Indice dei contenuti per Apr/May 2022 in go!

There’s a school of thought that the quickest way to extinguish your love of something is to turn it into a job. When people find out that I work for a travel magazine, their reaction usually goes something like this: “You’ve got the best job in the world! You’re always on holiday!” The truth is, yes, of course it’s a great job. And no, it’s a job, not a paid-for holiday. Everyone who works for this magazine has a dismal story to tell about trying to light a fire in an empty caravan park, mid-week, in pouring rain, to get the obligatory “campfire shot” for their feature. Other times, we’ll rush to get a whole week’s worth of activities done in a single morning because the neighbouring town still needs…

The Healing by BCUC R85 from bandcamp.com When I first saw Soweto’s BCUC (Bantu Continua Uhuru Consciousness) live at Oppikoppi a few years ago, they swept me along with their rollicking, rolling rhythms and meditative, sometimes trance-like vocals. Crank up the opening track – “The Journey with Mr Van der Merwe” – and forget about those unanswered DMs for a while. It’s almost 20 minutes long and is going to demand your full attention. The album might only consist of three tracks, but there’s more than 40 minutes of music there. Only the last song, “Isivunguvungu”, pretends to be a pop song, featuring US wordsmith Saul Williams. But no worries, even on a sub four-minute song, BCUC turns a dust devil into a proper tornado.…

Keep an eye on the tides when you paddle in and out. High tide gives you a boost when going upstream. At low tide, there are two or three shallow sections where you’ll have to portage your canoe. Visit tideschart.com • Water shoes are essential for traction on the riverbed and to spare your toes when you’re clambering over rocks. • Bring a hat and a long-sleeve shirt for sun protection. Dip a sarong in the water and cover your legs. • You can fish near the cabin – get a freshwater fishing permit at the post office beforehand. • There’s no cellphone reception or power points at the cabin.…

Dwesa, Cwebe and Hluleka all have associated marine protected areas, and fishing is strictly controlled. In Dwesa, you’re only allowed to fish between the reserve entrance gate and the Ngoma River; and in Cwebe, only between the beach at The Haven and the northern border of the reserve. No fishing is permitted inside Hluleka, but there’s a nice fishing spot just outside the gate. You’re only allowed to catch one fish per day to eat, and no fish may be taken out of the reserve. If you catch something decent, you can ask the chef at The Haven to cook it for you. Each angler needs a permit and you may only fish between 6 am and 7 pm in summer and 7 am and 6 pm in winter.…

NIKON Z5 When it comes to mirrorless technology, it took a while for Nikon to catch up with trailblazers like Fujifilm and Sony. But they’re there now, and the Z5 is a case in point. It’s Nikon’s most affordable full-frame camera in the mirrorless segment, with a 24.3-megapixel FX-format sensor that delivers massive files, which you can zoom into or reframe using editing software without losing quality. I tested the Z5 with a Nikon Z 24 – 200 mm lens on a week-long trip in Limpopo. It’s a formidable combination – without having to change lenses, I could take landscape photos next to the Levuvhu River, shoot a portrait of a friend, and zoom in on a Pafuri buffalo. You’ll need a bigger zoom lens if you want to see…

Tomjachu Bush Retreat’s 550 ha of grassland, bushveld and mountains lures Lowvelders with its network of hikes. The name is a combo of the three Fillery brothers’ names – Tom, Jack and Hugo – whose grandparents, Gordon and Vikki, bought the property in 1985. “You might see giraffe, zebra, blesbok, blue wildebeest, kudu, warthog, impala, bushbuck, genet, black-backed jackal…” says manager Jay-Dean Sloane as we kick off on our first hike. “And we have 297 feathered friends on our bird list.” THE NORTH PLAINS AND BIG FIG LOOP (blue route, 4,5 km) is an easy meander with lots of animals to look out for. The blue and red routes both start at the Homestead – a beautiful farmhouse that used to be Gordon and Vikki’s home and now offers luxurious…

