Tucked under the Cape mountains, close to the longest Cape beach and surrounded by indigenous Milkwo
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Welcome to Selkie Loft – a beautiful retreat space in our home in Noordhoek, Cape Town
Tucked under the Cape mountains, close to the longest Cape beach and surrounded by indigenous Milkwood trees, Selkie Loft | Noordhoek is the perfect private space for you to relax and unwind, spend time close to nature, explore the best of the Cape and meet the locals. Looking across a nature conservation area
of Cape fynbos towards the Cape mountain ranges of Silvermine Nature Reserve, Selkie Loft is a modern studio space that is both restful and cosy with everything you need. You’ll enjoy the spectacular sun and moon rises over Ridge Peak, the sound of roaring waves in the background and stargazing at the Southern Cross at night while during the day, you can watch Cape Sunbirds fluttering in the Acacia thorn outside your window and black eagles soaring overhead. Our friendly Giant Schnauzer dogs, Yeti and Lupin, the story of Scottish selkies in Africa and picking your salad from our organic vegetable garden will keep you entertained! The best of Noordhoek is all within walking distance from Selkie Loft – the 8km pristine white beach, horse riding on the beach, the Noordhoek Common and of course, our local Noordhoek Red Herring Centre and the Noordhoek Farm Village for great food, coffee and wine. Just around the corner – Cape Point Vineyards, sea kayaking with the Jackass penguins, basking whales in the bay, hikes in every direction, Cape Point “where the two oceans meet”, shipwrecks and shopping – while the historic picturesque villages of Kalk Bay, Simonstown and Kommetje are a short drive away. Cape Town is reached along the beautiful scenic drive of Chapman’s Peak, through the Republic of Hout Bay – Table Mountain aerial cableway, the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront and Greenmarket Square are essential stops.
As we cross over from 2023 to 2024, I wish each of you ALL the happiness in the world! May we all generate more love, kindness & compassion on our Happiness Revolution journey together 🙏❤️ AND… I do hope you’ll join me in 2024 to explore unpuzzling your wholebeing happiness 🧩🌻🦭
Coming soon 🌼
Only 4 weeks to the annual Open Gardens event in Noordhoek! We have 20 gardens on show this year. Please PM me if anyone would like to sponsor a voucher prize for our incredible gardeners. xx
Oh, this is not good news… 🐧💛
Cape Town's well-loved penguin colony faces a new threat: avian flu. The disease was detected at the Boulders Penguin Colony.
is only two weeks away and save the date!
If you are an SA citizen, you have an opportunity to visit any National Park for free during this year’s 17th annual SA National Parks Week from 12 - 18 September 2022.
All South Africans who enter over the age of 18 years must produce an SA ID or SA driver's license to enter the Parks. We do accept electronic copies of ID too.
The Bontebok, Table Mountain, Tankwa Karoo, and West Coast National Parks in the Cape Region will be extending SA National Parks Week until Sunday, 18 September 2022. Agulhas National Park will host SA National Parks Week until Friday, 16 September 2022.
🐸 🐸 🐸
Toadnuts need you!
The annual Leopard Toad migration has begun and Toadnuts are desperately looking for volunteers to assist with the mammoth task of keeping the toads alive while they cross our roads!
If you are able to help, please contact Suzie!
Some more wonderful photos - along the south coast… so many whales! Thanks Jean Tresfon - Marine Conservation Photographer for so generously sharing your adventures!
Two stranded bottlenose dolphins were rescued on Sandy Bay beach in Cape Town this morning, 28 July in what can only be described as a dramatic rescue mission.
Look at this great resource!
Noordhoek teams up with Forge to map local trails
As part of the Vision 2030 efforts to promote walking/hiking in and around Noordhoek, Noordhoek Ratepayers Association (NRPA) has teamed up with Forge (https://www.facebook.com/forgeza) to publish a host of local footpaths, including a "Noordhoek Panorama Circuit" that takes you all the way around the valley on a 21.25 km (half a marathon!) long trail with a good 1100m elevation gain. There’s no need to elaborate on the views you will be treated to from the ridge above Noordhoek and from Chappies! Of course there are also other, more leisurely strolls that one can take around the beautiful village of Noordhoek.
Forge is a 100% South African-made application for smartphones that is free (donations appreciated). It can be downloaded on iPhone and Android phones from their website (www.forgesa.com) as well as directly from Google Play and the Apple App Store.
The maps are packed with useful features including accurate and verified trails, GPS navigation, emergency calls and offline maps which can be downloaded for use without mobile coverage. The app also hosts trails further afield with trail maps covering several thousand kilometres of trails in over 40 well-known hiking areas across five provinces. Paths in the app are categorised according to their difficulty, the terrain they cross and whether dogs or mountain bikes are allowed.
Why not try it out on one of the coming beautiful sunny days? Check out the Noordhoek Panorama Circuit now online (https://www.forgesa.com/table-mountain-route/NOORDHOEK-PANORAMA-CIRCUIT) or on the app under ‘Table Mountain Routes’. There are lots of local paths that we will wager you are not yet aware of, and if you run a guesthouse or AirBnB this is a great activity tip for your guests.
Please reach out to NRPA or Forge should you wish to embed this map and the Forge app on your guest-house/airbnb website.
Forge
Best fresh veggies, just down the road 🥬💛
A field of Lettuce in the winter sun.
