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DON'T MISS OUR NEXT ISSUE! TheJune/Julymagazinewillbe on sale at your retailer from 24 May 2024. It's one of life's greatest joys when nature and the elements align and you experience that "Wow! " moment that engraves a time and place into your brain forever. These are the hit singles of your memory that you can play on repeat when life gets rough or rushed, to give you that little burst of gratitude that puts everything else into perspective. It could be a dark and quiet night on the Makgadikgadi Pans as you stare up at the Milky Way, or a wild and windy afternoon at Cape Point as you gaze over the Atlantic and suck fresh sea air into your lungs. We all have our own hit parade of special…

Bright bits of Halley's Comet Halley's Comet is the most famous comet around. It returns to the earth's vicinity as a blazing ball every 75 years or so; the last sighting was in 1986 and it is projected to return in 2061. That's a very long time to wait! In the meantime, see if you can spot fragments of Halley as the earth crosses paths with the comet twice a year. As a comet moves through space, it sheds small pieces that trail in its orbit .The earth's orbit crosses Halley'sin two places, which means that we also cross paths with its debris.When this happens, we see what is known as a meteor shower. During a meteor shower, it seems as though all the meteors – or shooting stars as…

PROFILE Almost every day, Genevieve Maasdorp answers questions from tourists about roads. What are they like in the Richtersveld? What are they like in the Kgalagadi, Namaqua, Augrabies Falls, Mokala… Every day, she has to assure them that their vehicle will be up for the challenge. “Can we get there in our 4×4 Renault Duster?” “What about a Ford Everest 4×2 with a diff lock and all-terrain tyres?” “We have a 4×4 with a rooftop tent, recovery boards and a winch, but not much off-road experience…” If only people knew that Genevieve, as the regional communications manager for the SANParks Arid Region, visits all these places in her Kia Sonet! “Yes, people worry about the roads a lot,” she says with a laugh. “Visitors who might not be familiar with…

“South Africa was the only country in the Commonwealth that trained women as soldiers during World War II,” says Wim Myburgh. “And not in one, but in two specialist fields.” We're chatting in a coffee shop in Pringle Bay. Wim takes a sip of water and looks up at Hangklip mountain. “Now it's a chapter of our history that threatens to disappear.” Wim is a retired psychologist and amateur historian. He wrote a book called Women at War to tell the tale of these women soldiers. It was no easy task. The Union Defence Force (UDF) archives from the 1940s didn't offer much. And all the activities that the women participated in during the war were classified as top secret. Except for a few photographs, documents and anecdotes remembered by…

FOOD Grilled pear salad with brie Serves 6 as a side dish Preparation time 20 minutes Cooking time 10 minutes You need • 4 small pears, ripe but firm • 3 tablespoons olive oil • 1 tablespoon honey • 1 teaspoon whole-grain or Dijon mustard • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar • salt and black pepper • 60g rocket leaves or crisp baby gem lettuce heads cut into four • 100g mixed nuts, roasted and roughly chopped • 1 wheel of brie, sliced Here's how 1 Cut the pears into 5mm slices. I like to keep the core, but you can scoop it out if you prefer. Grill the slices in a griddle pan until charred on both sides. 2 Whisk the olive oil, honey, mustard and vinegar together. Season…

GO! FESTIVAL OF HIKING PROMOTION Hikers of all ages, fitness levels and experience came together at Meerendal Wine Estate outside Durbanville to take part in a weekend of outdoor fun. Participants travelled from as far as Robertson and Beaufort West, even Amanzimtoti! The inaugural go! Festival of Hiking took place from 16 to 18 February, with different distances and trails offered on each day. • On Friday at 6pm, the first group of about 200 hikers set offon a leisurely 5km walk among the vineyards. It wasn't long before strangers were chatting to each other like old friends. Later, people kuiered around the braai fires while musicians and performers kept everyone entertained. • Saturday was the main day of the festival – more than 700 hikers participated in the 5km,…

