ralphpina.com

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 [...]

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 [...]

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.

A Google Earth map of the Rim of Africa Conservation Mega Trail, Stage One, 120km from Pakhuis Pass in the northern Cederberg to the Koue Bokkeveld mountains follows:

Here are the photos from the Rim of Africa Conservation Mega Trail. It was an epic.

Tomorrow I leave on what I expect will be one great adventure – the Rim of Africa Conservation Mega Trail. This will be Stage 1 from the Northern Cederberg to the mountains somewhere around Ceres – 11 days of wilderness walking. As the blurb says – “a walk of no ordinary proportion”.
The vision of the [...]

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.

The Cape of Good Hope Trail starts at the main gate to the Cape Point section of the Table Mountain National Park, and ends there 33.5km and two days later.

Walking on a wilderness trail is the only way to feel the pulse of the African “bush”. That is what I believe anyway. I have experienced my fair share of the African safari concept: vehicle-based photographic safaris, game drives and stays in high-end and exotic game lodges, and even canoe safaris down the wild Lower [...]

Limpopo National Park, Mozambique: September 2007
Circles in the Bush
(With apologies to Dalene Matthee…)
Machampane Wilderness Camp shares the western bank of the Machampane River with tall fever trees at a pool called Xisivene – which apparently means “deep pool”.
The wilderness trail experience that runs out of the camp is similarly structured to the iconic trails that [...]

A 153km walking safari following the courses of the Tsavo and Galana rivers through Tsavo National Park, Kenya: June 2007

Fernkloof is a gem of a botanical reserve above the coastal town of Hermanus. Barely 1800 ha in area, it harbours upwards of 1474 botanical species. There are many paths and spectacular lookouts for all manner of fitness levels. The sensory returns are high for relatively little physical effort.

Plettenberg Bay: 17 & 19 December 2006: The Robberg peninsula is a nature reserve and marine protected area at the southern extremity of Plettenberg Bay,

400kms, 17 days, 6 mountain ranges, many rivers, numerous veld types: 11 – 27 August 2006
The first time I saw the phrase “Eden to Addo” it spoke to me. Then when I saw it juxtaposed with “mega-hike” the synapses fired in my brain. The concept was so evocative I had to go.

7-12 July 2005
This post is a photo journey down the Whale Trail. It was the second time that I walked this wonderful trail.

Eastern Kruger Park: 13 to 16 July 2003
The Sweni is one of the most sought-after wilderness trails in Kruger, primarily because of the likelihood of running into the Sweni lions. According to James, the trails ranger, Sweni has the highest concentration of lion per sq km in Africa (i.e. the world). So when I got [...]

Franschhoek: 29 June 2003
Here’s a very short walk for great returns.

17 …err… 18 – 21 July, 2002
Booking the Whale Trail is hard to do – it has become massively popular.
So when I got a booking for the 17th, it looked perfect for the last 5 days of the school holidays. The dates would [...]

Eastern Kruger Park: 3 to 6 July 2002
Metsi-Metsi trails camp – it apparently means “water water” in Sotho – is located 6 km from the Mozambique border in rhyolite bushveld on the eastern aspect of N’wamuriwa mountain.

Tamarind Canoe Safari, Lower Zambezi, Chirundu to Mana Pools: 9 – 12 July 2001
Having eaten and drunk our way across Botswana and Zimbabwe, never having to lift a finger, we were quite keen to do something physical. The famous Lower Zambezi canoe safari (with Canoeing Safaris of Kariba) had been something I had wanted to [...]