News & Articles
Lightning safety
Living in the Western Cape has its perks, but I really do miss the thunderstorms of my home turf in the Waterberg (along with thorn trees and proper fire wood) – the smell, the sound […]
Month: October 2017
News & Articles
What to look for when buying a hiking tent
Hiking tents are special Hiking tents allow us to sleep in places where few dare to go. Places that are wild, inhospitable, exposed and incomparably beautiful – the proverbial 5-billion star hotel. For us to […]
Gear Reviews
Ultimate Wilderness Hydration Kit
In 2007, I hiked the Fish River Canyon with a group of friends. That year, Namibia had not received as much rain as usual and we experienced the effect of it in the canyon. We […]
Day Hikes
Cape Town Skyline Traverse
Beauty: 5/5 Difficulty: 10/10 (25km long, with a total ascent of 2630m) Technicality: Extremely technical, containing steep, exposed scrambling, difficult route finding and abseiling. *Disclaimer* This route contains multiple sections of very exposed scrambling and abseiling where […]
News & Articles
Giant’s Cup Trail in a day
There are various hutted hiking trails in South Africa, and many debates about which is the hardest. While the Giants Cup Trail is most certainly not the hardest of them, it is not the easiest […]
Everyday Hiking Heroes
Everyday Hiking Hero: Achmat Jackson
If you’ve hiked up Table Mountain via Platteklip Gorge in recent years, the odds are quite good that you have come across local hero Achmat Jackson. If you think that’s an exaggeration, consider that Achmat […]
Day Hikes
The Steenbok Flower Trail
A few years ago, I was lucky enough to gatecrash a party of well-organised hikists who had booked permits for the Steenbok Trail in the West Coast National Park on the optimal date of 1 September […]
News & Articles
Litter in pristine places
The English language assigns an identity to a perpetrator if the hideousness of their act, or crime, is sufficient. For instance, if you commit “murder” you will henceforth be known as a “murderer”. For misdemeanours […]
Day Hikes
Miaspoort Trail (Italian cross)
Type: Day hike Location: Du Toitskloof Pass +- 74km from Cape town Beauty: 4/5 (Views over 80km in either direction) Difficultly: 7/10 (877m ascend over 3km) Technicality: The trail contains a fair amount of boulder […]
Gear Reviews
Review: K-Way Nerolite 3 Tent
So, you’re new to multi-day hiking and you’ve decided it’s time to invest in your own tent. You are completely overwhelmed with all the specs and everyone seems to have a different opinion. You visit […]