South Africa celebrates Arbor Week on 29 August – 4 September this year. This week helps us understand the importance of trees and the role they play within the environment.

After the cold of winter, the blossoming of Spring brings with it longer, warmer and flower-scented days that lull us away from under the warm blanket and back onto the trails. There were murmurs at Forge HQ of a Spring blog post along the lines of the best hikes to swimming spots for Spring.

Free your mind from the city life blues by relishing in the crispy fresh air of what famous poet Stephen Watson describes as, “A mountainscape both dry and shining, desolate yet so rich.” Explore the mesmerising Cederberg Mountain landscape by taking a leisurely hike or lying back in style on an old-school donkey cart.

Don’t let the rush of the city life, aching joints, or social distancing blues rob you of your adventurous spirit this year. If 2022 is one of your golden years, celebrate it by using CapeNature’s 30% senior citizen discount on all self-catering accommodations – available Monday to Friday all year round EXCEPT for school and public holidays.

While the rainy season provides us with the sense that water is available in abundance, saving this precious resource should always be top of mind, even when it’s wet.

In a water-scarce country such as South Africa, it is important to keep track of the health of freshwater systems and to conduct long-term monitoring of selected rivers and wetlands and their biodiversity. Keeping up with changes, impacts, and trends of these ecosystems is very important for the management and conservation of these systems.

Our Winter Promotion is soon coming to an end. Why not take advantage of the last few weeks and head out to the Cederberg Wilderness? Come and watch nature come alive at this World Heritage Site.

Unpack your crash pads and get your spotter ready for a week of world-class bouldering and sports climbing at the Rocklands. The Rocklands partners have developed more than 1 500 invigorating climbing “problems” at the globally famed northern Cederberg gem, an absolute quintessence of first-class bouldering for seasoned and novice climbers.

CapeNature, in collaboration with Just Trees Nursery, hosted an annual Cedar Tree Planting Event in the Cederberg Wilderness Area in mid-July. This forms part of CapeNature’s efforts to re-establish the cedar trees in this region, dating back to 1987.

The family Iridaceae includes 33 genera that are native to southern Africa. This region has the highest diversity of Iridaceae in the world. The family comprises some spectacular blooms, including the genera Watsonia, Gladiolus, Ixia, Freesia, and Dietes.

If you are 60 years or older and have a valid South African ID, you’re in for a real treat with CapeNature’s Senior Citizen Discount perk. The all year 30% discount allows senior citizens accessible travel to all CapeNature reserves, which spans from the West Coast to the Winelands, Overberg, Garden Route and the Klein Karoo.

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) aim to conserve marine life and promote the conservation and effective management of ecologically and biologically diverse marine areas. They can be an example of a successful collaboration between civil society, communities, and government who need to work together to conserve our valuable marine resources for all.