World Wildlife Day was celebrated on 3 March – this UN initiative honours the earth's wild animals and plants. South Africa has an extraordinary natural heritage that we so often take for granted. Here are some numbers to remind us how lucky we are to live at the southern tip of Africa. 19 485 The area of the Kruger National Park in km² – about as big as the entire country of Slovenia. The Kruger is the ninth largest national park in the world and sees about 1,7 million visitors per year. 20 000 The estimated number of plant species in South Africa. The Cape Floral Kingdom accounts for approximately 9000 of these species alone. 3 000 The approximate length of our coastline in kilometres, from Mozambique to Namibia. 850…

LEBOMBO A border is a strange thing. Over centuries, people created them to protect the interests of the group inside, and to keep others out. Africa has its fair share of weird borders: long, straight lines drawn by European leaders in the 1880s without taking people, languages or landscapes into account. Thankfully, it's sometimes possible to correct the mistakes of the past, which is how transfrontier parks and conservation areas came to be. Where wilderness areas have been cut up by borders, countries join forces to manage them as a single entity, to the benefit of nature and the people who live there. In South Africa, the Kgalagadi and |Ai-|Ais/Richtersveld transfrontier parks are the superstars of this initiative, but there are another 10 similar conservation areas in sub-Saharan Africa, from…

JURIE MAREE Sony A7 IV Laowa 90mm CA Dreamer macro lens JURIE WRITES: I took this photo at my house in Centurion. The moth is a male from the Diaphone family (it's a pale cherry spot moth) and the background is a propped-up plank that I painted green. (I make these myself – I have different colours for different situations.) I used a Godox AD 100 Pro camera flash for extra light – it was mounted on a tripod to the left of the moth and connects wirelessly to my camera. I fire the flash through a big white umbrella to dampen and diffuse the light. The moth stayed put the whole time I was getting the lighting, background and camera ready, which is a miracle in itself! I used…

WHEELS The first Cruiser 70 appeared on the scene in 1984, around the same time as Back to the Future. And if you get behind the wheel of one, you feel like Marty McFly on a journey back to that decade.The handles, seats and door locks make me long for the Corolla Avante that I drove in my student days. Measured against most modern cars, the Cruiser's turning circle is ginormous and its ride on tar is bouncy. (We're still talking leaf springs at the rear…) You need a bodybuilder's left leg to change gears and the 4.5-litreV8 engine has a drinking habit that would put Oliver Reed to shame. But all this doesn't matter a bit to its owners and fans, because once you hit the rough stuff, there's…

TOURS DATES AND RATES 22 August–1 September 2024 R22 650 per adult; 50% per child under 10 Duration: 11 days, 10 nights Start: Khama Rhino Sanctuary End: Kasane WHAT WE SUPPLY •Tented accommodation • Specialist guide •Two-way radios in all vehicles •Three meals per day • Entry fees to all parks and activities • 4x4 assistance if required WHAT YOU NEED TO BRING •Your own vehicle – a 4x4 is essential (fuel is for your own account) •Your own travel insurance • Cooldrinks, alcoholic drinks and snacks • Personal items such as medication, sunblock, binoculars, camera etc. • Bedding and camping chairs Our northern Botswana tour begins at the community-based Khama Rhino Sanctuary in central Botswana, where we spend our first night before moving on to the spectacular Kubu Island,…

After spending some time at the Tshokwane picnic site, we drove south on the H-10 towards Lower Sabie. We pulled over on the bridge across the Sabie River and sat in the car to see if there were any animals around. The first thing that caught our attention was a crocodile lying on a sandbar. We'd been in the Kruger Park many times before and we knew that it helps to be still for a moment; to look and listen, even if you've stopped for something as “common” as a crocodile. I shoot with a Nikon D5300 and a Sigma 150–600mm lens. I looked through the camera viewfinder and studied the scene. That's when I saw a second crocodile, floating in the water. I had just started to take photos…

