hiking

All posts tagged hiking

Crack-a-DOOO!

Posted by 2summers on November 7, 2011
Posted in: South Africa, Western Cape. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . 19 comments

Part 3 of a 3-part series about the Cederberg Heritage Route. Read Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

When I left off, my travel companions and I had spent a magical evening in the village of Hugel-Bugel (a.k.a. Heuningvlei). We awoke early the next morning for the final installment of our Cederberg adventure: a hike across Krakadouw Pass.

Our guide for the day was Abraham, an ageless, salt-of-the-earth kind of man. Abraham has lived in Heuningvlei all his life. He has worked tirelessly to encourage conservation and responsible tourism in the Cederberg.

Abraham.

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Rock Art and Donkey Carts

Posted by 2summers on November 2, 2011
Posted in: Cape Town, South Africa, Western Cape. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 20 comments

Part 1 of a 3-part series. Read Part 2 here and Part 3 here.

It’s time to tell you what I was doing in the Western Cape last week, besides bumming around Bo-Kaap. The real purpose of my trip was to visit the Cederberg Wilderness, 240 kilometers northwest of Cape Town, and participate in a hiking adventure called the Cederberg Heritage Route.

The Cederberg Wilderness.

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Hogsback Packing

Posted by 2summers on September 16, 2011
Posted in: Eastern Cape, South Africa. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . 15 comments

I’m back in Joburg, recovering from jet lag.

Since I had to leave for the U.S. in such a rush last month, I didn’t get the chance to share all the stories from my road trip around South Africa. So even though it’s technically old news, I hope you’ll enjoy this post about my recent visit to the magical village of Hogsback.

A slightly edited version of the post appeared on TravelWrite.co.za – you’ll notice it has more of a travel-magazine-y feel than my other posts. Thanks to TravelWrite editor Caroline Hurry for coming up with this clever headline.

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It’s a chilly morning in Hogsback. Joe and I just finished a pre-breakfast hike to a majestic waterfall at the top of a mountain. We’re hungry. We are the only customers in the quirky Butterfly Bistro, sitting at a cozy table next to a clay fireplace. Continue Reading

Kruger at Ground Level, Part 3: Mineral

Posted by 2summers on June 29, 2011
Posted in: Game Parks, South Africa. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 11 comments

Welcome to the final blog post about my hike through the Kruger Park’s Pafuri Triangle: the mineral installment. Most of the facts in this post were gleaned from Brian, our Pafuri wilderness guide, and Wikipedia.

If you’ve read parts 1 and 2 of this series, you know that the Pafuri Triangle is chock-full of majestic African wildlife and awe-inspiring trees. But Pafuri also has rocks. And water. And an amazing geological and archaeological history. Geology and archaeology aren’t my specialties, but this post is an excuse to show you some of my favorite pics from the trip that don’t feature animals or plants.

Water is a mineral, right? Either way, I really like this picture.

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Kruger at Ground Level, Part 2: Vegetable

Posted by 2summers on June 26, 2011
Posted in: Game Parks, South Africa. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 20 comments

Announcements:

1) A story about my Kruger trip has been published on travelgurus.co.za. Please check it out.

2) 2Summers turned one today! I wrote my first 2Summers post exactly a year ago, six weeks before moving to Jozi. If you want to know how it all started, click here.

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On to Part 2 of my hiking adventure in the Kruger Park: the vegetable installment.

I experienced some pretty incredible (and adrenaline-inducing) animal sightings on my four-day hike through the Pafuri Triangle (see Part 1). But as I sat on the flight home and thought about it, I decided my favorite sightings in Pafuri were plants, specifically trees. Continue Reading

Kruger at Ground Level, Part 1: Animal

Posted by 2summers on June 23, 2011
Posted in: Game Parks, South Africa. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 32 comments

A big thank you to travelgurus.co.za and Wilderness Adventures for making this blog post possible.

Last weekend I visited Kruger National Park, the largest park in South Africa. This wasn’t just any old Kruger safari, either. I went to the remotest and most beautiful section of the park — the Pafuri Triangle.

A view of the Limpopo River, just before my plane landed at Pafuri Camp. The Pafuri Triangle is in the far northern corner of the Kruger Park, wedged between the Limpopo and Luvuvu Rivers and the borders of Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

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A Day in the Life of a Quirky Melville Tourist

Posted by 2summers on May 25, 2011
Posted in: Johannesburg, Johannesburg Day Trips, Johannesburg Suburbs, South Africa. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 17 comments

A few months ago, I promised to write periodic posts about Melville guesthouses, restaurants, and shops. I’ve strayed from that commitment — the majority of my posts these days are about the Joburg city centre or more far-flung places outside of town.

So today I’m getting back to my roots. Melville is one of Joburg’s wackiest neighborhoods; it straddles a divide between tree-lined suburbia and urban grittiness. Melville is constantly changing — there are always quirky new places to visit, along with well-loved old standbys.

I’m not a Melville tourist, but I’ve just spent a few days wandering around pretending I am. Here is a recommended itinerary for a one-day visit to the place I call home in Jozi. Continue Reading

Clouds, Powerlines, and Pretty Dead Trees

Posted by 2summers on April 26, 2011
Posted in: Johannesburg, Johannesburg Day Trips, Johannesburg Suburbs, South Africa. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , . 14 comments

Before I start, let me alert you to a guest post I wrote for a blog called “Notes From Africa”: What Your Cat Wants to Know: An American Ex-pat Perspective. It’s a departure from my normal subject matter — please check it out and browse through Lisa’s lovely blog while you’re at it. Thanks again, Lisa!

Easter Monday was the first nice day we’ve had here in weeks. The air was balmy, the sky was azure, and the clouds looked like that gauzy cotton that people stretch across doorways on Halloween. Hiking was necessary.

We considered going to Klipriviersberg Nature Reserve, a park in southern Joburg that we visited a few months ago. But while searching online for a Kliprviersberg trail map (which I never found), I stumbled upon a listing for Kloofendal Nature Reserve on the western outskirts of the city. Joe had heard of Kloofendal but never been. We decided to give it a try. Continue Reading

Hunting Rock Animals in a Mountain Sanctuary

Posted by 2summers on April 20, 2011
Posted in: Johannesburg Day Trips, South Africa. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 12 comments

After a rainy Saturday evening in Magaliesburg, Joe and I decided to go for a hike in Mountain Sanctuary Park. The sun was only listlessly trying to push through the clouds, but we were determined to do something outdoorsy on our country weekend.

Mountain Sanctuary Park is a privately owned nature reserve in the Magaliesburg Mountains, about an hour from the town of Magaliesburg. To get there we had to cross Breedt’s Nek Pass, on a rutted, boulder-strewn dirt road. The views are great but this road is not for the faint of heart, especially after rain. We passed a hapless couple getting their VW hatchback hauled out of the mud by a tow truck. Continue Reading

The End of 2Summers

Posted by 2summers on April 9, 2011
Posted in: Johannesburg, South Africa, Washington DC. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 24 comments

Gotcha!

This is not the end of 2Summers the blog. But it is the end of 2Summers the season.

Autumn on the Melville Koppies. I took this photo on a walk with Joe this afternoon, right before sunset. I love the sound of the grass swishing in the breeze.

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