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 […]
There are seven Drakensberg passes that I have rated five stars in terms of quality – four of which are at Didima. So when I am asked what my favourite Drakensberg region is, I don’t think it comes as a surprise to anyone when I respond Didima. With work sending me to Pietermaritzburg for a […]
Anyone who reads my blog from time to time will likely have noticed my obsession with topographic prominence. There are just over 1500 ultra prominence mountains (a mountain with at least 1500m topographic prominence) on earth. The number depends on the list you refer to, with most of the higher counts being based on lists […]
In March 2015 I ticked off a bucket list item by climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. Even at the time, it was far from the most difficult mountain I had ever climbed – but it was meaningful for personal reasons. I had been told about how some people use Mount Meru for acclimatisation, but I used Tsepeng […]
I checked out of El Yolo fairly early – I wanted to explore the area a bit. Leaving El Yolo was an interesting experience – from one perspective it had been a really great place to stay, but from another, I can’t see why I’d ever go back there. There was one thing I wanted […]
I woke up to a beautiful morning in the Kammanassie Mountains. Looking back up the mountain I had climbed the day before, I could clearly see that my route choice had been the right one. Sometimes a quick look at a mountain from below can answer a lot of questions – which is why the […]
Mannetjiesberg, at 1955m, is the highest point in the Kammanassie Mountains. It has 1114m prominence, thus making it one of the more prominent peaks in South Africa. I had never heard of the Kammanassie Mountains before I identified the list, and could find very little information on this peak online. When I found there was […]
After an epic start to my trip, I decided to take the second day as a rest/exploration day. The goals were simple: visit a few places around Graaff Reinet, buy some items and then drive to Uniondale. My brother had suggested I visit the fossil museum in Graaff Reinet. I looked it up on google, […]
Ghaznavid Hiking 
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