ trekking in Patagonian Argentina and Chile. Words don’t do it justice, so here are some photos while I figure out the words and prep the GPS tracks…. Unfortunately – and unsurprisingly – my words were prescient: it has indeed become an “interesting” summer in the Boland mountains. Since December Volunteer Wildfire Services Jonkershoek (VWS-JNK) has been called out at least 6 times to fires in the local mountains (“local” is a relative concept – in our case it means 290 000 ha of mountain wilderness). The latest callouts were to Assegaaiboschkloof near Franschhoek last Saturday and last night. The fires are still raging as I write this, covering the Boland in a blanket of ash. Photos and a Google Earth track of Saturday’s firefighting effort follow… Continue reading VWS Jonkershoek firefighters in the Franschhoek mountains The Cape-based members of the Patagonia group are training for the trek through the Andes by taking regular walks in the Cape Peninsula’s Table Mountain National Park. Here are some photos from those walks along with some older ones… The press release announcing the 25th edition of the Downwind Dash from Langebaan to Saldanha, scheduled for 23-24 January, hails it as “the world’s biggest kitesurfing and windsurfing race”. The organisers are expecting 400 entrants! It may even be the world’s longest-running windsurfing race too. How did it start? Continue reading Downwind Dash is the biggest? I’m looking forward to my first foray to South America, a series of treks in Patagonia across the Andes from Argentina to Chile and back, over 21 days in March. My good old pal, Peter, has taken some trouble to research and document the trip on his site, so I suggest that you go there to read what it is about. The seed was planted last April on the Rim of Africa when Kelson, the Brazilian half of the Treksa team who has arranged the trip, and I were unsuccessfully sheltering from the rain under an oak in the Elandskloof, drinking hot chocolate. “You must come and hike in Patagonia”, he insisted, black eyes sparkling. At the time it sounded like a fine idea. As the departure date gets closer the idea becomes ever better. I’ve long heard of it and I’ve always wanted to go there. Much of the area is owned by the UCT Mountain and Ski Club and the Mountain Club (MCSA) is able to obtain permits. I went with the Stellenbosch section of the MCSA. But be warned: be fit or be young… As I was contemplating a short post about the Volunteer Wildfire Services (VWS), and specifically its rookie branch in the Jonkershoek valley, we were called out to mop up a plantation fire above Rozendal yesterday at around 6 pm. It was our first op since 27 Jonkershoek volunteers qualified in November – so there was a fair degree of excitement and nervousness. But it went well and when we were withdrawn at midnight the fire was well under control despite the south-easterly gale screaming down the valley. The training is paying off and the growing camaraderie is palpable. Everybody is there because he/she wants to be there. Continue reading Volunteer Wildfire Services Jonkershoek The Klein River and Vlei near Hermanus can apparently claim that:
Photos of the Watsonias in Jonkershoek after the big summer fire and the winter rains. Deon and I took a cycle up the valley to capture them before the summer winds take their toll.
Here’s a worthy project – the MAPA Project. It intends mapping more than a thousand of Africa’s protected areas on Google Earth in the interests of biodiversity conservation. The first Google Earth layer has just appeared and can be downloaded from the Google Earth Outreach Showcase. MAPA is driven by March Turnbull, an environmental journalist, and Stellenbosch-based company, Tracks4Africa. Continue reading Mapping Africa’s parks At 1589m Victoria Peak is the highest summit in the Jonkershoek area. It is visible beyond the valley from Stellenbosch and is often – as it is today – covered in a white blanket of snow. The route as shown in this Google Earth track winds up the eastern edge of the Jonkershoek valley to Bergriviersnek (Berg River Saddle) and then continues easily up to the Dwarsberg plateau before one has to tackle the final 300 or so metres to the summit. From there the 360 degree panorama is simply stunning – see the photos below. On the Cape Peninsula there are few people who are neutral towards the local Chacma baboons: you either love them or hate them. The remnant troops of the Table Mountain National Park which now protects a large portion of the peninsula, range from the southern table of Table Mountain down to Cape Point. They form an isolated population surrounded by an urban conurbation in the north-east and the ocean elsewhere. Experts estimate that the 250 or so remaining animals face extinction within 10 years as their habitat shrinks, their gene pool becomes less viable and they suffer persecution from the human inhabitants of the peninsula. Continue reading Baboons matter The Doring drains the Tankwa Karoo through the Cederberg range into the Olifants River. It can only be rafted in the winter-rainfall months of July to September. Photos and a Google Earth file. Continue reading Doring River rafting |
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