Green Route KZN

17/02/2026

Keep your cool with friends in community spaces

10/02/2026

I join a Cape Town Silent Book Club meet-up in Hout Bay

03/02/2026

Walks, talks, and tea with Friends of Muizenberg Park

27/01/2026

I dubbed last year Twenty-twenty strive, try to stay alive. What would work for 2026? A friend, Bridget Hilton-Barber, took a series of photos in Jozi captioning them twenty-twenty fix, so I’m going with that.
Last week, I introduced you to Richard Kaplan’s Hiking in the South website, and this week I’ve chosen to share the Blokhuiskop hike.
Start this adventurous hike at the saddle between Kalk Bay and Clovelly, ascending to the top of Cave Peak for excellent views along the ridge leading to Blokhuiskop. The route offers a mix of rocky sections and forested cliffside paths, winding along ridges and through fynbos before doubling back to the starting point.

Walking with dogs and some golden rules of engagement

20/01/2026

In this week’s green spaces newsletter, we’re appreciating neighbours who bake bread, cultivate succulent gardens, eradicate alien vegetation, and take photos of our wildlife. There’s also a Silent Book Club meet-up in Hout Bay for the first time!

Behind the scenes in Clovelly

13/01/2026

Wandering along a path through the Lower Silvermine River wetland area that lies between Fish Hoek and Clovelly, I came across signs that I’d just missed an otter. S**t! It had a strong fishy odour, from the crustaceans otters eat. I’m not an otter expert but I’ve learnt what to look for from UCT Master’s student Emma Del Cuore. Emma has been assessing the prevalence of microplastics in the Cape clawless otter along a gradient of urbanisation on the Cape Peninsula, including the Silvermine River wetlands.

Green spaces feel the heat

06/01/2026

Ohana means family and that’s one of the reasons this seaside cafe is one of my favourite green spaces to spend time in. With family, but also friends who relish the sea views, slightly wonky furniture and excellent Ohana buns.

If you can avoid driving along Main Road between Muizenberg and Kalk Bay during high season (summer), I’d recommend it. It’s Cape Town’s busiest time of the year, and Kalk Bay is one of the most popular places to visit. It’s got restaurants and cafes, cool shops, shady alleyways and sea views.

Prasa (Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa) is encouraging visitors to catch the train to avoid sitting in traffic. Or walk it, along the footpath from Muizenberg to St James, with a short section where you need to walk along Main Road to reach Kalk Bay.

Good food, good people and good vibes

24/12/2025

Give a little joy and enjoy green spaces

19/12/2025

'Joy Division', the annual Kids of Kurland kikoi, is a joyous gift that gives back.

‘Joy Division’ - the 7th edition of the Kids of Kurland kikoi - has arrived.

Designed by a learner from The Crags Primary, woven by us, with all the proceeds going straight back to the school.

Now available in-store and online.
A perfect gift, that also gives back 🫶

11/12/2025

Another COP get-together took place, and we still haven’t signed an international fossil fuel treaty or woken up to the devastation caused by animal agriculture. It’s going to keep on getting hotter, and climatic extremes are going to get more extreme until we hit the STOP button on our greenhouse gas emissions.

Scientists have realised that they need to make science more understandable. I watched a clip on Instagram where a scientist explains that when they say we are hitting a tipping point they aren’t referring to a tiny blip on the radar.

“Imagine a chair is tipping backwards,” says our scientist. Got it. “Up to a certain point, you can balance the chair with your fingertips as you let it lean back. But once it reaches the tipping point it’s game over. The chair crashes to the floor.” A simple analogy but I get it.

By failing to restrict global warming to a maximum of 1.5 degree, we have set off a cascade of tipping points. The mass die-off of coral due to our ever-warming oceans is evidence of the chair falling backwards.

Are we doing enough to survive the climate crisis? Asking for a friend

02/12/2025

This week we’re in Kommetjie, famous for its surf, beach life and natural beauty. And its creative community of artists, photographers, painters, potters and land artists.

Creatives open up their studios for annual event