Finding a good pair of trail pants is a surprisingly difficult task. Having personally tried many different types over the years and being disappointed with most – I was interested to try out Hi-Tec’s Trail Pants. Hi-Tec sent me a pair to test, which I used on my recent trip to Nepal, they were one […]

There are a few places I have always known I would go to eventually – one of which was Everest Basecamp. After years of talking about it – in August I finally booked my flights to visit the Everest Region in November 2022. As always, time off work is a very limited resource, and I […]

Heritage Day in South Africa is celebrated on 24 September each year. It is commonly celebrated by a good traditional South African braai (barbecue). I prefer to celebrate South Africa’s mountain heritage over this weekend. While South Africa might not have the highest mountains, there are plenty of interesting ones that are well worth the […]

Over the years I have tested many different Hi-Tec hiking boots. To date I am yet to try a pair I didn’t like. When I booked my November 2022 trip to Nepal, I asked Hi-Tec if they would like me to test a boot for them on this route, and they sent me a pair […]

One of my ongoing projects is to attempt to climb all 24 mountains in South Africa with at least 1000m topographic prominence. The list contains 18 Western Cape peaks, 3 Eastern Cape Peaks and 3 Limpopo peaks. The closest peak to my house is the high point at Marakele National Park. The official Government Survey […]

Much like most of my writeups, this one starts with me studying a map late on a Saturday night in October 2015. I had been looking at a list of peaks above 3400m in Lesotho – with nothing above 3300m on the Middle and Western Ridges, these peaks are generally shown on the Geoseries Hiking […]

While generally not considered a hiking destination, Mauritius actually has a reasonable number of established hiking routes. The weather tends to be hot, and routes don’t have usable water – but with most hikes being reasonably short, this isn’t an issue if you are prepared. While tourists are rarely found on hiking routes, every hike […]

At 1399m, Simonsberg may not be one of South Africa’s higher mountains – but it is one of only 24 in the country with 1000m topographic prominence. It is also a definite contender for SA’s most beautiful mountain. It is also one of very few mountains that I consider to be genuinely freestanding. I had […]

At 3451m, Mafadi is the highest point in South Africa. It is a large flat summit with some small rock pools on top. The origin of the name is uncertain, as the people who live in the area call it “Ntheledi” – which is Sotho for “makes me slip”, referencing the summit pools. Statistically the […]

As someone who goes hiking multiple times a month, I tend to destroy trail shoes fairly quickly. The most distance I have ever managed to get out of a trail shoe was my first pair of Hi-Tec Flash Forces back in 2015 – which I got 753km Drakensberg distance out of before having to retire […]