Romantic Hiking Spots near Cape Town

Happy Valentines' Day!

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(Saturday 14 February)

Valentines day is falling on a Saturday this year. I predict that there will be lots of money spent on this day (or weekend) for people who are planning to entertain and spoil their partner.

If you are worried about your budget, herewith a few very romantic spots which you can take your date to for a nice romantic picnic and or a beautiful walk that will fit any budget.

1. Echo Valley

This romantic spot is located at the lower end of the Echo Valley Board walk, situated close to Kalk Bay and Muizenberg.

See Hiking Boomslang Cave Part 3 of 4 on how to get here.

2. Spes Bona Valley


The spot here is at the top of the Spes Bona boardwalk (close to Kalk Bay and Muizenberg) and just a few meters up from this picture, you will find a big flat rock on your right where you can have your romantic pic-nic. Close by is a little waterfall and river that you can hear but not see. The boardwalk itself is awesome!

See the Hiking Boomslang Cave Part 4 of 4 to find out exactly how to get there.

3. Steenbras River Gorge



The Steenbras River Gorge (located just outside Gordons Bay) has many spots along the route where you can stop off and enjoy a romantic picnic. Please just remember that the baboons are not shy to steal your bag away from you - so keep a safe distance from them (the sound of an electric shocker (I did not say shock the poor little buggers!) or the sight of a rubber snake is guaranteed to keep them at a distance).

Click here to see how to get there and a little more about this beautiful spot.

4. Silvermine Lake

Silvermine lake (located at the top of Ou Kaapse Weg) has the most awesome little private pic nic spots built all around this lake for people to relax at and enjoy the surroundings together, yet still very intimate and private.

In the picture below, the private picnic spots and braai areas are opposite the lake. Make sure you bring a plastic to put under your towels or blankets, if you choose not to sit at the stunning little picnic spots for the day. The ground around the lake is very moist. Everyone swims in the lake and there are many easy walks and a river close by if you choose to be more active

To find out how to get to the Silvermine Lake, click here.

These are just a few of the very many places you can go this valentines day. I hope you find them and let us know if you did go to any of these hikes.

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Blog Header Image Boomslang Cave

As we reached the top of the mountain to go over to the side at the entrance to Boomslang Cave, there was this stunning view of the main beach in Fishhoek below.

Hiking Wallpaper for February 2009

Herewith a Wallpaper for your desktop with the February month on it:



This picture was taken from Lions Head with a panoramic view of Table Mountain, Cape Town City Bowl, Signal Hill and Table Bay.


How to save as a wallpaper on your pc:
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We are going places

We are happy to announce that this blog is going places.

Thanks to Scott Thompson, please check out our post on his blog Hiking Trip Reports.

Hiking Trails Checklist

I am always forgetting to take something. I especially forget to take my mace spray. Here I have created a easy to print fun hiking trails checklist for future references when you are heading off into the hills.

Suggestion: print and place on your refrigerator.

To print this image:
- right click on the image
- choose print target

or

- click on open in new Tab / Open in New Window
- go to File (top left corner)
- click Print Preview and set your document according to your printing preferences and print it.

A Wallpaper for the ladies

One for the ladies...

Its back to work for most of us today. Herewith a nice picture the ladies can upload to their desktops to keep your work day a little more interesting. Enjoy...!

(This picture was taken on my recent hike up the southern part of Table Mountain, along the Jolulu Track going towards the Boomslang Cave. I played around with it in photoshop and gave it a waterpaint type effect.)

To save above image on your desktop, do the following:

• right click on image
• open in a new window / new tab
• right click on image again
• save as desktop / wall paper / back ground (depending on your software version)

Peter and Dani peaked Kilimanjaro

Well done to Peter Leonard and Daniela Radley for making it to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro early in January 2009!

What a perfect start to the year for the two of them. When I spoke to Dani today, she was stumbling over her words and tears of joy!

Im hoping to get more information from them on this trip soon and do a full report on their adventure.

Kilimanjaro with its three volcanic cones, Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira, is an inactive stratovolcano in north-eastern Tanzania rising 4,600 m (15,100 ft) from its base, and is additionally the highest peak in Africa at 5,895 meters (19,340 ft), providing a dramatic view of the surrounding plains.

