Every Thursday morning I get up with the birds. I put my backpack on my back, lace my boots and make sure my camera battery is fully charged. Thursday is hiking day. It has been for the past year of my life and probably will be till the day that I have to accept that old age has caught up with me. I can't believe all the beauty that I've discovered in this past year has always been right here, under my nose. I'd like to share some of my experiences, as seen through my camera lens, with you. Who knows, you might be inspired to go out and buy yourself a pair of hiking boots as well...

January 2011 - Cape Town, South Africa







Showing posts with label paarl mountains. Show all posts
Showing posts with label paarl mountains. Show all posts

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Nestled in the Winelands - a Pearl of a Mountain...

Last Thursday we headed out to the town of Paarl where we tackled the famous Paarl Mountain, also known as Paarl Rock. The mountain overlooks the sleepy little winelands town and consists of a huge granite rock, characterised by three distinct outcrops. Read more about the town and it's distinct mountain here.

As the photographs prove, we had lovely weather. It was quite windy at the top but as soon as we headed back down we were totally sheltered once again. The only shadow cast on this day was the fact that I lost one of my walking poles. We went back and retraced our steps but alas, my stick has been claimed by the mountain. It's a little sad for me as this is one of the set that helped me up Kilimanjaro, so needless to say, I was not impressed with myself. Anyway, my fellow hikers have told me that I can finally call myself a true hiker, as losing a walking pole for the first time is the true qualifier!

Lately I've noticed a heart shaped object on every walk that we've undertaken. Sometimes it's in the form of a leaf, sometimes it's in the form of a stone and sometimes it's even in the branch of a tree. I'm going to attempt to capture this on camera in future and will always post it as the last picture in every post.

This week the heart shape that really jumped out at me was perfectly formed in a tree that we passed. I definitely feel the presence of our creator out there in nature and I'd like to believe that these hearts that keep appearing is mere confirmation of what makes the world go round!

Enjoy the pics!























As is evident in this blog, hiking in Cape Town is a truly special experience and can be enjoyed almost year round!  If you ever visit our part of the world and would like to experience what hiking in the Cape is all about, contact hikingisfun@telkomsa.net.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Leopards? Nooo....!

Last Thursday we hiked the Klein Drakenstein mountain (1047m), just outside the town of Paarl. We were blessed with beautiful weather - windy at times, but nonetheless a stunning day. To say that I was BUSHED at the end of the day is an understatement! It really was a hectic climb, made worse by the fact that I really was not very fit! Incredible how quickly your body reverts to 'couch potato' mode if you stop exercising!

The company and scenery was wonderful as usual - as the pictures clearly show! We missed our first 'swallow', who has already left for Germany. There are a few such 'swallows' in our little group - those who follow the sun for a couple of months once our African winter starts.

One of the most interesting things to look out for below is the photo where one can clearly see the scratchings of a leopard against a tree. Amazing! It seemed rather fresh and I couldn't help but look over my shoulder every now and again! A while back a permanent camera captured some of these amazing creatures next to that exact tree - I'll try and source one of those for my next post.

This is Africa after all!

Tomorrow we're off to a wine farm for an easy 5km walk, followed by a wine tasting and lunch next to their dam.

Just another lousy day in Africa!













 
Here one can spot the leopard scratchings - the brown round spot on the main trunk - will post close-ups with the next post together with the webcam photo of the actual leopard at this actual tree.