Walking Buddy Cape Town

Hi everyone,

Ive recently been added to this group called Walking Buddy Cape Town - by Tony Heher of the Mountain Club of South Africa. I think its a great concept.

• If you belong to this group, you are able to send out an email to the group to notify them of your walks that you are going on and you can invite the members of the group along.

• You are also at the same time notified of any other hikes that members of the group may be going on, should you wish to join them.

Click here to subscribe to the Walking Buddy Cape Town group.

The request will need to be authorised by Tony and his team, to avoid anonymous readers and spammers.

Here is the group's description:

Looking for someone to share a walk with? WalkingBuddyCT provides you with an opportunity to link up with other walkers. Why not join in even if you are not looking for a buddy? You may be able to help out someone else who is.

Storm Warning for Cape Town

Please be aware that on current synoptic patterns we have a massive coastal storm approaching that will coincide with a spring high tide. Wednesday morning we are likely to see gale force winds of 70km/h associated with 12-16 m swell and a spring tide carrying all the way through to Thursday. In addition, the storm moves to the south so we should see large swells impacting False Bay as well.

This storm has the potential to cause significant damage to our coast, both public and private property.

Please take note all Sport and Recreation: be aware of the possibility of damage to property and a suggestion is that Disaster Management consider issuing a press release warning the public and even suggesting that they stay away from areas such as the Sea Point promenade, and warning private homeowners living right at the beach to be prepared for possible storm surge impacts to their property.

Below is a video that I took during a storm on 31 Aug 2008 at the Sea Point Promenade, which is expected to be just as severe:

Hiking Platteklip Gorge and Contour Path

Hiking Trail: Platteklip Gorge
Name of Reserve / Area: Table Mountain National Park
Nearest Town: Cape Town CBD, Camps Bay, Kloof
Province: Western Cape
Country: South Africa


We decided to brave the weather on the weekend and head for the hills for some fresh air and a good hiking workout.





Its considered not the wisest thing to do in these misty conditions - especially when you want to climb a mountain that has sadly claimed 6 lives so far this year alone.

Our aim was to climb Platteklip Gorge. This is the massive gorge seen from the city below, almost in the middle of Table Mountain. Many hikers walk this enduring 1 hour plus route up in stead of taking the Cable Car ride up, as it is the shortest route to the top if you do not wish to take the scenic cable way. The cable way was closed due to the weather, and there were not many people on the route this day.



We started on Tafelberg Road and passed the Contour path. Half way up the gorge Alex and I decided that this was getting just too dangerous. The wind was blowing very strong and the rain was pouring down in buckets.




We then ventured back and along the Contour Path, over a few massive waterfalls which are normally very small and walked back via the Tafelberg Road.







I did not record this hike in much detail, but really enjoy sharing with you some of the awesome breathtaking scenery whilst walking along the mountain on this cold, rainy and windy Cape Town winters day.



If you would like to, pls note that I have saved some of these images for you to easily use as a Desktop Image.

Right click on the image, open in a New Tab, right click and save as background or desktop image.

Nominate Table Mountain as one of the 7 Wonders of the World

Table Mountain has been selected as the official nominee to represent South Africa in a global New 7 Wonders of Nature campaign.

The New7Wonders Foundation in Zurich, Switzerland announced on January 7, 2009 that Table Mountain is one of the 261 magnificent natural sites from 222 countries that have made it through to the second round in this global race to name the New 7 Wonders of Nature.

Other iconic natural sites to come through the first round include the Grand Canyon, Loch Ness, Mount Fuji, the Amazon, the Great Barrier Reef and Niagara Falls.

The New 7 Wonders of Nature will be determined by votes from the public and South Africans can show their support for the Mother City’s majestic mountain by visiting www.new7wonders.com and casting their vote.

You have until 7 July ONLY! You can vote more than once.

Voting in the second phase to select the top 77 runs until July 7 this year, when a panel of experts will select the 21 finalists - these will be announced on July 21 when the third and final phase of voting will begin. The official New 7 Wonders of Nature will be revealed in 2011.

