Hell on wheels: Seweweekspoort-Anysberg
It sounded like a good idea: an unsupported bicycle tour through the Swartberge and Anysberg for me and Gaucho Pedro (Peter Groves) who was visiting from the UK. It is a good idea, except when the Karoo decides to visit a heatwave on you. Three successive 40+°C days...
read moreSquare Tower Peak: where nobody goes
Square Tower Peak has attained a degree of notoriety in the Stellenbosch Section of the Mountain Club. When a club trail leader from Cape Town called Stellenbosch's Paul Verhoeven asking for directions down from the peak, the helpful reply went something like this:...
read moreAdventures at the end of the world
After Torres del Paine the mission was to sea kayak in the Chilean fjords. We (there were now only four) hadn't done our homework very well, but had a vague plan to hook up with a kayak outfitter in Ushuaia, Argentina's southernmost city on Tierra del Fuego. Shaun...
read moreScrambling up the Cathedral
Katedraal is the Afrikaans name for the Second Ridge Peak, one of the thin, serrated ridges that line the eastern rim of the Jonkershoek valley south of the Pieke(Twin Peaks). The Mountain Club's Stellenbosch section tackled it as yet another cold front made ready to...
read moreSolitary walk on Stellenbosch Mountain
When Paul bailed from our planned hike I was so desperate to get into the mountains again that I did something that is not recommended and is potentially stupid: I went hiking alone. It was the first hot day of spring, 34°C or so, and crystal clear. Cape Point was...
read moreBobbejaansrivier potholes
The Samsung Galaxy S3 smartphone does incredible panorama shots. This was taken on the Bobbejaansrivier (Baboon River), a tributary of the Witte River that courses down Bain's Kloof. It was a beautiful midwinter day, yesterday.:
read moreDigital Patagonia
Digitally processed images from the Torres del Paine and Los Glaciares treks and Tierra del Fuego. I have tried to select some of the better photos and give them some unusual treatment. Perhaps it works and adds drama to the scenes; perhaps it doesn't. Click on the...
read morePatagonian treks: Torres del Paine
I could try and describe the extreme beauty of Torres del Paine in words - but that would be futile. I would rather let our photos convey some sense of its wonder and grandeur. We walked the classic 'W'-trail over 9 days covering some 107 km, starting at the CONAF...
read moreA circuit of Paarl Mountain
There are many easy walking routes around the granite inselbergs of Paarl Mountain, most of them ideally suited to leisurely outings with a young family. Paul and I decided to get into the outdoors again for the first time after our return from trekking in Patagonia....
read morePatagonian treks: Los Glaciares
The first of our treks in southern Patagonia during April was the classic circuit at the northern end of Parque Nacional Los Glaciares (Glacier National Park), in Argentina's Santa Cruz province. The 5-day circuit of 53.5 km takes one to the glaciers, lakes and...
read moreLeopard’s Gorge, Kogelberg
Here's an easy yet spectacular walk for the family. The 7-and-a-bit km hike takes you through a 400 m rise and fall in elevation, from the Palmiet River valley, through an old indigenous forest to glorious views above Betty's Bay. Photos and a Google Earth track...
read moreOn top of Slanghoek Pile
Slanghoek Pile - the name is evocative. Of what I am not quite sure (slanghoek is Dutch/Afrikaans and translates roughly to "snake corner"). An MCSA outing, the hike there and back is 16.4 km in length and climbs and descends 1272 m. The walk up comprised two...
read moreTaking action on rhino poaching
As you know African rhino are under unprecedented, murderous assault. 448 rhino have been lost to poachers in South Africa alone during 2011 and SA National Parks has admitted that it is under siege and overpowered. Planetsave has provided perhaps the best overview of...
read moreBlasting at Kraalbaai (windsurfing)
This was a little less mellow than last time - the wind pomped. Middle-aged windsurfers go to Kraalbaai in the West Coast National Park for some mellow cruising while the family plays in the sheltered shallows. Personally, I feel that this place is one of the most...
read moreA Table Mountain circuit
In all the years of walking on the mountain I have never climbed Platteklip Gorge. At Peter's suggestion we parked at Kloof Nek and tackled the 15.4 km circuit up Platteklip, through the valleys of Isolation and the Red Gods, to the reservoirs and down Kasteelspoort,...
read moreThe Boland Hiking Trail
Aka The Return of Gaucho Pedro This 3-day hike was like old times again - hiking with Peter Groves, my erstwhile hiking buddy who is out from the UK on holiday. Peter is also known as "Gaucho Pedro" after his escapades in Patagonia last year. The Hottentots Holland...
read morePaddling in G Bay – video
Here is a short video of yesterday's lazy paddle around Gordon's Bay. Windless, hot and very beautiful. I shot it using the new GoPro Hero2 camera, tried to edit it a little but need to learn a lot and also get better video editing tools ... Anyway enjoy a view of...
read moreJonkershoek Panorama Route
The Panorama Route is one of the Jonkershoek valley's classic day trails. From the bridge (Witbrug) at the apex of the circular road, where you climb the left side of the valley, to where you descend to the Swartboskloof parking area, you will walk about 17.1 km,...
read moreCape Point’s east coast
The 13 km walk down Cape Point's east coast from the gate to the restaurant at the point is possibly the most scenically spectacular hike in the country. Besides the vistas across False Bay, the precipitous drops to the rocky coast below and the way the peninsula...
read moreScherpenheuwel circuit, Franschhoek
The Mountain Club's plan was to head up to Perdekop in the hope that, it being midwinter, there would be snow on the peak. Instead an unseasonal black south-easter raged, clouding in all the peaks around Franschhoek. So, plan B was activated. It amounted to a very...
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