The highest point on Kilimanjaro is Uhuru Peak, on the volcano Kibo 5,895 metres (19,341 ft).
The top of Kibo is a 1.5 mile wide crater. As the highest point in Africa, Uhuru Peak is one of the Seven Summits. The summit was first reached by the Marangu army scout Yohanas Kinyala Lauwo, German Hans Meyer and Austrian Ludwig Purtscheller, on October 6, 1889.

Two other peaks are also dormant volcanoes: Mawenzi (5,149 m, 16,890 ft), the third highest peak in Africa (after Mount Kenya) and Shira (3,962 m, 13,000 ft). Yohanas' Notch is named after Lauwo.

Due to Kilimanjaro's equatorial location and high elevation, almost every climate type on earth is represented, including a year-round snow-topped summit.

The summit of Kilimanjaro is covered by a GSM mobile phone network, and was previously the highest point in the world with mobile phone service.

Source: Wikipedia

Hiking Wallpaper Protea flower

Table Mountain has an abundance of these flowers all over the mountain. Its the photographers' birthday today, so I though Id load a picture very typical of his photography style today. Awesome shot...

Happy birthday!




To save above image on your desktop, do the following:

• right click on image
• open in a new window / new tab
• right click on image again
• save as desktop / wall paper / back ground (depending on your software version)

(Thanks again to Alex Aitkenhead for sharing this picture with us)

Cave Scrambling on Table Mountain is perfect for a large group of explorers

Hiking Trail: Boomslang Cave - Part 1 of 4

Wow, what another awesome hike this was. I am sure I am not only speaking for myself.

I have broken this hike up into 4 posts, to assist the downloading of the awesome images which go with each of them.

Below is a Google Earth image of the route that we walked.

(Click on the above image for enlarged view)

Location:
Name of Reserve / Area: Table Mountain National Park, Silvermine (East)
Nearest Town: Muizenberg, Kalk Bay and Fishhoek
Province: Western Cape
Country: South Africa

Directions to get there: From Cape Town CBD, take the M3 south. At the T-junction turn left. At the next T-junction turn right. Soon you will see a sign for you to turn right into Boyes Drive. Take this scenic road and follow it all the way up the mountain and almost to the end of the road. Use the Kalk Bay Harbour lighthouse as your landmark on your left, which is also where you will see the sign and some steep stone cut steps. This is where you can park your car alongside the road. Make sure you respect the local driveways.



Duration of hike: We started around 9h00 and got back to our cars at 13h00. This included exploring the entire cave and a short mid-way stop for a bite to eat.

Best time of year to go: According to the editor of my secret map (Mike Lundy), there is water inside the caves during the winter months and could be a muddy affair during this time. We had plenty of shade especially down in the valleys and crossed a little stream every now and again during the entire hike.

Fresh Water: There is a little stream but I would not recommend that you drink it.

Difficulty: If I had to rate this hike according to the grading scale of Mike Lundy, I would give it a 2B.

The Mike Lundy rating which is a combination of the following two grades:1 = Easy stroll;2 = Moderate;3 = Streunous excersise;4 = Only for the very fitplusA = No exposure to heights;B = Mild exposure to heights;C = Moderate exposure to heights;D = Very exposed to heights;

Pets: Yes you can bring your dog with you on this hike, but please make sure they are fit enough because it is also hard for them if they are not regularly exposed to these kinds of conditions. The wooden boardwalk inside the valleys could be difficult for their paws to negotiate and is something that you can keep your watchful eye on them.

How safe is it: I would not go alone on any of these open hikes along Table Mountain Reserve, but I felt very safe here. Always make sure you have someone on the hike with you. Keep extra protection such as a mace spray and do not expose your camera and phone too openly. The caves should only be done in large groups, always.

What costs did you incurr to do this hike: none

Pics taken by: Alex Aitkenhead, Juanita Welgemoed, Brian Spratley, Iva Lopes de Sarria.

Hikers Ratings:
I would like to invite any of the hikers who joined us on this hike to email me their rating and I will gladly put it into this post.

Juanita: I loved this hike! What an experience to go through such a long cave. The narrow passageways and large chambers were awesome to see. We were fortunate enough to have a very good torch, and could see all the details. Echo Valley and Spes Bona Valley are just breathtaking yellowwood and milkwood forrests. I call them my fairytale forrests. The group that joined us were so much fun too. Its always nice to have a crowd of enthusiastic friends and makes for awesome pictures too. Thanks to Iva for suggesting this route and to everyone who joined us on it.