My wife Annemarie and I visited the Kruger Park last October, after an absence of 20 years. We had planned to go earlier in 2021 – in July – but Covid forced us to postpone. We spent 10 days in the park and saw many wonderful things, but this sighting was the highlight. Sometimes you think you’re taking one kind of photo, but you accidentally end up with something else entirely. Let me explain… It was late afternoon and we were driving the S110 towards Berg-en-Dal. I wanted to take photos in the soft light, so we pulled over when we saw a dwarf mongoose on a branch 1 . My camera – a Canon EOS R6 with a Canon 100 – 400 mm lens – was set up for…

Growing up in Hilton, I always felt a sense of nostalgia when we drove past the railway station on the main road. The old locomotives seemed forlorn where they stood, rusting in the train yard, and I couldn’t help but imagine how impressive they must have been in their prime. The station itself was built in 1888 as a stop on the old Natal Government Railways line that had opened four years previously, in 1884, connecting Durban to Johannesburg. “When I first moved here, I remember picking up my monthly delivery of KWV wines from the train station,”my dad Mike tells me. The line was in operation for just over 100 years, until 1987, when it was decommissioned after a portion of it washed away. Thereafter, the Hilton station fell…

NOTE: Dot travelled in 2018-2019. The costs here are just as a rough guide – prices will have changed. VISA: My British passport allowed me a three-month stay in both Morocco and Senegal – no visa required. Mauritania issued me with a 30-day visa at the border, costing €55 (R970) at the time. Visa costs change constantly and there are reduced rates for those with African passports: Check the various embassies before travelling. BORDER CROSSINGS: Ferry crossing from Spain to Morocco: €250 (R4 700) for both the vehicle and me. It would have been more if I’d booked a cabin. Morocco: Third party insurance (valid for three months) €125 (R2 150). Mauritania: Temporary Import Permit €10 (R176); third party insurance €25 (R431) – both were valid for one month. Senegal:…

Dot Bekker is a business coach and author. Her nearly nine-month, 20 000 km journey took her from Spain through 17 African countries until she arrived back home in Zimbabwe in August 2019. Covid might have halted her adventuring exploits for now, but she has her eyes set on exploring East Africa next. Since returning to Zimbabwe, she has spent her time writing and working to develop economic solutions for rural communities. She has been accepted to live in a village in Matobo Hills, where she plans to build herself a small house. Her book Going Home to Africa costs R350 (excluding courier costs). To order, send a WhatsApp to 082 900 1783 (Cheryl) or visit goinghometo africa.com for stockists. Follow her on Facebook and Instagram: @goinghometoafrica…

Some lockdown habits die hard, like ordering groceries online. It is more cost-effective to buy food without the supermarket markups, and you’ll also be getting closer to the source of your meals, supporting local farmers and making the world a greener place. Here are a few distributors that bring the farm to your doorstep. WESTERN CAPE Little Oaks Since the start of the pandemic, this well-known supplier to the hospitality industry in the Overberg has expanded its services to include home deliveries. They’ve partnered with small businesses and chefs in the area to add free-range eggs, artisanal bread, raw honey, cheese, jam, biscuits and frozen meals to their order list. Order via: littleoaks.co.za Areas served: Overberg, Overstrand and small towns along Route 62 as far as Barrydale. Farm Fresh Direct…

People often ask whether we really need snakes, especially venomous ones that can bite and kill people. Justifying the presence of any animal is an arrogant pursuit – they all form part of intricately balanced ecosystems that culminate in the bigger picture of life on earth – but let’s discuss a snake’s role in their particular ecosystem anyway. Most importantly, snakes control vermin numbers. You might argue that other animals, like birds of prey and small carnivores, also contribute to vermin control with minimal risk to human safety, but snakes are unique in that they can increase their consumption twenty-fold in times when rodent populations explode. We once found a snouted cobra in Limpopo that had eaten two adult rats and eight rat pups in one sitting! To elaborate: Predatory…

