About SA Hikes

The love for the outdoors, started 40 plus years ago, a family outing to Giants Castle and a hike to Bannerman Hut.

Forty plus years later and we are still hiking. Our focus for many years was the Drakensberg, it's close to home and offers many of the best hikes. The Amphiteatre hike to the Tugela Falls, the highest falls in the world at 983 m being world famous. It was always the 2nd highest waterfall and only in the last few years was it recognised as being higher than the Angel Falls in Venezuela, which is measured at 979 m, a very close second.

As time passed the desire to hike in other provinces and countries started. This was ignited by a five-day hike along the Eastern Cape shoreline. The difference compared to the Drakensberg is astounding, they both bring so much joy yet are so very different. Next was hikes in other provinces and within game reserves, the Savanna hikes are superb.

Will we ever do all the hikes listed on this website, unlikely, will we try, most definitely.

This website is an attempt to consolidate all the knowledge we have gained over the years plus extensive research to find hikes and reserves we never knew about and to bring it all together in the most informative and comprehensive listing of 290 reserves within Southern Africa.

So why make the website, simple: to make it easier for others to discover and enjoy the incredible hiking opportunities in Southern Africa.

Have we visited each of these reserves, no and it’s unlikely we ever will be able to.

When putting together information about all the reserves (this is the most comprehensive list ever put together that exists) we had to research each, look at maps and read up as much as was available on each.

With the help of Gemini we inputted our research on each and where we have been to the reserve ourselves added the information we know and then got Gemini to simply restructure the text so that it is consistent for all reserves with headings specified to make it quick and easy for everyone to get an overview of the reserve. The headings for each are: Key Features, Why Visit? Things to do and Important Considerations.

Us mere mortals cannot take all our knowledge and researched information and restructure the information into these 4 key headings for each reserve accurately.

Using AI is frowned upon by some, but I do believe when used like it was done above this is a huge benefit to everyone, the content and information you read is comprehensive, engaging content that provides genuine value.

Many of the hikes listed we have done ourselves and are highly recommend from personal experience. Where we have not done the hike the assistance from people who have done the hikes was obtained.

Research is put into each hike not yet done and the layout for each hike has been made consistent with the following headings: A summary of the hike, hike directions, a hiking map (where available), about the area where the hike is, address and contact details should you want to do the hike and the hikes location map.

At the bottom of the page for all hikes and reserves is Featured Accommodation. This lists accommodation at or very nearby to the hike and a short summary about each of the accommodations is given. With the use of Gemini, the text inputted into Gemini was asked to be transformed to have consistent headings to make it quick and easy for you to see if it fits your accommodation need. Each accommodation listed links through to an online booking option, the hard work of looking and trying to find accommodation for your chosen hike has been done for you.

The blog articles will grow over time, and it is hoped we will get many hikers out there submitting articles of hikes they have done; this combined effort will make it a stunning resource for everyone else.

I hope you enjoy the website, and it assists you to find that perfect hike. We would love to hear from you, submit a hike you think we should add or if you have any suggestions about the website to make it better.