Source: www.votefortablemountain.com


2 Options to Vote:

1. Click Here to Register and Vote Online

or

2. Call in and Vote over the Phone

How to vote by telephone in three easy steps:

1. Dial this international telephone number: +41 77 312 4041
2. At the end of the message, after the tone, insert the 3 digit code for your chosen nominee
3. When you hear the thank you message, you are all done - you have voted by telephone !
   

Now see the LIVE RANKING below:

Mountain Club of South Africa: Activities for the Week

Tuesday, June 2

Muizenberg Peak Circuit , Silvermine. Up by Farmer Pecks valley, return via Junction & Nellies Pool’s, St James Peak, Mimetes Valley & Baileys Kloof. Convenor Tim Hodson 021 788 1462 thodson@iafrica.com from 25 May. Co-convenor Tunney Kirk 021 685 3903.

Next 1st Tues: Mark Seuring and Andreas Kiefer in Kyrgyzstan, JHB climbers Mark Seuring and Andreas Kiefer went to Kyrgyzstan late last year on a mission to do a first ascent of a peak in the Llailak Gorge of the Pamir Alai Range. They opened a ‘semi’-new route on Petrogradetz. 23 pitches at Grade 20 A1, 5163m. Both Mark and Andreas are highly experienced in rock and alpine conditions. This was a truly awesome achievement for them. They will be presenting their slideshow (+ video) of their epic trip. MCSA Club hous 8pm.

Thursday, June 4

Apostles Traverse Via Boskloof (B grade): Not your usual Apostles traverse! Along the Pipe Track past Corridor and Oudekraal, continuing all the way round the base of Grootkop. An amazing long traverse ending in Boskloof Ravine, with an interesting “B” exit on a thin ledge. A few old mossy cairns, but no path (apart from a maze of tahr tracks), so an old route that has not been done for a long time. Return via Suikerbossie. Convenor: Tony Heher 021 794 5730 or tony.heher@gmail.com (email booking preferred). Co convenor: Martyn Trainor (021 786 2605).

Flagstaff Hill, Simon’s Town: From Seaforth Sound to the summit of Swartkop (678m) along a 500m+ ridge overlooking False Bay (spectacular views!) and a steep descent to Smitswinkel Bay. Cars at both ends. Convenor: Denis le Jeune (082 822 8227 – preferably by SMS) from 2 June (please note booking date). Co convenor: Ivor Jardine (021 689 9031)

Source: Mountain Club of South Africa - Cape Town

The Manoutsa Trail - A Rumble in the African Jungle

Hiking Trail: Manoutsa Hike, J.G. Strijdom Tunnel, Blyde River.
Name of Reserve / Area: Manoutsa
Nearest Towns: Hoedspruit, Gravelotte, Nelspruit, Pilgrims Rest, Kruger National Park
Province: Limpopo Province
Country: South Africa

Duration of hike: 4 hours one way

Directions to get there: From Hoedspruit, you take the R36 and drive East. Pass the Manoutsa Resort on your right as you drive up the mountain pass. Drive through the J.G. Strijdom Tunnel. About 1 km after the tunnel is another craft market on the left. This is where the route starts. Do not attempt this route on your own or without a guide. You are welcome to email me should you wish to go on this route.



Contact Information: hiking.guide001@gmail.com

Best time of year to go: All year. In summer the lakes can be swam in, in winter its bearable from the African heat.

What costs did you incur to do this hike: R30 pp for the permit, plus costs for the guides available on request.

How safe is it: Well, this is Africa. In my opinion, this is on your own risk. You walk in the deepest darkest jungle. Its beautiful. There are all sorts of wild animals in the mountain. But hiking is an adventure and I did not felt threatened at all - especially being with an experienced guide.

Fresh Water: I would not drink this water, but that's my opinion.

Difficulty: Moderate hike, steep hills, dark caves.

Pets: Not a route to take your pooch on.

