Paddabult Country House

Hiking Trails

by mvtouring

Limietberg Trail - two-day trail from the foot of Du Toitskloof via Bainskloof village Eerste Tol to Tweede Tol. Distance 36km. Donkerkloof - about 3km (2.5 hours) to the small waterfall starting in the hairpin bend on the Paarl side of the old Du Toitskloof Pass. Miaspoort - distance is 4km (3 hours) but it is a long and initially difficult walk. Klipkershout Walking Trail - Paarl Mountain Nature reserve - various scenic walking trails from 2.4km to 10km. Tel.021 872 3658 Wine Hiking Trail - Laborie Estate offer this unique trail that will appeal not only to the nature-lover, but to the botanist, horticulturist and ornithologist with a special interest in Cape flora and bird. Tel. 021 708 3390 Permits from the Cape Nature Conservation in Main Street, Paarl.

Paarl

by mvtouring

"Paarl"

Paarl proudly bears the title of the third-oldest town in South Africa. Standing tall on Paarl Mountain and celebrating the birth of Afrikaans is the Afrikaans Language Monument and just outside Paarl is Drakenstein Prison, where Nelson Mandela spent his last years of captivity and started his walk to freedom
Simply a 40-minute drive outside Cape Town, at the foot of the second-largest granite outcrop in the world, you’ll find an unexpected jewel: the scenic town of Paarl.
The scenic beauty of the Paarl Valley compels visitors to get in the car and drive along the many scenic routes in the valley and along the surrounding mountains. The richness in fauna and flora even attracted the attention of Charles Darwin, father of the theory of evolution, when he visited Paarl in 1836

Drakenstein Lion Park

by Krumel

These are Brutus and Nala, the two white lion cubs. I could have watched them for hours as they were playing with each other, sometimes pulling each others tail and then cuddling up together and having a rest.

Ares is a very shy lion, and actually not often seen. He is in an enclosure by himself, and even at feeding time he did not come out to collect his dinner, but rather waited until the visitors had left and it was quiet again.

For a full-grown male lion he has a rather small stature, which is due to malnutrition when he was growing up, so that he never grew to a full lion size.

We were lucky to see him out early in the morning, and your heart will go out to him, seeing his big sad eyes in face that seems to be crumpled into a perpetual frown.

Catching the first early-morning sunshine rays

View over the lion enclosures

Bai and Shumba, the two lions and my friend and me have adopted

After-dinner rest!