Stadsaal Caves
We awoke to strong winds and ongoing heavy rains! No-one was in the mood for another wet and cold walk, so we enjoyed a lazy morning and delicious lunch prepared by Carla (official expedition chef). Later in the day we travelled to visit the rock art site close to Stadsaal. These paintings were produced by San artists probably over 1,000 years ago. Current theories propose that rock paintings were the work of shamans in the tribe, but perhaps we can plan a dedicated rock-art blog for another time …From there...
The birthing canal and the roped clamber!
The truth of the matter is that (a) the weather had deteriorated considerably, and (b) we now encountered certain “challenges”, both of which made photography a little difficult. So although the “walk” became even more “exciting” from this point on, there is a severe paucity of visual evidence to illustrate this.The first challenge was the roped clamber, which is not high enough to qualify as a climb but which is awkward enough to cause consternation. For this reason I put out a walking rope to provide support and security.Here you...
The time had come to move onto the Cederberg (Cedar Mountains), which is a magnificent range of arid mountains situated approximately 200km north of Cape Town and covering an area of 1620 km2. This is a wilderness and conservation area and is still home to wildlife including the rare Cape Leopard. The walking in the the Cederberg is special and our only concern at this time of year was that northern visitors might struggle with the heat in this rugged area.Our first scheduled walk was the “iconic” Wolfberg Cracks and...
Cape Point at last!
What a day!!!The scenery was jaw-droppingly beautiful Lyn did a spectacular balancing act on the edge of the worldAnd Barbara showed us the way to go (away from the edge)Once again the flowers were wonderful and we saw many “paper-flowers”We were amazed by a delicate looking, but clearly very tough Gladiolusand fascinated by the flower of this parasitic Harveya speciesWe enjoyed a well deserved lager at the end of the trail . . . with The Mountains In The Sea stretching-out behind us Watch this space for the story...
Rain on Day 4
Today the day started out rather dismally with strong winds and sheets of horizontal rain. So we chose a safer route to Smitswinkel Bay – which included a visit to see the penguins Along the way we had wonderful views and even saw a Southern Right Whale. We stopped in at Cape Point Cottage (the original) and had lunch there. Although it was a finger lunch, Rob insisted on using as many utensils and as much eating equipment as possible. At the end Andy & Lyn modelled some...
The next instalment…
The 3rd day of “the Mountains In The Sea” Trail is a very easy walk and our team was remarkably chipper when starting off The wind had come up from the north west and created some dramatic visual effects with cloud draped over The Sentinel We stopped to inspect the wreck of The Kakapo – a ship which was “wrecked” in 1900. The ship was headed from Cape Town to Australia. In the mist Captain Nicholayson mistook Chapman’s Peak for Cape Point and instructed his crew to steer...
Mountains in the Sea – Day 2
The weather forecast promised cool temperatures with a stiff breeze, which is exactly what we wanted for the very long challenging walk that awaited us. . . but in fact the day dawned hot and windless and became steadily hotter as the day progressed.We stopped for a snack on some rocks overlooking Hout Bay As we progressed, the views of the bay below were picture-perfect This is vast big-sky country. Wonderful walking with superb vistasKili enjoyed a rest in the shade In fact when the heat became unbearable...
Table Mountain tales
It was a gorgeous day today on Table Mountain – perhaps a little warmer than was expected by Lyn, Andrew, Barbara and Rob. Nonetheless they made it up to Maclear’s Beacon – the highest point on the mountain. And back down the other side . . . . Besides the privilege of seeing a Klipspringer, which is an agile rock-frequenting antelope, we enjoyed plenty of seasonal flowers including some unusual orchid species And a stunning Moraea neglecta As well as insectivorous Drosera trinervia Meanwhile Andrew posed . . ....
It’s flower time
Cape Town is situated within the most bio-diverse plant kingdom in the world, and within a very short distance of the city we have a variety of very different habitats, which experience vastly different climatic conditions. All of these habitats are harsh and the respective plants have adapted to these different degrees of harshness. However in August and September even the plants in the harshest environment put on a show!I hope that you enjoy the selected flower pictures which I have taken over the past 5 weeks.KAROOPENINSULA WEST COASTPENINSULAWEST COAST...
Spring is nearly sprung
Spring is nearly upon us, and what better way to celebrate the lengthening days and warmer temperatures, than with a brisk hike in nature enjoying the return of the sun.Our spectacular Mountains in the Sea 5-day hike will be taking to the hills soon, and we have a limited number of spaces available on our hike starting Monday 19 October. It will be a lovely time of year to take in the majestic views and vistas, enjoy the fynbos in flower, and maybe even see a late whale or two....