Our lovely, festive holidays may be behind us but fortunately our summer is still in full swing. We have such a beautiful and diverse country and hours of daylight beyond our working day during which to appreciate it.

We owe it to ourselves to stretch out that holiday feeling all summer long, and here at TheTreeApp we believe time spent outdoors can so easily be time spent getting to know the trees that surround you.

Here are our top three suggestions to help you optimise your summer, with TheTreeApp in hand:

  1. Enjoy a full-day family outing at one of our Botanical Gardens: The Walter Sisulu National Botanical Gardens, for example, has an abundance of options (visit sanbi.org/gardens to find one near you). You can enjoy a family picnic under the shade of one of their expansive trees (which you can now identify with your trusty TreeApp); the more active in your crowd can hike or run the mountain trail that provides great vistas of the gardens and beyond; and your family can compete to see who is the best geo sleuth amongst you by registering as a geocacher and loading a geocache app to your smartphone. There are at least two geocaches in the Walter Sisulu Gardens, many more in places like Kirstenbosch – and being able to identify trees will help you find them! (If you aren’t sure what geocaching is all about, check out geocaching.com to become part of the world’s greatest treasure hunt).
  2. Build tree-spotting into your New Year’s resolutions: So, you’ve dusted off that mountain bike, backpack, climbing gear, kayak or set of golf-clubs and you’re determined to put them to use more than ever this year? We all want to be better at enhancing body, soul and mind, after all. Make every outing even more of an adventure by noticing and enjoying the trees these activities take you to. Compete with your friends and family to see who can get to know and identify the most trees on your outing and log these with as much of a sense of accomplishment as you do your daily steps / Fitbit points.
  3. Go CLIMB a tree: When last did you wrap your fingers around a sturdy, woody branch and pull yourself off the ground, scrambling for a foothold and coming to rest in a comfy hollow? When you were a kid right? Climbing trees as an adult has numerous benefits. It enhances your core strength; it taps into the problem-solving part of your brain; and it improves flexibility and coordination. Use TheTreeApp to identify the most climbable options around you. (Sidenote: Did you know there is even an organisation called Tree Climbers International who view this as an actual sport?)

Well there you have it! Just three suggestions that combine our trees and our summers. Get out there and enjoy them.

If you don’t already have TheTreeApp on your smart device it is available for R499.00 on The App Store for all Apple smart devices and on GooglePlay for Android devices.

Follow us on Facebook, Instragram and Twitter