How will I rate this hike? Awesome!


I was fortunate to go and visit my best friend from school days in her hometown, Hoedspruit. One of the things we asked her to share with us, is to take us on the Manoutsa Hike.

This must have been one of the most scenic river hikes I have been on so far, please read on and see the pictures. Soon I will load a video that Bernet made, of this hike too.

To view these images, either click on them, or right click and
open in a New Tab / New Window.
I have made them large enough
so that you can also save them as Desktop Images if you wish to do so.

We started off at the Manoutsa Holiday Resort, on the edge of the Olifants River, at the foot of the Drakensberg mountain.


Adele has friends who know friends that gave us a ride to the top of the mountain. I know it was cheating a little (getting a ride to the top), but beggars cant be choosers!

The drive to the top takes you back through the J.G. Strijdom Tunnel, to the craft market almost right next to start of the hike route.


We got dropped off at the Craft Market, and immediately crossed the road into - what one can genuinely call - the real African jungle.


We came upon many waterfalls and lakes all along the way down.


The walkway is not very clear and this hike must be taken with an experienced guide like Adele.




The route takes you through a few caves, torches and careful treading is par for the course.






Whilst Bernet and I were sitting here watching Adele swim, I noticed a Vine Snake (or Twig Snake) perched on the bush in front of me. Adele told us that these snakes are so poisonous, that they do not have anti-venom for them. If you get bitten by a Vine Snake, the venom thins out your blood to a point that your entire body starts bleeding until you bleed to death. Interesting to say the least. Can you expect anything less than danger in a jungle like this?


More steps and rocks to scramble. This route was not very exhausting, but its not for the faint hearted.


This is another little lake which Bernet likes to jump off the rocks. If you look careful, you will see her flying through the air in the picture above.


When one drives through the J.G. Strijdom tunnel, you will notice a small waterfall from the road. This is a part of the Blyde River, flowing towards the Olifants river. Adele took us right to the bottom of this waterfall, which turned out to be much bigger when standing under it. Each of us had a turn to get a free back massage. The locals believe to cleanse themselves under this waterfall and to gain the powers of the water. We surely did that - and oh what an amazing feeling and thing to experience.





More steps, ropes and rocks to scramble down...





Each lake that we passed by seemed more beautiful than the other.



Finally as we reached the end of our walk, at the bottom of the mountain, we continued to follow the path through the local village. There we had to give them our mountain pass which we paid for at the Manoutsa Holiday Resort.



Im really sad that we unfortunately lost all our pictures of the village and its locals, but it gives me a reason to just have to come back again. The video that I will be loading soon has some pics of the locals and the village, so keep your eyes open for when I load the video.



My best memory of the village was seeing a little baby goat (kid) lying in a corner on some hard rocky ground, in a small patch of shade - desperately trying to avoid the heat of the day. He must have been about a week old. I wiggled myself into the typical 'dilapidated goat pen' and walked over to pick him up. At first he moaned terribly when I tried to pick him up. But after a cuddle and some proper TLC, it was so sad to see how he moaned even more when I put him down to continue on our road further. He came running after me, as if to say "hey! where are you going now!? I want more of that love-stuff!"


Pictures by: Alex Aitkenhead ...shot bru! they rock as usual. Jx

Mother City bracing for 'beast' of a storm

Source: www.iol.co.za By Caryn Dolley

Cape Town is bracing for massive cold fronts that are set to hit the peninsula this weekend, bringing "absolutely huge waves" and gale-force winds.

The pending storm is expected to be so severe that disaster management workers are already on full alert and rescue organisations have warned hikers to avoid mountain paths and bathers and sailors to exercise caution when at sea.

But while sea-goers may be deterred by the predicted sea swells, big wave surfers say they will make the most of it.

Yesterday Steve Pike, a surf forecaster who tracks the weather, said "a massive storm" was expected when a double cold front hits at the weekend.

"During the first part of Saturday there'll be fresh winds and some rain. It’s nothing major but there will be strong winds.

