I'm always in awe when I read Helen's blog, Walking the Cape, to see how many trails and walks there are around Cape Town. But living in Port Elizabeth doesn't mean that we don't have trails around the city. It just seems that the locals over here either tend to rather walk on the beach or use a safety excuse not to head onto the trails. A bunch of us from work decided to celebrate World Tourism Day on 27 September…
Plumbago growing next to the trail at Sleepy Hollow just east of Port Elizabeth
When you visit a number of the Big 5 game reserves north-east of Port Elizabeth, one can still see what used to be the old wagon trail that lead from Port Elizabeth to Grahamstown. At Kwantu Game Reserve the remains of one of the old wagon trail inns are still visible in one of the valleys. Looking at the ruins it must have been a very popular spot and quite a magnificent building in the early days. If I owned…
A couple of hundred meters down the Sacramento Trail from the Schoenmakerskop side you will find a monument marking the site where the Portuguese gallion Sacramento ran aground on 30 June 1647. 72 survivors set out to walk the 1350 km to the closest port which was in Mozambique. Of the original 72, only nine arrived in Delagoa Bay on 5 January 1648 and of the nine only four made it back to Portugal alive. The wreck site is also…
On Sunday afternoon I went on a photo walk with a couple of other photographers on the first section of the Sacramento Trail. The Sacramento Trail stretches along the coast between Schoenmakerskop and Sardinia Bay over a distance of 4 kilometers which means you would have covered 8 km walking it there and back. The trail has some awesome view points and follows a route that will take you right down onto the rocky coastline as well as through the…
The other day I did a post on the Sacramento Trail leading from Schoenmakerskop to Sardinia Bay. At the start of the trail in Schoenies these steps take you down to the shoreline to the bottom section of the trail.
The Sacramento trail follows the coastline between Schoenmakerskop and Sardinia Bay and is about 4km each way. Its been years since I've done the walk and its high time I do it again. Hopefully at some stage during the holidays I will get a chance. Most people take the walk early in the morning and then go for breakfast at one of the little restaurants in Schoenies.
Driving out to Sleepy Hollow just outside Port Elizabeth on a drizzling Thursday, my mind wandered to the tale of Ichabod Crane. I wondered if at some stage during the weekend I would encounter a headless horseman who would hurl his head (or some shape of pumpkin) at me making me throw myself into a bush or a stream. Or even worse, disappear forever. But luck was on my side. Three days of absolute natural bliss and not a wandering…
Van Der Kemp's Kloof is situated at Bethelsdorp on the northern side of Port Elizabeth. The Kloof is one of six deep, steep-sided valleys cutting into the escarpment in this area. The Van Der Kemp's Kloof Trail is a circular trail and starts at the historic Bethelsdorp Village. The trail is 8km long (three hours) but can be shortened to 4 km. It follows the little Swartkops River into the secluded and scenic Van Der Kemp's Kloof, returning through the…