Rock Art along the way!

As we were walking up, I noticed the most beautiful rock art on the path. Well done to the artist who did this.

Walk for about half an hour up this path and on your right you will find a beautiful stone cut pond known as Weary Willy's.

Do not cross this little stream (yet), but continue to follow the path up the mountain in the direction of Echo Valley Forrest.

Weary Willy's Stone Pool, Latitude 34° 7'17.69"S, Longitude 18°26'46.48"E

Your next landmark is about 15 minutes away, a place called Hungry Harry's (going up) on your right. This is a cluster of boulders forming a perfect hide out where one can take a break or just explore.

(In the picture below you can also notice Ou Kraal Koppie in the middle back ground. We passed this little hill on our return route.)

Hungry Harry's Rock, Latitude 34° 7'9.26"S, Longitude 18°26'34.73"E

Continue past Hungry Harry's up the valley for about 100m where you will find a fork in the path. Take the left fork and walk along the Jolulu Track.

Jojulu Track, Latitude 34° 7'7.87"S, Longitude 18°26'31.41"E

You will find it to be a little bit of rock scrambling on your way up.

Most of the route is easy walking and should not take more than 20 minutes to get to the top.

Soon you will be entertained by the magnificent views of Fishhoek, Simonstown and Cape Point in the far distance.

(Click on the above image for enlarged view)

We ended up stuck in one long row and Iva noted it would make for an awesome team photo (this one was captured by our Head of Photography - Alex).

Thanks Iva for getting such a cool shot of us!

Not even a tough guy like Mitch could resist these stunning flowers. This mountain can bring out even the softer side of a man. I just loved this shot and tweaked it in photoshop to look like a painting. Right click on it and use it for a desktop ladies. It should keep your mind entertained when work sometimes gets too much.

(Click on the above image for enlarged view)

Hikers on this route:

Alex Aitkenhead, Brian Spratley, Camilla Fraser, Elizabeth Oh, Hennie Genis, Iva Lopes de Sarria, Juanita Welgemoed, Justin Groombridge,Michell Geere, Simon Bishop, Rudi Nagel.

Our next stop was the caves less than 2 minutes walk from this spot... keep reading the next post to see what we found in the stunning Boomslang Cave.

Hiking Boomslang Cave - Part 2 of 4

Hiking Boomslang Cave - Part 2 of 4

Having just come from Jolulu Track, around the next corner we came upon these 3 caves which were less than 50 meters apart.

Boomslang Entrance, Latitude 34° 7'10.86"S, Longitude 18°26'21.92"E

The first cave was called White Dome Grotto. A large obvious hole on the edge of this rock wall.

This was not the cave we planned to explore, but the guys did pop their heads inside to have a look.

Then about 10 meters to the left of the above cave (White Dome Grotte), we passed the cave we were planning to explore (Boomslang Cave), just to have a quick look at the cave called Avernus (which was about another 20m to the right of Boomslang).

Hidden inside another stunning Yellowwood grove is the cave Avernus.

Soon the moment of glory came. In the middle of the two caves is a massive crater in the rock. This is where the entrance to Boomslang Cave is.

Looking back we saw the subburbs of Fishhoek.

Everyone got their candles and torches out and headed into the abyss of darkness.

(click on the above image for a larger view)

The most important thing to remember about this cave is to follow the direction of the breeze you feel on your face. Take it slow and you will soon know where to go.

We came upon massive chambers all over the place.

The passages soon becomes narrower and you will find yourself to be bending down lower and lower all the time untill you are on your hands and knees. By this time you will be able to see 'the light at the end of the tunnel'.

(Click on the above image for a larger view)

About an hour later, and pumped with adrenalin, we emerged from the exit point of the cave.

Boomslang Exit Point, Latitude 34° 7'7.27"S, Longitude 18°26'21.60"E

The exit point of the cave is approximately 150 meters from where the entrace. As soon as we reached the other side, it was a perfect time and spot to enjoy a snack and refuel for the next leg of our route.

From here we followed the path down the mountain back to where we came from at the Echo Valley Path which merged with the Jolulu Track.

Jojulu Track, Latitude 34° 7'7.87"S, Longitude 18°26'31.41"E

Our next adventure was the Echo Valley Boardwalk and The Amphitheatre...