Tell us about the walk. After I finished matric last year in Pretoria, I decided I wanted to traverse the Waterberg massif and plateau. The first thing I needed to do was figure out a route. I went to see Richard Wadley, who wrote Waterberg Echoes, and we plotted a course together using his maps. He knows so much about the history of the area. Ken Maud, the founding director of Waterberg Tourism, and local artist Elizabeth Hunter helped me organise my overnight spots. It was a team effort. I split the walk over four days, starting at the bottom of Tarentaalstraat, a pass north of Modimolle on the southern edge of the Waterberg massif. The first three days were just over 30 km each. My route took me past…

GEOFFREY ELLIS Nikon D7500 Nikon 200 – 500 mm lens GEOFFREY WRITES: We were sitting in Mankwe Hide in the Pilanesberg one day. It was hot and we were having a bite to eat. I noticed a pair of white-rumped swifts circling. Their repetitive motion meant that they nearly always returned to the same point near the corner of the hide, giving me an opportunity to get a shot. After many out-of-focus attempts, my patience paid off and I managed to get a couple of photos that I’m proud of. These are incredibly small birds, and they move at a very high speed. I used a shutter speed of 1/1 000 second, aperture f6.3 and ISO 400. TOAST SAYS: Geoffrey, I’m standing up and giving you a round of applause!…

Creamy scrambled eggs Serves 4 Preparation time 10 minutes Cooking time 5 minutes You need • 6 extra-large eggs • 2 tablespoons salted butter • salt and freshly ground black pepper • 1 teaspoon chopped chives • ½ cup smoked salmon ribbons • 4 teaspoons crème fraiche • 4 croissants, cut in half and toasted Here’s how  1 Heat a heavy-bottomed pan over a medium heat and melt 1 tablespoon of butter. Crack the eggs into the pan and scramble them with a spatula over a low heat. 2 After a minute, add another tablespoon of butter to the pan and keep scrambling. Remove from the heat as soon as the eggs look creamy and mixed well. The eggs will continue to cook in the hot pan and you don’t want them to dry out. 3 Season…

CAMPING NORTHERN CAPE & AI-AIS/RICHTERSVELD TRANSFRONTIER PARK • 10 days, 9 nights • Camping and chalet accommodation • R17 000 per person • 18 – 27 August 2022 The first two nights are spent next to the Orange River near Vioolsdrift, where the sound of the water will lull you to sleep. Paddle on the river or hike along the riverbank, surrounded by spectacular mountains. The next day, we drive into the Richtersveld Conservation Area, over scenic mountain passes, to the tiny settlement of Eksteenfontein where we’ll learn about the cultural history of the landscape and camp wild under blazing stars. The following two nights are spent in Kokerboomkloof in the Ai-Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park, discovering the park’s unique plants, animals and geological features. Then it’s back to the Orange River…

I first laid eyes on Kleinmond two and a half years ago. It was an early morning in September when I drove in on the R44 from Hermanus. To my left, the Kleinmond Lagoon lay flat and still, in stark contrast to the restless waves that broke on the beach beyond. To my right was a large open area with a bowling green and tennis courts. Towering above were the Kogelberg mountains in shades of green. The town itself is sandwiched between mountain and ocean. Like many Western Cape seaside settlements, it can’t get any wider, so it has developed lengthwise, skirting the coast and edging as far as it dares up the mountainside. On my first visit, I remember thinking: I’ve never seen so many architectural styles on one…

“We lived in Namibia for 13 wonderful years. During this time, we visited places like Etosha, Damaraland and the Okavango. We always try to look for the smaller things on our trips, rather than just focusing on the Big Five. Doing so gives you a deeper appreciation of nature. “We moved to South Africa seven years ago and have seen many of the national parks in the Eastern and Western Cape, as well as the Kgalagadi. Even though Annemarie and I had both been to the Kruger Park when we were young, we’d never been there together. As always, we looked to see what the smaller animals were up to, which led to these photos.”…

What business does a 60-year-old woman with no experience of overlanding have driving through West Africa, all on her own, in a two-wheel-drive van? My answer? A woman’s place is wherever she wants it to be! I was born in Zimbabwe and moved to South Africa in my early twenties. I lived there from 1981 to 1997, when I left for the United Kingdom. My ex-husband’s work meant that I later moved to Portugal, then Luxembourg, and finally to Spain for the last 18 months of my time in Europe. At 58, I set out to start my life anew. My first task was to leave an increasingly unhappy 22-year marriage. Afterwards, I had an opportunity to decide what I wanted from this new chapter. I had been away from…