We grow greens. To grow greens in winter requires pretty much double the space, maybe even more, than it does in the warmer weather... The Cold... it gets to us all!
We saw this little guy just yesterday!
Brilliant… please join in
Please join the initiative to remove food from our bins .
Did you know that wet waste (which is made up of our food waste from food preparation, leftovers or throw away) creates methane gas compounding the climate change problem.
Our food also attracts baboons, rodents, insects amongst other things we like to complain about.
Please put it aside in a sealed container preferably in your fridge so it remains fit for consumption and drop it off on your way out of simonstown. If you don’t have time , pick up an empty container and leave yours there.
Let’s work together at achieving a circular economy and a zero waste town.
Your waste becomes a precious resource to local pig farmers, reduces attractants to area and benefits the planet.
https://chat.whatsapp.com/EzlOkK0pOIiF78rbA9m8Qj
💯 wow!
Just over 1 week until Chapman's Peak Drive is officially 100 years old!
This 9km scenic coastal drive between Noordhoek and Hout Bay took 7 years to build, starting in 1915.
With huge gratitude to everyone involved - I got stuck in the hectic Chappies traffic to get around the fire but still grateful to everyone who was out in this extraordinary heat
Something exciting is happening down the road from us! You can't miss the wall... not long before the gates open :-)
Happy New Year everyone… wishing us all small joys & delights to ease us through every day of 2022
🤗 🦭💛
Tune in locally!
It’s been two years since we started broadcasting on 88.5fm as The Voice of the Valley. None of this would have been possible without the loyal dedication of Janet Scanlon, all our presenters and news readers, as well as Ernie Sierra and Rob Hoffman… we thank you from the bottom of our hearts, and truly value you all. We could not continue broadcasting without the support from our advertisers and sponsors, we appreciate you more than you will ever know. No radio station is worth a dime without loyal listeners, and we want to thank each and every one of you for supporting our station , we are truly humbled by how you have welcomed us into the community so quickly. To every musician and plugger who has submitted music to us, we thank you for your support and we will continue to do what we can to support local music as well as independent artists. THANK YOU ALL , we look forward to going from strength to strength as part of this community! With much love and gratitude, Richard and Judy.
So many dead seals 😢
Noodhoek Beach traffic...
The 2021 Noordhoek Open Gardens
The Annual Noordhoek Open Gardens will once again be taking place on the 16th and 17th of October, with visitors having the opportunity to meander through 18 breath-taking local gardens and take home a garden treasure or two.
All funds raised from this year’s event will be go to On The Verge, a community greening and gardening project that has been working tirelessly with the Noordhoek Ratepayers Association to fulfil their Noordhoek 2030 Vision of treading lightly throughout the suburb to enhance its natural flora and fauna. On the Verge has been operating in Noordhoek for over 11 years, having planted more than 100 trees in public spaces and gardened more than 28 verges. They are also actively involved in clearing alien vegetation as well as extending and maintaining various walking and riding paths throughout the area.
To find out more about the 2020 Noordhoek Open Gardens please visit www.noordhoektourism.co.za or contact +27 72 574 6608.
Costs R25 single entry, R125 day passes, and R200 weekend passes. Children under 18 are free and pensioner’s discounts apply.
ENDS
BOOK DIRECTLY with us & avoid booking fees.
Our prices for the 2021-22 season are below.
You can book here on our website >> https://selkie.co.za/selkieloft/
Also see this STUNNING SHORT VIDEO of NOORDHOEK by Neil Preyer https://youtu.be/bMCDN37xlc4
Neil is a local friend who has gotten into drone videography & who loves Noordhoek ... which is plain to see. Thank you Neil.👍
This is a real loss to an already declining colony - so sad...
African penguin deaths being investigated
On Friday morning, 17 September 2021, 63 African penguins were found dead inside the Boulders African penguin colony - Simonstown.
The deaths occurred suddenly some time between Thursday afternoon and Friday morning. Officials, expert advisors and veterinarians from South African National Parks (SANParks), the City of Cape Town and penguin experts from the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB), started investigating the possible cause of death.
The dead birds were transported to SANCCOB for post-mortems, and biological samples were sent for disease and toxicology testing. No external physical injuries were observed on any of the birds. The post-mortems revealed that all the penguins had multiple bee stings, and many dead bees were found at the site where the birds had died. Therefore preliminary investigations suggest that the penguins died because of being stung by a swarm of Cape honey bees. A dead penguin was also found on Fish Hoek beach yesterday which the SANCCOB vet has confirmed also had multiple bee stings. However, samples are still being tested for other toxicity possibilities and diseases to rule out any other potential cause.
According to Dr Alison K**k - SANParks Marine Biologist says, "we are grateful to all our conservation partners, especially SANCCOB and the City of Cape Town, for assisting us in investigating this unusual event. No more dead African penguins were found on site today, and we will continue to monitor the situation."
ENDS
The latest gems from Jean!
I’m unsure where this horse haven will move to once they start building this ridiculous new school... certainly not to the open land that used to be the caravan park as that’s also about to be swallowed by concrete...
Jean takes a flight along the coast in search of the season’s first Southern Rights… see what magic he’s captured this week - so special 🙏
For those of you missing us - coming to Netflix on June 16 💛🐧
In a picturesque South African town, an eclectic group of endangered penguins flock together to find mates, raise families and mix with the locals.
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Cape Town is now on Level 6 water restrictions as from 1 Jan - here's our mad local comedian Nik Rabinowitz 😎
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