A fter breakfast, I round up Misha and Billy Bob. I find them on the stoep and I don't even have to say anything. I just give them a look and they know: walkies! Misha is an elderly Labrador and walks with a limp, but there's still plenty of life in her tail-wag. Billy Bob is a rescue, mostly Border collie judging by his flamboyant tail. A visitor from the city, Billy Bob is on the farm for the December holidays. The spring is about 700m from the farmstead, upstream along a little river. At the spring, water is diverted into a furrow that leads to a cement dam near the house. The water is used to irrigate my mother's expansive garden: flowers and vegetables, plus a small orchard of…

On day three of the Whale Trail (5 days, 55km) in De Hoop Nature Reserve near Bredasdorp, the route follows the coastline from the overnight huts at Noetsie to a hut called Hamerkop. Verna Jooste from Cape Town pauses to appreciate the view towards Stilgat, a popular rest spot for hikers where you can swim and explore a huge sea cave. (Bring a torch!) Between June and November, hundreds of southern right whales congregate along this protected stretch of coast to mate and calve. When Jean Tresfon and Dr Els Vermeulen did an aerial survey in 2023, they counted 587 whales at De Hoop between Koppie Alleen and Cape Infanta! Find out more: capenature.co.za; dehoopcollection.com…

Every month our experts answer your questions about birds, bugs and beasts. Send your photos and queries to editor@gomag.co.za Owl together now FRANCOIS SMIT from Middelburg writes:I photographed these two African scops-owls on the same day, within 20m of each other, in the Tsendze campsite in the Kruger Park. I noticed one owl looked long and lean while the other was puffy. Is there a reason for the difference? Bird expert LUKAS NIEMAND says: During the day, African scops-owls make use of camouflage so they won't be seen by other animals. Other birds, in particular, will try to chase the owls offwhen spotted. Photo A shows a characteristic camouflage technique used by scops-owls.They sleep against the base of a vertical tree trunk and will stretch themselves out to blend in…

Part 2: Studying secretive cats Last issue we looked at how camera traps have become invaluable when it comes to Lstudying shy animals like leopards. So, how do they work? A camera trap has a sensor, lens, flash and a few controls to change settings, all enclosed in a weatherproof housing. Most have a “passive infrared sensor”– an electronic sensor triggered by body heat and movement as an animal passes by. Occasionally, a camera can be triggered by pockets of hot air generated by large rocks heated by the sun, or by wind-blown vegetation moving in the detection zone. This can result in thousands of “empty” photos. In one Cape Leopard Trust survey, a single daisy blowing in front of a camera was responsible for 10816 photos! It's therefore very…

Hippos, a Mongoose and Me: Tales of rescue and survival in the wilds of Africa by Karen Paolillo, Penguin Books R300 in bookstores British-born Karen Paolillo has spent the last three decades protecting the hippos of theTurgwe River in south-east Zimbabwe. In this follow-up to her book A Hippo Love Story (2014), she shares more tales from her life with husband Jean-Roger, surrounded not only by hippos but also baboons, warthogs, lions, elephants, and buffaloes. (Close calls included!) As the founder of theTurgwe HippoTrust, Paolillo feeds the hippos during droughts, shows volunteers the ropes and raises funds by documenting the wild hippos in their natural habitat. It sounds blissful and adventurous – who doesn't want to live in a remote conservancy? – but she also emphasises that life in nature…

GEAR BINOS: HOW DO YOU CHOOSE? In 1609, the Italian scientist Galileo Galilei was the first person to use a telescope, which he pointed at the moon to study its craters. But the first real “binocular telescope”, similar to today's modern devices, was only patented 245 years later in 1854 – by another Italian, Ignazio Porro We've come a long way since then. There are hundreds of binoculars to choose from, with prices ranging from “cute birthday present” to “good grief Gertrude”. So, how do you choose? The name of the binoculars (Zeiss, Swarovski, Leica…) might be the first thing you notice, but right next to the model name are two numbers separated by an “x”, like 10x42. The number before the x indicates the magnification capability of the lens.…