RESEARCH: It took me about two and a half years to prepare for the trip.I used apps like iOverlander and maps.me to plot routes and find campsites. The Facebook groups “Overlanding Africa” and “West Africa Travellers” (which also has a WhatsApp group that I could tap into on the road) were great for getting up-to-date information from others in the overlander community. DOCUMENTS: I travelled on my British passport and used my British driver’s licence. Laminated certified copies of my passport and driver’s licence were filed in a plastic sleeve. This made the documents easy to find and hand over for inspection. All the documents for a specific country were kept in the same sleeve. I also put together a document called a fiche, which contained key information like name,…

Beauty with a sting Last December, I went for an evening stroll on the beach near Hartenbos with my wife and our two daughters. An armada of bluebottles had washed ashore and there was something about the scene that was begging to be photographed. My “proper” camera was back at the house; I only had my Samsung Galaxy Note with me. For a phone camera, I think it did a pretty good job! The last rays of sunlight reflected off the wet sand, illuminating all the pinks, blues and purples of the bluebottle. The whelks around it added some interest. BARTHLO BARNARD, Pretoria Wild and free I spent some time with the wild horses of the Overberg last December. They roam Rooisand Nature Reserve, a protected wetland area between Kleinmond…

The Lion, the Dung Beetle and the Veld Tool Box: 20 Bush Tales from Southern Africa by David Bristow, Jacana Media R250 in bookstores This is the fourth collection of essays in travel writer and environmental scientist David Bristow’s Stories fro- the Veld series. (For an interview with the author, see go! #175.) Bristow mixes accounts of his personal adventures in the wild with close calls and legends told around campfires across southern Africa; facts and fiction about animals big and small; and a general celebration of the natural world. You won’t be overwhelmed by stuffy scientific jargon – Bristow is a storyteller above all; he picks out the most interesting aspects of animal life and presents them in a humorous, easy-to-digest way. He also makes us aware of all…

During the Anglo-Boer War, a woman from New Zealand called Florence Eleanor (Tottie) Cross travelled to South Africa to work as a nurse. When the war ended, she stayed and married a Van Reenen man who owned a sawmill in the Knysna Forest. She opened her own butchery and general dealer in Rheenendal in 1922. The shop is still owned by her family, but it’s now Totties Country Market where you can buy anything from fresh bread and biscuits to pumpkins, ice cream and lunch on Sundays. There’s also a coffee truck and clothing stalls. Where? Just east of Rheenendal on the Rheenendal Road. It’s near the Drupkelders Trail – do the walk on a Sunday and pop in here for lunch afterwards. Cost: The Harvester’s Plate costs R100 per…

Only 7 km from the KFC in Port St Johns, Silaka is the most accessible of all the Wild Coast reserves. You drive on tar to get there; most of the way at least – only the final 2 km are on dirt. Silaka is a relatively small reserve, stretching down the coast for 4 km to Sugarloaf Rock. There’s a beach, hiking trails, rich birdlife, and you might even see a wildebeest or zebra. Accommodation: The reserve has 17 chalets. Rates from R607 per night for two people. (Each chalet sleeps up to four.) Cost: Daily conservation fee R26 per adult; R13 per child. You can hire a guide at reception – R183 for two hours. Contact: 043 492 0883; bookonline.ecpta.co.za…

WHY? We publish a selection of reader pictures in every issue. Don’t be shy, haul out those shots you’ve been hoarding on your computer and send them to us! We like just about anything: wildlife, landscapes, portraits, holiday snaps or bugs in your garden. HOW? Send your photos to takeyourpic@gomag.co.za Submit only your three best shots each month. Don’t send files bigger than 4 MB – if we need a bigger version, we’ll ask for it. Give the name, surname, home town and contact number of the photographer. Also include info about where and how the shot was taken, and what equipment was used. If you manipulated your photo in any way, tell us what you did. THE FINE PRINT We reserve the right to use your photos elsewhere in…

