Willis's Walkabouts South Africa Photo Gallery

South Africa Photo Gallery

Please be patient while the photos load. Click the photos to see enlarged versions. Click your back button to return to this page. Hold your mouse pointer on the photos to see captions.

The first four photos are from Ron Blomfield, one of the participants on the 2001 trip. They go with his story. Click the red link below the photos to see a pdf file of Ron's diary.

Ron Blomfield's 2001 South Africa Trip Diary

West Coast and Oorlogskloof
The first photo is from the West Coast walk. The rest are from Oorlogskloof. There are lots of ups and downs on the Oorlogskloof trail. Some people find them very strenuous. Our group of experienced bushwalkers had no problems.

The Cedarberg
We have the option of camping in huts or caves most nights but there will be one night where we need tents on this walk.

Kunje Farm
Kunje offers a nice touch of luxury between some of the longer walks. The farmhouse dates back to the 1800's and has been recently refurbished. Immediately behind the house is a lovely walk into the hills where we can enjoy spectacular views. Along the way we stop to look at some San paintings as well as the wildflowers and small animals that can be found in the area.

Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve
As this is one of the botanically richest areas in the world, we plan to have a local botanical guide accompany us on our walk here. Before and after the walk we hope to be able to rent the same house overlooking the ocean that we had in 2001.

The Harkerville Trail
This trail has some steep ups and downs and scrambling along rock ledges but it has been made easier with ladders and chains. The hut where we spend the night in the middle of the walk has great views over the ocean below.

The Transkei Trail
The Transkei was one of the black homelands during the apartheid days. The trail passes along the coast, through small traditional villages and nature reserves. Nights are spent in traditional style huts. The larger river crossings are done by boat. It is an area completely unlike any of the areas where we walk.

The photo at the left shows one of the steeper parts of the trail. Despite a few ups and downs like this, it was one of the easier walks on the trip.

The photo below and the other two panorama shots on this page are courtesy of Karen Sheedy, one of our clients on the 2001 trip.

The Drakensberg
The Drakensberg is the highest mountain range in southern Africa. Our walk will take place in the Giant's Castle area. It's a steep climb up to the first hut, then a relatively flat walk to the second. Weather permitting, we'll do a daywalk to a high pass from one of the two huts.

Umfolozi

En route from the Drakensberg to Umfolozi, we may stop at a few historical sites like Rourke's Drift and the traditional museum at Ondini.

Umfolozi was one of the first game parks to be established in South Africa. As it is less well known than Kruger, it is easier to book a guided walk. Even so, the walks book out early so we may not be able to include this if we don't have early bookings.

As we are on foot, we are unlikely to get as close to the large animals as we will in Kruger, so we need binoculars and a desire to look at smaller things like lizards, flowers and the traces that the different animals have left behind.

One of the nice things about the Umfolozi walk is that the equipment comes in on horseback so we have things we couldn't have if we had to carry them all ourselves. The photo at right is of a camp kitchen.

Kruger
Our last major stop is in Kruger National Park, perhaps the most famous park in the world. Here we not only see the large animals for which Africa is famous, we also enjoy bush accommodation where we can observe some of the birds and smaller animals as well some of the unusual vegetation.

The photos above can tell only a part of the story. Our trip notes give more information, but the only way to really understand what our South Africa trips are like is to do one yourself.

Click here to return to the main South Africa page.

Want more information? Please click the links below to download PDF files with the trip notes and a more detailed day by day itinerary or to see the comments written by our clients on the 2001 trip.

South Africa Trip Notes

South Africa Comments These are scans in our clients' own handwriting. Please be patient while they load.

Alternatively, click the link below to send us an email asking for more information.

South Africa Information

If you know someone you think would enjoy this trip, please click the link below to send them a link to the main Africa page.

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Please be patient while the photos load. Click the photos to see enlarged versions. Click your back button to return to this page. Hold your mouse pointer on the photos to see captions.
The first four photos are from Ron Blomfield, one of the participants on the 2001 trip. They go with his story. Click the red link below the photos to see a pdf file of Ron's diary.


Ron Blomfield's 2001 South Africa Trip Diary
West Coast and Oorlogskloof The first photo is from the West Coast walk. The rest are from Oorlogskloof. There are lots of ups and downs on the Oorlogskloof trail. Some people find them very strenuous. Our group of experienced bushwalkers had no problems.

The Cedarberg We have the option of camping in huts or caves most nights but there will be one night where we need tents on this walk.

Kunje Farm Kunje offers a nice touch of luxury between some of the longer walks. The farmhouse dates back to the 1800's and has been recently refurbished. Immediately behind the house is a lovely walk into the hills where we can enjoy spectacular views. Along the way we stop to look at some San paintings as well as the wildflowers and small animals that can be found in the area.

Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve As this is one of the botanically richest areas in the world, we plan to have a local botanical guide accompany us on our walk here. Before and after the walk we hope to be able to rent the same house overlooking the ocean that we had in 2001.

The Harkerville Trail This trail has some steep ups and downs and scrambling along rock ledges but it has been made easier with ladders and chains. The hut where we spend the night in the middle of the walk has great views over the ocean below.

The Transkei Trail The Transkei was one of the black homelands during the apartheid days. The trail passes along the coast, through small traditional villages and nature reserves. Nights are spent in traditional style huts. The larger river crossings are done by boat. It is an area completely unlike any of the areas where we walk.



	The photo at the left shows one of the steeper parts of the trail. Despite a few ups and downs like this, it was one of the easier walks on the trip. The photo below and the other two panorama shots on this page are courtesy of Karen Sheedy, one of our clients on the 2001 trip.

The Drakensberg The Drakensberg is the highest mountain range in southern Africa. Our walk will take place in the Giant's Castle area. It's a steep climb up to the first hut, then a relatively flat walk to the second. Weather permitting, we'll do a daywalk to a high pass from one of the two huts.

Umfolozi En route from the Drakensberg to Umfolozi, we may stop at a few historical sites like Rourke's Drift and the traditional museum at Ondini. Umfolozi was one of the first game parks to be established in South Africa. As it is less well known than Kruger, it is easier to book a guided walk. Even so, the walks book out early so we may not be able to include this if we don't have early bookings. As we are on foot, we are unlikely to get as close to the large animals as we will in Kruger, so we need binoculars and a desire to look at smaller things like lizards, flowers and the traces that the different animals have left behind.


One of the nice things about the Umfolozi walk is that the equipment comes in on horseback so we have things we couldn't have if we had to carry them all ourselves. The photo at right is of a camp kitchen.

Kruger Our last major stop is in Kruger National Park, perhaps the most famous park in the world. Here we not only see the large animals for which Africa is famous, we also enjoy bush accommodation where we can observe some of the birds and smaller animals as well some of the unusual vegetation.


The photos above can tell only a part of the story. Our trip notes give more information, but the only way to really understand what our South Africa trips are like is to do one yourself.