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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 [...]

Another mountain club uitstappie to Haelkop peak (1390 m), one of the loftier peaks that rim the Jonkershoek valley. The route upwards to the watershed north of Haelkop is a fairly easy, yet relentlessly uphill, hike. Near the top the gradients steepen markedly. From the summit the views are panoramic and breathtaking. On this occasion [...]

Climbing Jonkershoek’s Twin Peaks (“Die Pieke“) is one of the outdoor experiences in the Jonkershoek mountains. On this occasion I went with the mountain club (MCSA) on the “uitstappie“. An uitstappie is one of those wonderfully euphemistic, Afrikaans terms that could mean anything from a stroll in the park to a mission. A Twin Peaks [...]

“The Earth never forgets that trees were its first thought”

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 [...]

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 [...]

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…

The Klein River and Vlei near Hermanus can apparently claim that:

at 80 km in length, the Klein River is the river with the shortest distance between its origin and its mouth in the world – 5 km as the crow flies (according to the Stanford Tourism Bureau)
the bird sanctuary, that is located where the river [...]

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, [...]

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:

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.

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.

Mumbo Island is one of the great places in Africa. Imagine a tropical island surrounded by warm, clear water and freshwater, tropical fish.

April 2008
An essential element of our Eastern Cape road-trip in April was to spend time in the Baviaanskloof again. The kloof was probably the most memorable section of the 400+km Eden to Addo mega-hike that I had done in 2006. We tackled it from east to west this time, [...]

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.

On most weekends, Deon and I paddle and sail this coast, spending countless enjoyable hours.

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.

With Clarissa, a fellow mega-hiker, and Patrick I once more headed for Helderberg’s Dome. This autumn Saturday was hot and windless. On previous occasions over the years I have not climbed all the way to the top of The Dome and I was determined do it this time. But then perhaps I was younger and [...]