Lazarow World-Hike-About

The photographs that follow, all but three, are taken on trail. Most are from the Western Cape, South Africa, some from Reunion and only one or two from Chamonix, France, the three countries we visited during a memorable trip. While we should have attached names to the various flowers, we decided against it as our resources of information are limited and our guesses would prove to be misleading. As a US Justice once remarked about pornography, to paraphrase: 'I may not be able to define it but I'll recognize it when I see it'. In a similar vein, the beauty and coloring of the flora is outstanding and we recognize and appreciate it although cannot identify many species. 'Slow down'! Baby under-board. (Is that an upload or download...we often get confused.) From Mom's garden... Cheers, Jenni and Jeffrey

The top of the gorge comes into view. A small waterfall adds to the attractiveness of the gorge. We traveled from Franschhoek to Stellenbosch to undertake a hike in the Jongershoek Nature Reserve. The drive alone was a fabulous experience as we passed and peered into the wine estates, observed the serenity of the area and of course, admired the mountains that mean so much to us. Many, if not all the parks we have visited are Unesco sites. It's easy to understand why. This particular reserve is stunning. It has more mountains than it looks like it can contain, amazing flora, animals we did not see but for a troop of baboons, and to the downside, the worst road we've ever come across in an official reserve. From the moment we entered, we sensed the beauty and, road notwithstanding, it only got better after that. We hiked to reach just over 3,000 feet of elevation gain, wending through a gorge, passing a few small waterfalls and arriving at our destination point which ...