“The swell actually starts arriving during the day and you can expect waves to reach six metres.

“By Sunday, when the second part of the storm hits, waves may reach eight metres and there’ll be even more vicious gale-force winds,” he said.

SA Weather Service forecaster Carlton Fillis said “a very windy episode” with waves reaching seven metres was expected between Table Bay and Cape Agulhas on Saturday and Sunday.

City of Cape Town Disaster Risk Management Centre
spokesperson Wilfred Solomons-Johannes said if a warning was issued steps would be put in place in case the centre needed to assist any residents affected by the storm.

National Ports Authority spokesperson Coen Birkenstock said if a “serious storm” was to hit, it would issue a warning but this had not yet been necessary.

NSRI, however, yesterday warned sea-users to be extra cautious as wind speeds were expected to reach more than 50 knots and swells in the deep sea more than nine metres.

Stellenbosch - Hiking The Vineyard Trail

(Please also remember to read my FURTHER UPDATE at the end of this review)

Name of Reserve / Area: Stellenbosch, Bottelaryberg
Hiking Trail: VINEYARD HIKING TRAIL
Nearest Town: Stellenbosch, Devon Valley
Province: Western Cape
Country: South Africa

Duration of hike: 4 - 8 hours, depending on which route you choose to take. We chose to take the Green Route, and it took us 4 hours to do half of it.

Directions to get there: From Cape Town CBD, take the N2 towards the Strand, Somerset West and Stellenbosch. Turn left into Stellenbosch Arterial Road. Pass the turn to Spier on your right. Soon you will see a sign to turn left into Devon Valley Road. Drive all the way up the valley along this narrow road until you reach the Devon Valley Hotel on your right. This is where you will be able to get your day permits and the map I have uploaded in this post.

Contact Information:
Stellenbosch Tourism Information Bureau
Email info@stellenboschtourism.co.za
Phone: 021 883 8017

Best time of year to go: March - June is good for photographs due to the autumn season starting to create the most awesome colours.

What costs did you incur to do this hike: R25 per person (not sure why we paid!)

How safe is it: Situated in between some of the best wine estates in Stellenbosch. It looks very safe, but the reality is, its not. You basically get exposed to the entire area, walking in main roads and you are left to the elements. Make sure you have something for self protection.

Fresh Water: None, unless you are prepared to drink from dams (which I will not recommend) or pop into a local farmers' house and grab some from them.

Difficulty: Due to the distances, I would recommend a fairly fit person should enjoy this. The map we were given got us totally lost and it was a very unpleasant experience not knowing if the next road will be a dead end or not.

Pets: I think you can take your dog with you, you are basically walking in the open. I would however not take my dog with me on this hike, as the locals have too many very poorly taken care of pets running freely around the place and it could cause havoc for you. Together with the heat, distance and the constant feeling of being uncertain where you are, this would not be a pleasant walk for your doggie.





(Numbers below refer to numbers in the map above)
1. Start by walking to the back of the hotel, towards the right. As you see the first vineyard, look out for the Red and Orange signs on the vine. We could not find a GREEN one, but continued to follow the path as the map indicated they were going in the same direction.



Turn right onto the dirt road and left up the hill, as you exit the hotel grounds.





2. First left again and continue along the road. Pass Stonehill Wines on your right and continue till you get to a gate at which point the path then becomes a dirt road. Continue walking along the line of trees and soon the path will turn upwards and to the right.



3. At the top of the road you will reach a tar road. Turn left onto the tar road.



Look out for a stone painted with 3 footprints on the right of the road. This meant nothing to us, but it looked like the green foot was facing the way the map indicated.



