Skeleton Gorge hiking trail

For visitors to Cape Town, a trip up the iconic Table Mountain is usually at the top of the to-do list, as obvious an excursion as visiting the Eiffel Tower in Paris, or licking gelato in Rome. But instead of hopping on the Cable Car for a less-than-10-minute ride straight to the top, why not make a day of it? Hiking up may take longer, but it’s well worth the extra effort. So get your sensible shoes and plenty of water, we’re going for a walk … Continued

The Table Mountain Pipe Track

Summertime is a great opportunity to experience the Cape Town surrounds by getting out onto one of the many hiking trails on offer. If you like walking but are not up for a big hike, the Pipe Track is a nice flat walk perfect for afternoon and early evening excursions. The walk faces the Atlantic Ocean and gives a panoramic view of the surrounding mountains and the Atlantic Ocean, taking you high above Cape Town city. The walk is easy and is suitable for all ages as well as for your furry canine friends … Continued

Forget about its name – there’s nothing cute or cuddly about the Otter Trail!

The Otter Trail is one of South Africa’s most well-known hiking trails, popular with both locals and international visitors thanks largely to its incredible scenery. The trail starts at the Storms River mouth and ends at Nature’s Valley in the beautiful Tsitsikamma Nature Reserve on the Garden Route. The Otter Trail meanders mostly along the rocky shoreline, but changes in elevation from sea level to about 150m above, laying out the spectacular Eastern Cape coastline on a platter for your viewing pleasure. Sound good? Don’t underestimate the 41 advertised kilometres – the Otter takes experienced hikers a total of five days to complete. Continued

The Postberg Flower Trail

Hiking isn’t everybody’s thing – it certainly wasn’t mine. While I fully appreciate the beauty of nature, I didn’t think I needed to endure a hot, sweaty uphill slog to get a good look at it  (I can appreciate it just fine from the foot of the mountain thanks, it’s quite pleasant down here, really.) Who knew hiking needn’t be a lesson in physical endurance? Who knew it could literally be a walk in the park.

For me, the turnaround came with a team-building exercise (read: day off work) in the West Coast National Park. We were off to explore the Postberg Flower Trail, a section of the park that is open for only a couple months of the year (August to September) during the spring flowering season. It’s a small window of opportunity that has walking enthusiasts clamouring for the limited number of day or full weekend passes available – and now I know why … Continued

Discovering the Constantia green belt – city walks with a difference

Constantia Valley

In Constantia’s green belt there are no fewer than nine interwoven trails that provide inner-city walking that is easy to reach but nevertheless manages to give one a sense of getting away from it all, surrounded by the green leafiness of Constantia.

The not very strenuous walks are roughly 30 to 45 minutes each, depending on how many of them you attempt at a time, and provide you with a space in which to don a hat and boots, whilst taking in the beauty of streams, rivers and mountain scenery in the midst of elegance, some of the oldest winelands in the Cape, soaring oak trees, gabled Cape Dutch homesteads and a stretch of stately homes. When the sun slants through the trees, and the lush grass rises to meet one, you can be forgiven for thinking that you’ve stepped for a moment onto the set of a Merchant Ivory production, such is the quality of the light and the beauty of the surrounds … Continued

Tranquillity Cracks

Woody Ravine Sign

Tranquillity Cracks, also known as Yellowwood Cracks takes its name from the forest of Yellowwoods growing from a crack in the skull of Table Mountain.

Start this walk from the Table Mountain Nature Reserve signpost on Theresa Avenue above Camps Bay.  Follow the path beyond the gate to the Pipe Track and then follow the path as it ascends.  You will go past a pump house and five minutes after this you should see a sign for Woody Ravine.  Keep on the path and follow it around the corner to Slangolie Ravine, and then up steep steps.  You will see two signs stating ‘Dangerous Ascent’ – take notice of the newer of the two signs and at this point you should move down to the river bed and cross over to the other side of the ravine.  The path then continues steeply up the slope after passing under a rock face … Continued

Orange Kloof Forest Trail

Orange Kloof Forest Trail

The day was perfect for a hike – cool winds and blue skies overhead – and our group set off in anticipation of cool forests, mountain streams and beautiful views. We weren’t disappointed. Orange Kloof is a particularly beautiful, protected area above Hout Bay, which we entered via the Constantia Nek parking lot, through the gates on the left, at the bottom.

It’s a restricted part of the Table Mountain National Park and you can only ramble through its splendour if you are in possession of a permit (you’ll need to book as many as 3 months in advance with the Hout Bay Forestry station) and a guide – ours was Clem, an incredibly fit and knowledgeable octogenarian who easily scaled hills and entertained us to anecdotal moments on the local fauna and flora and former hikes. Continued

Take a hike … in Gauteng!

