Another weekend another hike

Wow, just finished a 15 km hike in 4 hours in a small game reserve not far from Johannesburg. Very dry and very dusty but stunning. Went with a friend Emlyn and about 60 other people and broken up into groups.

I must admit that this was a very hectic walk and at a fast pace and now I'm paying the price. Not only am I exhausted but my right knee is extremely painful. I'll have to get it ready though for next week when Shirley and I will be doing the Schoongezicht hike and that will be two days of walking. Come on knee get better!

Here are some pics of the wild life we saw and of the hike.

These giraffe were awesome. They watched us then ran off and much later came back around for another look at us.

Another weekend another hike

Wow, just finished a 15 km hike in 4 hours in a small game reserve not far from Johannesburg. Very dry and very dusty but stunning. Went with a friend Emlyn and about 60 other people and broken up into groups.

I must admit that this was a very hectic walk and at a fast pace and now I'm paying the price. Not only am I exhausted but my right knee is extremely painful. I'll have to get it ready though for next week when Shirley and I will be doing the Schoongezicht hike and that will be two days of walking. Come on knee get better!

Here are some pics of the wild life we saw and of the hike.

These giraffe were awesome. They watched us then ran off and much later came back around for another look at us.

Mateke Hike

Mateke is a game reserve near Rooiberg and close to Thabazimbi. This is a beautiful part of the bushveld which I love to go to. The temperatures for the weekend were great with a cold minimum of around 3C and the maximum around 25C.

What a wonderful weekend hike this turned out to be. It was quite a long drive which I hitched along with friends Peter and Claudette in their vehicle. There is a fuel strike on the go and fortunately their vehicle uses diesel and so could easily make it there and back on a full tank it needed. We arrived there as the sun set on Friday and left mid-morning on Sunday.

Being winter there was not a lot of bird life although I did see a spectacular malachite kingfisher. The most fascinating thing on the hike was seeing a group of about twenty insect eating plants. They are bright scarlet and about 2 centimetres in diameter. This is the first time I have seen such plants in their natural habitat and did not know they occurred here in South Africa. They are truly amazing little plants.

The hike was an easy 13 kilometre round trip which took about 5 hours at a very leisurely pace as one of the hikers was not fit at all.

This is a place to see again and a definite must for the hot summer. The streams will be fantastic for coling off from the high summer temperatures.

New hike coming up

Next weekend I'll be on a hike in Mateke. If you look at the following co-ordinates S24°17’13.63” E27°39’07.92” on Google Earth you'll see where I'll be. This area is Shirley's and my favourite place. It's in the beautiful bushveld area of South Africa and just a little west of the Waterberg Mountains which we love so very much.

Although it's winter here in the southern hemisphere this is a warm part of the country at this time of the year. Night temperatures though will plummet to around 3º Celsius from day time temperatures of about 20º C.

I'm doing some training in gym to get my fitness levels and strength up a bit but I fear I've fallen into too little too late as usual.

I'll be taking pictures which I'll post here once I've returned.