Happiness Is Just Around The Bend

Cape Town is one of my favourite cities in the world.  I can’t get enough of it. In part, this is due to the many spectacular hikes you can tackle from the city’s outskirts. Yes, Cape Town has been blessed with an abundance of climbable mountains and I attempted to scale as many of them as possible while I was in town. Well, it turned out I saved the best for, um, first, because Lion’s Head ended up being my absolute favourite hike. I’m not alone either, as it’s one of Cape Town’s most popular mountains for walkers. It’s one of the easiest routes to trek and is a two-hour round trip for most people. If you’re going to be spending time in Cape Town, I highly recommend adding Lion’s Head to your hiking to-do list. Here’s how our experience went.  We took an Uber from our hotel on Buitenkant Street to the start of the trail, then began to walk. The five kilometre hike climbs 500 metres as it encircles L...

Magaliesberg, South Africa We’re flying! Heat from a giant 8 foot flame warms the top of my head as our multi-colored balloon effortlessly lifts off the ground and into the early morning breeze. The beautiful Magalies River Valley fully revealed itself as we rose into the sky with the sunrise. The area is only an hour North West of Johannesburg, the capital of South Africa. It’s also home to the Cradle of Humankind. A very large number of ancient ape-man fossils have been found in limestone caves dating back 3.5 million years ago. We all have quite a bit of history in this area! They are some of the oldest fossils of human ancestors ever discovered. Hot Air Balloon Experience I’d never flown in a hot air balloon before, and wasn’t quite sure what to expect. After waking up at 4am and driving to Bill Harrop’s “Original” Balloon Safari launch site, we were treated to coffee & cookies around an open fire in the darkness as our bal...

Muizenberg Beach in Cape Town Cape Town, South Africa What’s it like surfing Cape Town’s Muizenberg Beach in the winter? Not as cold as I thought it would be! My surfing road trip update from South Africa. After two weeks of intense surfing in Cape Town, I’m already seeing a huge improvement in my technique. The surfing at Muizenberg has been a lot of fun, with plenty of waves for everyone to practice on. In fact they never seem to stop! This is the reason why Muizenberg Beach is considered by many to be one of the best places in the world for learning how to surf. Warming Up with Instructors TK and Nikita Surfing At Muizenberg My surf adventure began in Cape Town, where I spent 12 days surfing on and off with instructors. We learned how to paddle into waves, proper positioning to catch them, how to pop up onto the board, correct stance, the basics of turning, and how to stay safe. The abundant practice time really helped me improve. We’d usually hav...