When you say the word ‘Gauteng’, people invariably think of Jo’burg or Pretoria, of a bustling metropolis, of bumper-to-bumper highway traffic, even of coalmines, dust and crowded, inner-city informal settlements. It’s not pretty maybe, but it’s part of the deal. What we all tend to forget, is that Gauteng is not just another shakily outlined shape on the South African map, but a vast province – and one with far more to offer in terms of aesthetics than one thinks. Visitors to the country often head to scenic Cape Town, the picturesque Garden Route or panoramic Mpumalanga, but a meander around Gauteng is well worth the detour … Continued

A couple of the easiest and most beautiful walks in Cape Town

Cape Town Walks

It’s not always easy to find walks on which you can take a four year old. Actually, to be more frank, because his level of fitness easily surpasses mine, it isn’t easy to find walks that a four year old will complete. If he chooses not to, and this is more often than not, then our backs or shoulders become his transport.

So the walk definitely needs to accommodate our needs more than his – short, sweet and with incredible views, is probably the sum total on my list. My husband’s would probably go something like – flat, short, places to sit down and a lot of distraction – similar enough for us to agree easily on where and when we set forth … Continued

Valley of the Gods Hiking Trail

This walk is along one of the most popular routes on the mountain and you get to enjoy great views along the way!  You start the walk from Rontree Estate which is above Camps Bay.  Make your way to Theresa Avenue and locate the concrete path that starts at the Table Mountain Nature Reserve sign … Continued

Waterworks Museum Walk, Cape Town

The Waterworks Mueseum Walk is a wonderful 12km walk starting at the top of Table Mountain (at the cable car station) and ending at Constantia Nek.  With a bit of preparation and planning, you could work it that you only spend about five minutes walking uphill and the rest is flat or downhill walking … Continued

Hike the Hoerikwaggo Trail

The well known Hoerikwaggo Trail (from the Khoi word meaning ‘mountain in the sea’) is made of different trails taking one on a journey from Table Mountain to Cape Point.  You are guaranteed breathtaking views and fantastic flora.

The trail starts at Table Mountain and passes the highest point of the mountain; Maclears Beacon before continuing to Orange Kloof Forest.  From the forest you carry on towards Silvermine and Kommetjie via Chapman’s Peak.  As you make your way towards Simon’s Town you will walk along the beaches and enjoy the smell of fresh sea air.  The final stop is Cape Point and you can use the destination to explore the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve … Continued

Cape of Good Hope Trail (overnight hiking trail)

Cape Point

For a weekend with a difference why not do an overnight trail?  If you are a Capetonian you needn’t even drive far from home, the trails are literally on your doorstep!

The Cape of Good Hope Trail is a 34km circular route that starts and ends at the entrance gate to the Cape of Good Hope.  Secure overnight parking is available here so your car will be safe while you enjoy a two day hike with an overnight stay at one of the Rooikrans cottages. The two day hike starts at the Main Gate at the Good Hope entrance to Table Mountain National Park and then meanders down to Smitswinkel Bay and on up to Kanonkop, then down towards the Buffelsfontein Visitor Centre … Continued

Fynbos Rocks at Good Hope Nursery

Fynbos Walks

Experience the Fynbos at Good Hope Nursery!

Located jut over  the road from Cape Point Nature Reserve, the fynbos experience at Good Hope ursery includes an indigenous retail nursery, an outdoor tea garden, a playground for children, fynbos walks, quarterly events, as well as landscaping and garden design. They also wholesale to other nurseries including Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens and Table Mountain National Park

Good Hope Nursery have over 1000 indigenous species on their  data base, ranging from local fynbos to sub tropical trees, and the majority of these are grown at the nursery under harsh Cape Point weather conditions which ensures that they are resilient enough to grow in any garden … Continued

The Walk to Elephant’s Eye Cave

Photo © Andrew Deacon

We had no idea when we set out last weekend to Silvermine, intent on walking to Elephant’s Eye Cave, just what the walk entailed, or we may have had second thoughts. That’s not to say that it’s a difficult walk, it isn’t (bar the last bit that climbs to the cave), but we had a monster munch in tow, who, amazingly, left us in his dust in his efforts to reach the cave immediately he sighted it (pity about the saga getting back down!)

Silvermine, which forms part of the Table Mountain National Park with its entrance gate at the top of Ou Kaapse Weg about 20 minutes’ outside of Cape Town’s centre, is a magnet over weekends for families. People settle on the banks of the dam along which there are pretty, shady picnic spots, whilst hikers set off on various gentle walks that seldom tax but fulfil the very necessary contact with nature we all crave. Continued