Hiking the Van Stadens Flower Reserve with Peter Giddy Guided Tours. May 2019
Peter Giddy Guided Tours -- Shore Excursions -- Addo Elephant and other Wildlife Reserves -- Garden Route.
0027 (0) 82 55 03 714 Whatsup
peter.giddy@gmail.com
- Addo Elephant Park
- Kragga Kamma Wildlife Reserve
- Daniel Cheetah Project
- Pumba; 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; Adventure Quad Biking; 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.
- Golfing in Port Elizabeth -- where everything is supplied.
- Flowers of Namaqualand. Seven days of adventure and exploring places and sights you never even knew existed. History and natural beauty of the South West of South Africa
Website --
petergiddyguidedtours.wordpress.com
For tours and bookings.. email me at. peter.giddy@gmail.com
Contact me on Whatsup.... +27 (0) 825503174
The Wednesday Walkers is a group of people who love the outdoors and who enjoy the company of others in walking / hiking a variety of trails around Port Elizabeth.
Wednesday 29.5.2019 -- I start the morning with a 6k run with the MPRG walkers. There are no slow runners so I kind of jog with the walking group. And then I meet up with Andrea who is doing Ironman Durban this weekend. She is doing her last short run before tackling this major event which is a first for her.
At 8.30 I am at Van Stadens Flower Reserve and meet the group there for an 8km hike through this reserve. It is a beautiful sunny morning and a perfect day for this. There is not much to say about this morning except that I feel incredibly blessed to be able to have done all three activities with these wonderful people.
This sign welcomes visitors to the reserve.
At this time of year the Aloes are at their best.
Walking the contour path in the valley is a real treat -- Cycads have recovered after the fires of two years ago.
Cape Gorse. A 2m high bush with yellow flowers on the River Trail Pathway.
The path is clear but one still has a sense of being in the outdoors.
Peter and Danny are just ahead of me.
This is the group walking today: Peter; Danny; Maria; Rob; Val; Lucy; Magriet and Ina; Dave; Judy; Paul; Flo and Dennis.
Regular regrouping means we are never split on the walk.
Lobelia. A grass or Restio with purple flowers
Lobelia on the River Walking trail
King Protea in bloom
The King Protea bush.
We stop for a short break before continuing on the second half. Some of the group will split and walk back to the start while 8 of us will complete the second half.
The break is normally a time to relax with a bite to eat.
We continue towards the van Staden River bridge.
This is the bridge spanning the van Stadens River gorge. There is an old road R102 which winds its way down to the river below. The bridge is part of the N2 which is the road that connects Cape Town to Port Elizabeth.
Under the bridge we scramble to reach the pathway on the west side.
A kind of Aloe.
The second half of the walk takes us through a section of indigenous forest and with plenty of hills and narrow pathways that can be quite slippery as they do not have much sunshine.
This group reached the top and now have a short flat walk back to the start. Taking the pic is Flo; Maria; Danny; Val; Judy; Paul; Rob and myself in my demure yellow T Shirt.
The group has a braai after the walk. Most have a beer and a delicious selection of meats and salads.
Dave and Ralf stayed back to make the fire. Dave is very generous and shares his Sosaties and salads with me.
We feel like we are being treated to a fine meal with the selection of salads -- Dave also shares his Milk Tart with the group.
Cape Gorse. A yellow flowers bush on the walk.
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