Peter Giddy Guided Tours. Hiking in Port Elizabeth. July 2019 -- the Bridal Path.

Hiking and walking in Port Elizabeth..

With Peter Giddy Guided Tours.

Lyn hands out instructions to the various groups.  There are probably about 30 in the group.  But only 10 of us do the Long walk.

 Our hiking trail begins and ends on Bernards Path.

The trail starts in Guineafowl way which is on the corner of Hoepoe.
Join me for a morning of walking and talking to locals.
On a Wednesday and Thursday morning -- A walk / hike of about 8km ... Normally fairly easy trails on coastal or forest pathways.  2 to 3 hours.

Lyn gives instructions to the various groups.  Today we are about 30 walkers.  Varying distances.  4km to 8km.  I join the group doing the 8k. 

Walking the Bridal Path towards Sardinia Bay beaches and dune field.

I often take the rear (Sweeper) role.  And wear a bright shirt so that I am easy for the leader to spot.

 At Reinards path we turn left and down to the Dunes.

The Shifting Dunes have completely covered the top part of the boardwalk.
This morning we walk the Sardinia Bay Bridal path.  This is a trail designed for Horse back riding.  We start hiking at 9am.... There are some of the group who elect to hike a shorter version of between 4 to 6km.  I walk the "Full distance".  There are 10 in our group.  The hike leader today is Karen.

The walk begins at the end of Hoepoe lane off the Sardinia Bay road.  We walk in a westerly direction towards Sardinia bay beaches.  This morning starts off quite chilly but we soon warm up in the morning sun.
The area suffered a fire just over two years ago. But now it is looking great with an abundance of natural Coastal Fynbos flowers in bloom.  The trail is soft sand dune type of walking.  Not too bad as the recent rains have firmed the trail up a bit.

 The Sacramento Trail and the Bridal Path trails intersect

 The Boardwalk takes you to the top of the dunes.

 A break for a snack and breather.

There were 10 of us on the trail this morning.  Bennie; Karen; Alta and Linda are names that I am familiar with.
We reach the beach on the top of the boardwalk which is now almost completely hidden under these shifting dunes. Down the walk to where the old Life Guard clubhouse was situated. Here we stop for a brief rest and snack of a fruit.

Off the Beach section of the Sacramento Trail we turn up to intersect with the Top part of the Sacramento trail

 From the top we look down to this cove where we see a couple of seals on the rocks below.

Borellis pass was a Horse trail .... Now it is only used by hikers
After the rest we continue walking in an Easterly direction.  Karen spots a seal on the rocks.  It looks healthy but may have come into contact with a recent oil spill which has affected many penguins.  We think that there are at least two of them on the rocks.  It is not possible to approach them.

Look out  for the M1.  Turn left (North) here and follow this trail back to the parking area along Bernards Path.

Bennie finds the spoor of a snack that slithered its way on the trail.
We turn up a kind of makeshift pathway and at the top we join up with the Sacramento Trail. We then turn left and through Borellis Pass.  From here we find the M1 where we make a left turn and then back towards the start point.

This plant is known as Wild Dagga.  I dont think that it has any of the properties of dagga.

The Braai after the trail is a time to chat and get to know some of your fellow hiking group.
Our hosts kindly provide a lovely setting for a Braai.  Everyone has their own provisions and with a fire going we are soon grilling our meats and sandwiches over the fire.

This is, for many, the best part of the hiking trail.

To make a booking for this or other trails -- Contact Peter -- Your Port Elizabeth Tourist Guide. 

Peter Giddy Guided Tours -- Shore Excursions -- Addo Elephant and other Wildlife Reserves -- Garden Route.  Flowers of Namaqualand -- June 2019

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.
• Mountain Zebra National Park in Cradock. 
• City Historical and Cultural Tours
• Horse riding for both experienced and inexperienced riders
• 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; Knysna Elephant Park; 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

Walking with this group on a sunny winters morning makes me feel amazing. Life does not get much better than this.