go!

I enjoy rising early in the summer months before the sun appears from behind the mountains. The air is fresh and cool, and the birdsong is clear in the morning quiet. The day stretches out ahead, full of promise. The first two months of a year are similar. Our batteries are fully charged after a lazy holiday, which we (hopefully) used to plan the most important event on the annual calendar: where to travel next! At go! we plan far ahead. We already know where 2023, and a bit of 2024, will take us. We’ve plotted meandering routes through our own country, through our neighbouring countries, and even further afield. (Antarctica, anyone?) These trips are planned for the bi-monthly magazine, and for our range of special editions like Wild Places, Namibia, Botswana,…

Why the move? We wanted to expand the offering of our guiding business, Itchyfeet SA (itchyfeetsa.co.za). We've already established ourselves in the adventure industry with hiking, rock climbing and river rafting and we wanted to add bush safaris to the portfolio. What makes Hoedspruit a lekker place to live? The relaxed lifestyle, the friendly community and all the animals running around. You're bound to see impalas, warthogs, nyalas and mongooses almost every day. Any niggles? Because of the growing popularity of the town, property and rental prices are quite high. And being out of the way, travelling anywhere else in the country can be time-consuming and expensive. Your favourite place to hang out? If not at a poolside braai, you'll most likely find me at the The Thirsty Giraffe Pub and Grill. I…

WINNING LETTER From Madagascar with love I want to share this special moment from October 2022: I photographed this Madagascar cuckoo in Kranspoort, a holiday estate near Groblersdal in Mpumalanga. It's a vagrant species seldom seen in South Africa; luckily the caretaker of the estate allowed keen birders like me to come have a look. There was some speculation that it might have been a juvenile red-chested cuckoo, but experts looked at a video of the bird and identified its call as that of a Madagascar cuckoo. RIAN BOSHOFF, Middelburg SPEAK TO US Send your letters to editor@gomag.co.za - include your name, surname and where you live. Please also include a photo if you have one (at least 2 MB in size). We reserve the right to edit and shorten letters, and use your photos elsewhere…

Hyena on the menu? BARRY HUGO from Kloof writes: We saw this big male leopard with a dead hyena in a tree near Afsaal picnic site in the Kruger Park in October 2022. It didn't appear that the hyena had been eaten and we wondered why the leopard had dragged it up the tree. But when we returned the next morning, we found a half-eaten hyena with a clearly satisfied leopard. Is this normal behaviour? Wildlife expert LD VAN ESSEN says: Predators are opportunistic and won't pass up a meal if it readily presents itself. There's also interspecies competition among different predators, which means that an adult of one species will kill the young or juvenile individuals of another species. And yes, they'll eat them too. As far as Barry's photo is concerned,…

Monitoring dwindling penguin numbers in Algoa Bay An automated penguin monitoring system has recently been installed on Bird Island in Algoa Bay. Bird Island is home to the third largest African penguin colony in South Africa, but numbers have dwindled by 68% since 2015 - a trend mirrored by the species across the country. This concerning statistic has spurred a group of NGOs, researchers and conservationists to act. They've installed a monitoring system to identify the core threats these birds face at sea, and hopefully mitigate those threats. What will the system measure? Weight. Typically, penguins breed between February and August each year. During this time, they don't stray more than 30 km from their nests, needing to return frequently to relieve their mate of incubation duty and later, feed their chicks. A penguin's…

South Africa's coins have a new look: Coins bearing the imprints of whales, turacos and bees have been floating around the money market since 1 January 2023. Cabinet approved the coins as legal tender in September 2022. In addition to the new animals that now grace our coins, "South Africa" will be printed on each piece in all the official languages, with one new language being phased in every year. Your coins will change as follows: Source: businesstech.co.za…