by Ralph Pina | Jan 24, 2021 | conservation, De Hoop Nature Reserve, hiking, trails
As South Africa emerged from the hard lockdown in mid-2020, I became desperate to escape to the outdoors. On the off-chance that the Whale Trail was open, I contacted Cape Nature and easily obtained a booking for the trail in January 2021. The hugely popular trail was... 
by Ralph Pina | Aug 26, 2019 | Kruger National Park, safari travel, trails, wilderness trail
Kruger National Park This was my third or fourth Wolhuter Trail since the late nineties, but it was like no other. The anti-poaching ¨war¨ has changed the atmosphere in the park. It is like we are clinging on to a century-old, island model of conservation that is... 
by Ralph Pina | Aug 9, 2018 | Banff National Park, Canada, Kootenay National Park
This year the nature of our mid-winter break was more commensurate with our newly-minted status of grandparents. From the moment little Elena was born in Calgary, there was only going to be one destination. Fortunately Calgary is an hour’s drive from the Rockies... 
by Ralph Pina | Nov 28, 2017 | cycling, hiking, Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve, scenic walks
From Kogelberg to Harold Porter Botanical Garden and back I fail to understand why I hadn’t thought of it before. The Leopard’s Gorge hike is a perennial favourite: short and scenically spectacular, fynbos and forest. But the logistics of leaving transport... 
by Ralph Pina | Oct 5, 2017 | Ordesa y Monte Perdido NP, scenic walks, Spain
Walks in Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park, Pyrenees After the Canal du Midi we rented a car at Carcassonne and drove through the Pyrenees to Torla in Spain, a mediaeval town high up in the mountains near the mouth of the Valle de Ordesa. Peter had argued for the...
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