Beach Time in Arniston and Kogelberg Hiking – Nov & Dec 2014

With the exception of the scenic 24km Cape Point Nature Run (www.trailrunning.co.za), November was all work and no play. On top of completing my final MBA elective assignments and thesis, we also moved into our new home in Constantia. It was a brutally tough end to the year with the submission of my MBA dissertation on the 8th of December marking the end of one of the most challenging periods on my life to date.

Having now successfully completed the UCT portion of my MBA (www.gsb.uct.ac.za/mba), I am fortunate to have been selected to attend the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University next year on a tuition-free MBA exchange programme. This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attend a leading academic institution in the USA will enable me to internationalise my MBA, while simultaneously focusing on elective courses in Leadership, Negotiation, Behavioural Economics and, most excitingly, a trans-disciplinary course on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Conservation.

This final exciting chapter of my MBA will take place in Durham, North Carolina from March to May 2015 followed by graduation back in Cape Town in June where I am currently on track to graduate cum laude, so fingers crossed that the thesis doesn’t trip me up at the final MBA hurdle!

After a truly hectic and energy-sapping year, we were all in need of a relaxing family holiday by mid-December. Katherine’s dad and step-mom flew out from America and, along with my entire family, we descended upon the quaint seaside settlement of Arniston in the Overberg.

Named after the 1815 ship wreck of the Arniston, the town is known interchangeably by its Afrikaans name Waenhuiskrans which comes from the huge wagon-sized cave just to the west of the seaside town. To the east lies a traditional white-washed and thatch fishing village, which – in an attempt to protect its traditional character and integrity – has been declared a National Monument in its entirety.

Renting a big, six-bedroom, family-friendly, self-catering house (www.felixunite.com/news/arniston_self_catering_house/1) just a short walk from the main beach enabled everyone to slowly unwind with morning runs, twice-daily beach visits and social evening braais: a perfect family getaway spot and much-needed opportunity to hang out and reconnect with siblings. Charlie and his cousin Dom were in their element with all the beach time not to mention a plethora of doting aunties and grandparents to spoil them 24/7.

From Arniston we travelled homewards along the coast – via the southern most tip of Africa at Cape Agulhas – and on to Cape Nature’s Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve (www.kogelbergbiospherereserve.co.za). Barely an hour out of Cape Town lies one of the Western Cape’s best-kept secrets: an area of such exquisite natural beauty and floral diversity as to be recognised by UNESCO as South Africa’s first Biosphere Reserve and arguably the world’s greatest biodiversity hot-spot.

Accommodation in this World Heritage Site reserve is limited to five eco-friendly cabins. The glass-fronted Oudebosch eco-cabins (www.capenature.co.za/reserves/kogelberg-nature-reserve/) blend seamlessly into the surrounding mountain fynbos, while affording visitors breath-taking 360-degree views of the mountainous reserve.

Each of the ultra-modern and intelligently designed cabins sleeps four people in two en-suite bedrooms along with a spacious kitchen, lounge and dining area. A private deck and outdoor braai place complete the attractive set up.

Activities centre on the reserve’s network of hiking trails and mountain bike-friendly old roads. We tackled two hikes while we were there. On Day 1 we walked along a scenic trail that traced the perennial Palmiet River before looping back towards Oudebosch. The following day we took on the more challenging – but extremely diverse and rewarding – Oudebosch-Leopard’s Gorge Trail that ultimately terminates in the Harold Porter Botanical Gardens in Betty’s Bay.

It’s worth noting that for those who (like me) arrive in Kogelberg sans mountain bike, the bike routes double up perfectly for a leisurely trail run in the company of Klipspringers.

After this much-needed escape to nature, we ended the year in fine style with a big Llandudno Christmas back in Cape Town with all the extended family before travelling across to the Angala Boutique Hotel (www.angala.co.za) on the slopes of Simonsberg Mountain. A final week of rejuvenating downtime culminated with a chilled New Year’s celebration in Franschhoek.  Looking towards 2015… It is my fervent wish that the coming year proves to be as rewarding, but considerably less exhausting and stressful, than what has been an incredible 2014.