Wild flowers in the Baakens Valley

A bunch of us walked the lower Guinea Fowl Trail from the 3rd Avenue Dip down to Settlers Park the other day. I was absolutely amazed at the amount of wild flowers in bloom along the trail. Although I have been on sections of the trail before and have done the mountain bike trail years … Continue reading Wild flowers in the Baakens Valley →

Couple on the beach

This little stretch of beach is on the Sacramento Trail about 1,5 to 2 kilometers from Schoenmakerskop. We didn't do the whole trail on our visit, but I did find the couple standing on the lonely little beach quite intriguing.

Guinea Fowl Steps

Hiking along the Guinea Fowl Trail down the Baakens Valley one drops down towards Dodds Farm along these steps. From here you head towards Target Kloof and eventually Settlers Park.

Maitland Nature Reserve Trails

I am always amazed how many hiking trails there are around Cape Town and one tends to think that we don't have too many around Port Elizabeth. But people are wrong. We may not have as many as Cape Town, but there are a great number of short and medium hiking trails in and around … Continue reading Maitland Nature Reserve Trails →

Aloe Trail plants and flowers

A weekend or two ago I took the family and joined a guided walk along the Aloe Trail in Port Elizabeth. The trail is situated between Bluewater Bay and Amsterdamhoek and consist of 2km as well as 7km trail options. Because we had the Rugrats with us we decided just to do the 2km section which … Continue reading Aloe Trail plants and flowers →

Aloe Nature Reserve

Port Elizabeth has some very beautiful and naturally diverse nature reserves in and around the city. The nice part is that they all have hiking trails through them and its possible to do them either on your own (always keep safety in mind and walk in at least a small group rather than on your … Continue reading Aloe Nature Reserve →

Shipwreck?

Below the monument marking the site where the Sacramento wrecked in 1647 I found what looks like the remains of a row boat or something. I have no idea what it is, but it was ironic that it was lying on the rocks close to the Sacramento's wreck site.

Sacramento Cannon

At the end of the road at Schoenmakerskop where the Sacramento Trail starts is one of the original bronze cannons that has been salvaged from the wreck site of the Sacramento. The Sacramento was a Portuguese galleon which foundered on 30 June 1647. The 72 survivors who reached the beach set out to walk the 1300 km … Continue reading Sacramento Cannon →

Testing the water

There are many fresh water springs along the Schoenmakerskop coastline with water collecting in little pools and running down to the sea. Here Chaos Boy is "testing" to feel how cold the water is on our walk along the Sacramento Trail.

Cobble Beach

Along the Sacramento Trail you do find many rocks and stones and this one little stretch was very interesting as it is made up of stones washed smooth and round by years of wave action. I wanted to call the post "Pebble Beach", but according to Wikipedia a pebble is a clast of rock with a particle size … Continue reading Cobble Beach →