Tsitsikamma Day tour with hiking trails with Peter Giddy Guided Tours.

Tsitsikamma Day tour with hiking trails  with Peter Giddy Guided Tours.

Join me for a this or similar days of fun and activity.  The Tsitsikamma and the Garden Route are waiting for you to experience all kinds of activities and adventures.

Phone and Whatsup..... +27 (0) 82 55 03 174
email  peter.giddy@gmail.com

• Addo Elephant Park
• Kragga Kamma Wildlife Reserve
• Daniel Cheetah Project
• Pumba; Lalibela; Shamwari; Amakhala; Kariega -- Day trips Private Reserves.
• City and Cultural Tours
• Hikes and Walks around Port Elizabeth (2 hour Nature and Coastal walks)
• Garden Route Adventure Tours (Zip Lines; Segway in the Forest; Bridge Walks; Bungy Jump; Walking with Elephants; Monkey Land and Birds of Eden; Big Cats Sanctuary; Oudtshoorn Cango Caves and Ostrich farms)
• Shore Excursions from Passengers ships
• Airport; Hotel and Wildlife Reserve transfers. 
• Volkswagen Factory visits. 

Friday 29th March 2019
I pick up Morgens and Ann Marie (Denmark) at 8am and we leave for Tsitsikamma.  Today will be about a 450km round trip.

Our first stop is the Storms River Bridge where we have a coffee and explore the bridge itself.
We then continue to Storms River Mouth... The Tsitsikamma Nature Reserve.

We have planned to walk the Blue Duiker trail which is about 4km according to the map.  Later Ann Marie calculates it to be closer to 8km (Two Hours) including the walk from where we park the car and back.

We start the hike opposite the entrance to the Caravan Sites.

Morgens and Ann Marie examine the map.

There are signs along the pathway, but not always clear as to the direction.  You should use the map provided by the park where registration takes place.

Morgens and Ann Marie are seasoned walkers and take this trail in their stride.

We discover a number of pools and Waterfalls but very little water flowing.

On the route some of the trees are identified.  This one is a Red Saffron.

A Real Yellowwood is narrow straight and tall.

A Bastard Ironwood.

Most of the walk this morning is under the canopy.   There are lots of hills to climb and to descend.

The Outeniqua Yellowwood is probably the most famous and well known of the trees we see today.

The Hard Pear tree tends to form into cave like bases with the multiple root structures.

This warning is most appropriate.  It applies to all the trails in this area except the River Mouth Trail which is on a Boardwalk.

I find this butterfly (on the left of the pic) but it is so difficult to capture on my cell phone camera as it flits around.  Later identified as a Cape Autumn Widow

After our Blue Duiker hike we treat ourselves to a lunch at Cattle Baron Tent Restaurant.  Morgens and Ann Marie enjoy their Chardonnay and Oysters.  He and I have "Line Fish"which is Yellow tail and turns out to be dry and uninteresting.

 

After lunch we continue our day of hiking with a walk to the Suspension Bridges

This is always a worthwhile walk.  Today the sea is relatively calm and the canoes go all the way to the small bay.

Morgens and Ann Marie enjoying the afternoon sun.

The walk is not that easy as there are continuous hills to climb up and down so a reasonable amount of fitness is required to really enjoy the walk.
During the walk we hear the call of the Knysna Loerie and a variety of other birds and insects which we are not able to identify.

The Blue Duiker trail starts at either the Caravan Camping area or a near to the Restaurant area.  We started at the former and immediately begin with an uphill climb.  We begin heading east and after a short while we turn left and begin to walk in a Westerly direction.  Along the path we come across a variety of trees which are clearly marked for easy identification.
We are an hour into the hike when we cross the tar road and then a while later we come to a T Junction where we see the letters BD (blue Duiker)  and FB which I think means Fynbos.  We turn left downhill and then arrive at another T Junction.  Here the choice is to turn west towards the Waterfall or east back to the vehicle.   We decide that we are not prepared for this additional hike so we turn right and walk back to the camping area.

The hike has taken us 2 hours of continuous walking and we are now ready for a lunch.
The Cattle Baron is now in a Tent as the original restaurant burnt down.  As usual I am disappointed in the quality of the meal (I have a Grilled Yellowtail which is dry and unappetizing).,  Morgens orders 12 oysters which he declares to be excellent.
We end the meal with a Coffee and Cheesecake which is the best.

After lunch we walk to the Suspension Bridges.  On the way back I meet Fred and Penny who are camping for the weekend.
We have had an active day and now have a 2.5 hour drive home with a stop at the bridge for another coffee.

By 6pm, after dropping them at the Beach Hotel,  I am back home.