Have a winter holiday adventure
South Africa’s colder months are summer dialled down a notch, so get outdoors, write Marchelle Abrahams and Sacha van Niekerk
There’s no better feeling than the wind in your hair as you fly like a bird over some of Cape Town’s most famous landmarks. Signal Hill is the perfect spot for thrill-seekers. With majestic views for extreme selfies, it’s also the take-off spot for paragliding flights. Para Taxi offers tandem flights from Lion’s Head as well as Sir Lowry’s Pass.
More info: www.para-taxi.com Acrobranch is a treetop experience dedicated to offering children and adults a different sort of adventure. With an adventure park in Constantia Nek, it boasts panoramic views. Obstacle courses consist of treetop-high ropes and and bridges.
More info: http://acrobranch.co.za/ outdoor-activity-parks/cape-town-constantia/ Coasteering is similar to mountaineering, but without the mountain. Be prepared to don a wet suit and personal flotation device, and dive into the Cape’s oceans to view the sea life up close and personal.
Gravity Adventures are the pioneers of coasteering in Cape Town.
More info: 021 683 3698. Cool-Runnings’s 1.25km toboggan track in Tyger Valley is where speed freaks can reach 40km/h on a downhill steel halfpipe. It brings out everyone’s competitive spirit, young and old.
More info: 021 949 4439.
JOBURG
The Welcome Outside campaign is aimed at getting Joburg’s residents outside in the winter. Some ideas from them: Whether it’s a walk or a jog, as long as you wear layers you can exercise outside.
Visit the James and Ethel Gray Park on Atholl Oaklands Road, home to an assortment of feathered residents.
Alternatively, visit the immaculate Golden Harvest Park on First Avenue, Northgate, a secret treasure with a dam and indigenous bushveld. Visit the Rietfontein Nature Reserve, home of FreeMe Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, with a great walking trail to sight the myriad birds.
If you’re based in Roodepoort, Kloofendal, a cultural heritage and eco-tourism facility, is one of the first nature reserves in Joburg, with remains of early gold mining activities. It’s home to a number of small mammals. The Cumberland Bird Sanctuary in Bryanston boasts incredible bird life, and is particularly well known for the pair of black Sparrow-Hawks that breed there.
Take a picnic.
Delta Park, between the suburbs of Blairgowrie and Victory Park, is the home of Delta Environmental Centre where fascinating wildlife-related courses are offered to adults and children.
Alternatively, take the kids to Hyundai Sky Park in Sandton, which has an interactive children’s play area.
If your kids prefer to run or kick a ball around, consider taking them to Innesfree Park, also in busy Sandton. Or take a bicycle ride at Zoo Lake. Visit Sandton Central Park. It’s small, intimate and in the heart of Sandton. It occasionally hosts live concerts and other events. It has a grass amphitheatre and sculptured garden beds and is the ideal spot to enjoy a quick coffee and lunch.
The zoo is one of the most popular family attractions in Joburg.
It features a wonderful mix of animals from around the world including those from the Amazon Basin, all of the Big Five and white lions – in all, 2 000 creatures of 320 species.
It even has an aquarium. KZN has a variety of recreational fishing spots stretching from Kosi Bay in the north to Durban in the south. Make a day of it by braaiing and picnicking with the family. Quad-biking tours are fun. All levels of riders – from beginners to pros – can be catered for. For contact details and more information visit the Dirty Boots webpage. Rides along Zimbali Beach cater for the novice or experienced rider. The onehour ride starts at the stables on the hill, going through indigenous forest and on to the beach. Contact Zimbali Horse Ride at 032 538 1007. This takes you through 127m of the indigenous forest canopy of the Dlinza Forest at Eshowe. The 20m-high viewing platform offers incredible views and birdlife. Walk or run the two Dlinza Forest trails, passing towering trees supporting gnarled, twisted vines and indigenous orchids, where the rare spotted ground thrush, blue duiker and some of the 80 species of butterfly can be seen.
Call 035 474 4029. Microlight flights leaving from Ballito Microlight School are generally either 15 or 30 minutes long.
See the rolling sugar fields of KZN and stunning coastline, you may even spot dolphins, turtles or whales. Bookings are essential, call 082 659 5550. Fly over the Sampoya River while taking in the breathtaking scenery of Esembe on the Dolphin Coast. Clubventure’s 1.5km zipline tour is the adventure you’ve been waiting for! Zipping from platform to platform, you’ll find that one of the the best was saved as one of the last items. After a leisurely nature walk to the top of a cliff, the first in the world “Parazip” awaits you. Attached to a parachute, this zipline offers the illusion of parachuting down a mountain – with the safety of a harness.
Prices range from R200 to R500 a person. Make your booking by calling 032 942 8014 or 082 414 2448. Geared up in goggles, get up close and personal with some of the most exciting creatures found off the KZN coastline, at uShaka’s Snorkel Lagoon, uShaka Marine World. Float above a splendour of colour as corals shine and fish gleam.
For more information or to book, call 031 328 8097.
Please note: All bookings must be confirmed via telephone the day before.