4. Walking down this tar road we saw the J.C. Le Roux wine estate and the entire Devon Valley on our left.







5. The tar road eventually becomes a dirt road again, and then we got to the T- Junction. Here we walked left again.



6. On our left was a farmers house, fenced with heavy security. This was also where we walked pass a boom. At this point, we were supposed to take the left fork, but instead we continued straight with the road - as it seemed to be on the map. (still no signs of the GREEN ROUTE)

7. Soon we reached a small farming community on our right, which did not seem right, but we continued to walk on. It saddened me as I could not help to notice all the kittens and puppies and the generally poor state of the rest of the animals. The smiling local little children were very keen to walk with us for as far as they could go.





8. Following the road straight down, and with some help from the locals, we eventually saw our first GREEN SIGN. Our delight was short lived when we got to another fork in the road - an no more signs!





9. After walking (and photographing) the area flat, we eventually found the lake on the map and decided to make this our lunch stop.



Walking from point 9, pass 7 and to 10 on the map, we eventually found the road that we were supposed to be walking on way back then. By this time, we were ready to just go home.



10. A local farmer had no choice but stop and pick us up, as both of us decided we had done enough walking for one day. Hiking in the mountains, and walking for hours on end on a dirt road is not quite the same thing.



11. Point 11 on the map is where he dropped us off by the main Devon Valley Road. This is where we turned left to head back to where our car was parked at the hotel.


How will I rate this hike?
Well, at first we were super excited about hiking amongst the stunning vineyards of Stellenbosch. We got our permits and map from the Devon Valley Hotel, and finding the start of the hike set the tone for the entire rest of the way. Constant uncertainty, absolutely no (Green Route) signs like we were promised and exposed to the elements - made this a walk that will not make any one of Mike Lundy's books for sure. So, if you feel like a walk in the vineyards, trust me, if you've seen one, you've seen them all. Follow the Red or the Orange Route on the map rather.

There was no variety and by the time we actually got to the 'mountain' that we wanted to climb, we decided to just head back to the car. Luckily for us, a local farmer (whom we had already met during the way due to us being lost on his farm) drove past and gave us a ride to the tar road. Then another local (who gave us directions along the way too) also drove past us after the farmer had dropped us off, and he then picked us up and gave us a comfy ride back to our car which was parked at the hotel. Apart from being annoyed at the lack of direction almost the entire way, we did find that the locals were very friendly.

I think their hiking trail needs some serious jacking up in terms of its signage, but its an area not to be missed and I highly recommend visiting the area for a nice relaxing meal or some wine tasting for now only.

Further Update: 25 April 2009

After sending my above review of this specific hike to the local authorities in charge of this route, I have had intensive feedback and great concern from their side.

I would like to make amend on some of what I said above, which is the following:

Pets:
The rules say you are not allowed to take your dog with you. So please respect the wishes of the friendly hosts. I did not see it on the map, but it clearly states no dogs.

Fresh Water:
I rate my hikes on the availability of water, purely for the sake of the hikers. The fact that water is or is not on a route, does not make it any better or worse, its just something I like to add into my reviews because I have seen people go on massive hikes with one apple in their hand. (Scary to sometimes see the level of ignorance of a mature man walking with his entire family!) Im sure they will never repeat the same mistake again, but its always nice to know if there is fresh water on hand sometime during the hike or not. This route specifically did not have any fresh water along the way, but it does not make it a bad route to consider due to this fact.

The signage: (or lack thereof)

Both the Devon Valley Hotel and Alvera Guest House have made the following comments:

• The GREEN ROUTE was in fact a closed route and we should never have hiked this route. There was a communication slip up and we were in fact supposed to have been told that we were not allowed to do the GREEN ROUTE.
• The RED ROUTE and the ORANGE ROUTE are both really stunning routes especially for this time of the year, and they come highly recommended by the owners. I have not walked these two routes, but I can say we did see loads of red and orange signs whilst trying to find the green route.
• The GREEN ROUTE is now closed and under construction, they will notify all hikers as soon as it is open for hiking again.

Best time of year to go:
Autumn (April - June) is perfect for photographs, especially after a rainfall as the colours become vivid and the skies are clear.

Thank you to the owners for coming back to me so quickly, we look forward to completing this route in the future.