CAMELBAK CHASE Back in 1989, Michael Eidson, a young American medical technician, was about to set off on the Hotter’N Hell 100 cycling race in the heat of a Texas summer. Worried about being able to carry enough water, he hurriedly filled an IV bag, stuffed it into a tube sock and put it down the back of his cycling jersey. He looped the hose over his shoulder and used a clothes peg to clamp it shut. Ta-da! The modern hydration pack was born. Eidson became the founder of CamelBak, a company that has become synonymous with hydration vests. Thankfully, the modern Chase is a far cry from the original IV bag-and-sock combo. It’s an adjustable, lightweight harness made from breathable mesh material, which fits a 1,5 l bladder. It’s…

As you drive north from Ceres, up, up and up into the Groot Winterhoek Mountains, you see fewer and fewer side roads off the R303, and wilderness starts to take over from fruit farms. GlenDonald is at the end of one of those rare side roads, deep in a gorge, and you can feel the week’s irritations slipping away as you park your car on a Friday afternoon and unpack your bag. There are two cottages built of stone next to the upper course of the Olifants River. In front is a deep, clear pool called Visgat, a beautiful willow tree, a braai and a view (pictured top left). The main cottage (GlenDonald) sleeps nine people in four bedrooms. Two bedrooms are downstairs, where there’s also an open-plan kitchen and…

A brand-new species was added to the bird list of southern Africa early this year – a laughing gull, which looks like any other seagull except for its black head. It must have accidentally taken a sharp left turn during its migration between North and South America and ended up in front of The Sea Gypsy Café in Mossel Bay. I knew I wouldn’t get another chance to add this species to my list so I – like thousands of other birders – reshuffled appointments and rushed off to the Southern Cape. How many birds are there on the southern Africa bird list? Well, when I was born in the early 1980s, there were 887 recorded species south of the Zambezi. In the almost 40 years that I’ve been crawling,…

MAKE AND MODEL: 1998 Ford Transit MILEAGE WHEN BOUGHT: 87 000 km PRICE: €2 000 (about R35 000) DOT SAYS: I added a wooden floor to the loading area. On top of this, I built a single bed across the width of the van by the back door, with two chests of drawers (one facing the middle passage, the other for tool storage accessed from the back door) underneath. I installed a side cabinet where my gas stove is built in, plus a sink and water storage (for fresh and grey water). I used a Porta Potti toilet, which is stored by sliding it away under the cabinet. There’s also a sofa with under-seat storage, and a wardrobe cupboard. My power source was a 100-watt semi-flexible, monocrystalline solar panel, which…

MOROCCO Capital: Rabat Languages: Arabic, Berber Currency: Dirham Population: 37 million Days spent in country: 39 Distance covered: 3 000 km DOT SAYS: I found Morocco to be exotic, colourful and diverse, and I would highly recommend that people visit and explore. MAURITANIA Capital: Nouakchott Languages: Arabic, Pulaar, Soninke, Wolof, French Currency: Ouguiya Population: 4,5 million Days spent in country: 3 Distance covered: 750 km DOT SAYS: During my short stay in Mauritania, I saw intense poverty. It’s not at the top of my list to return to. SENEGAL Capital: Dakar Languages: Wolof, French Currency: West African franc (CFA) Population: 16 million Days spent in country: 8 Distance covered: 580 km DOT SAYS: This is a country where there is no winter, and the food is equally hot and spicy.…

Long-time readers of this magazine will know how much we love Lower Tsitsa Falls, north of Mthatha in the Eastern Cape. It’s one of South Africa’s most spectacular but least-photographed waterfalls. In late summer, when the rains have arrived in the Tsitsa River’s catchment area around Nqanqarhu (Maclear), it fills with foaming, chocolate-brown water that gradually gathers force as tributaries join. There’s a smaller waterfall on the river close to Nqanqarhu – Upper Tsitsa Falls – but Lower Tsitsa provides the real spectacle. To reach this viewpoint, take the N2 north from Mthatha and turn right onto a gravel road immediately after the highway crosses the river. Follow the gravel road downstream for about 19 km.…