Getaway February 2022

What do you love most about cycling? Is it the freedom, the feeling of the sun on your back, or the challenge of a ride that tests your mettle and muscles? These are the pleasures that every resident at Steyn City’s new City Centre will soon be able to enjoy daily, once the first homeowners take occupation in August next year, thanks to the presence of the development’s 50km mountain bike track and 45km floodlit promenade. Usually a morning or weekend cycle involves some planning, but City Centre residents will be able to step out of their front door and begin their ride almost immediately – without even having to organise a bike rack. Thanks to the development’s entirely pedestrianised environment and stringent security measures, cyclists can enjoy the ride with complete peace…

We deliver magazine material two months in advance and by the time you read this, the rampant speculation about the new Covid variant should have given way to facts. For now (back in December), travel to and from Southern Africa has almost ground to a halt as many nations have shut their borders; the chief executive of pharmaceutical manufacturer Moderna at one point said vaccines would be less effective against Omicron, setting markets tumbling and more doors slamming; and France has put us on its “scarlet red list”, as if we are pustulous Pimpernels. Like many industries, travel companies have been taken out at the knees. Yet I am optimistic. Norwegian doctor friends, Arild and Eyrun, visited me in Cape Town in December. These two specialists in infectious diseases have worked and travelled…

Teagan Cunniffe HORSING AROUND IN NAMIBIA’S BADLANDS (P 98) Growing up, Teagan never wanted to be known as a ʻhorse girlʼ. You know – the scruffy ones at school with long hair and stickers of ponies on their school books. Well, now sheʼs utterly shameless. Merging her love for horses with adventurous, remote landscapes and travel photography, multi-day trail riding has taken her from the dhow-dotted shores of Vilankulo to cattle mustering with gauchos in Argentina, and introduced her to a group of zany horse lovers (now friends) the world over. But one place keeps calling her back: Namibia. Riding through the desert is like nothing else. This month she ventures on to a new long-distance trail, traversing the Skeleton Coast and Messum Crater. Lorraine Kearney DISCOVERING PIKETBERG (P 92) One of the newest members…

MUSIC IS IN OUR BONES Archaeological evidence shows that musical instruments have been part of human civilisation all over the world for thousands of years. Music has always played a big role in human communication, religion and culture, and we’ve got the bones to prove it. A four-note instrument made of bone called the DIVJE BABE FLUTE was estimated to have been used between 43 400 and 67 000 years ago. Instrument strings were originally made from GUTS OF ANIMALS like cows or sheep (depending on what was geographically available to the makers). Ancient Egyptians played instruments such as drums, bells and castanets; stringed instruments like the lyre and the harp and the lute, as well as wind instruments like trumpets and flutes. The xylophone originated in southeast Asia, but, by the early 16th century,…

TREASURE HUNT 6 February Get involved in Treasure Hunt SA’s fifth round of adventures in Helderberg and Stellenbosch. R50 000 is up for grabs for the team that follows the clues and sniffs out the prize the quickest. Tickets cost R150. treasureworld.co.za CAPE TOWN ART FAIR 18–20 February Enjoy the largest contemporary art fair in Africa at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. More than 100 exhibitors and 22 000 visitors gather to appreciate artists, curators, galleries and collectors from around the globe. Entrance is free. investeccapetownartfair.co.za KAROO BURN MTB RACE 19 February Kicking off in Calvinia, this race gets going on the longest straight gravel road in Southern Africa, the R355. It’s 242km with 1 950m of elevation. Six water points will see you through this challenging race, ending at Kaleo Guest Farm. Entry fees: R1 650 for a solo…

Country hospitality rules at Vaalwater’s new Farmers’ Market On 25 September, our little town of Vaalwater in the Waterberg, Limpopo, held its first farmersʼ market to sell our great homegrown produce and to showcase the work of local artists, crafters and businesses that form part of this warmhearted bushveld community. At sunrise, cyclists set off on a 90km race through the bushveld, and soon the market was abuzz with people chatting, children playing, musicians performing and food sizzling. Folks came from near and far, overjoyed to get together again under the sunny, bushveld sky. More than 30 stalls sold a wide variety of wares – delicious homemade food and treats, knives, jams, fruit and veg, clothes, toys, plants and leather goods. Inside the hall, local artists like Elizabeth Hunter, Clive Walker, Joanne Roolvink…