Indholdsfortegnelse for December 2021 i Getaway

These werenʼt ordinary cats; they were caracals, and I was thrilled when I first saw photos of them online one evening. My wife and I could hardly wait to visit the gardens the next morning. Sarah had never seen a caracal and I had only ever seen a pair of tufted ears poking above a river bank in Namibia. We thought our chances of seeing these normally elusive cats would be slim, that they and their mother (she had been sighted earlier) would have left the garden by then, wary of all the human traffic. We arrived the next day, spotted a small group of photographers, followed the direction of their long lenses and there they were, two little balls of golden fur huddled in the lee of a thicket…

GEORGE TENS FESTIVAL 2–5 December A week of exciting rugby and other sports such as netball and bowls will kick off on the Garden Route on 2 December at Outeniqua Park. Tickets R20–R185 tickets.computicket.com INTRODUCTION TO 4×4 DRIVING 4 December Spend an exciting day in Stellenbosch learning about vehicle dynamics, driving different terrains, practical driving, tyres, deflation, traction and all the accessories and equipment you could ever need for a4×4 adventure. Tickets from R1 500 quicket.co.za SPRING DAY CRUISE ON THE VAAL 16 December Wine and dine to your heart’s content on a spectacular Spring Day Cruise on the Vaal River, and be entertained by the sounds of award-winning jazz artist Henry Philemon. Tickets from R890 tickets.computicket.com WARWICK KIDS CHRISTMAS CARNIVAL 17 December Join Warwick Wine Estate in…

I am a sixth generation African, proud to have been born and lived my life on this grand, primordial continent. I have always been an explorer, but the National Geographic Society was the first to call me one. I did my PhD on Meyerʼs Parrot in the Okavango Delta and worked for Wilderness Safaris as a camp manager while doing my fieldwork in the early 2000s. My life changed forever in 2001 when I visited the Okavango Delta for the first time. Within a few months, I had told my Masters supervisor I would complete my dissertation on census techniques for southern reedbuck as the “head of housekeeping” at Vundumtiki Camp. I was in search of meaning and understanding, which have nothing to do with qualification. In 2010, we did…

COMPETITION AND PRIZES Entries are open for the 2021/2022 Getaway Gallery competition. Winners will be announced in August 2022 and we are happy to announce that we have a full round-up of safari and photographic gear prizes from Natural Selection and Outdoorphoto. First prize: Six nights for two people on a dream safari in Botswana with Natural Selection, plus gear from Outdoorphoto, all worth more than R120 000 The winner and their plus one will enjoy two nights at Little Sable, two nights at Hyena Pan (both in Khwai Private Reserve) and two nights at Meno a Kwena in Makgadikgadi National Park worth R75 000. Includes air transfers between Maun and Khwai, and a two-hour road transfer to Meno a Kwena. Offer valid any time except August and December peak…

Iʼd been in Mozambique 10 minutes and already had my mojo back. All it took was a passport stamp and the promise of something new. As I drove deeper into our Portuguese-infused neighbour, I could feel months of Lockdown funk unfurling behind me, cobwebs in the wind, as if hooked on the Komatipoort Border Post. I was in a Britz Land Cruiser on my way to do something Iʼd never done before – 4×4ing – in a place Iʼd never been, Maputo Special Reserve (MSR). I was reminded how movement sparks joy. Being back on the road was like unlocking a room within myself, helping me to rediscover one of lifeʼs great delights: untethered exploring. With Paul Simon taking me to Graceland on the radio, I glided past Maputo, over…

A SAFARI WITH SOUL AT TINTSWALO FAMILY CAMP, WELGEVONDEN Tintswaloʼs Family Camp in the Welgevonden Game Reserve is one of those special places where you can unplug and immerse yourself in nature. Situated in the Waterberg less than a three-hour drive from Johannesburg, Tintswalo Family Camp is the ideal safari destination for multi-generational families or groups of friends wanting to spend quality time together in nature. Spreading across 40 000 hectares of pristine bushveld, Welgevonden ranks among South Africaʼs largest private game reserves and boasts a great variety of game, including the Big Five and 300 bird species. The area is malaria-free and the camp welcomes children of all ages, offering five freestanding luxury accommodation units of one-, two- and three-bedrooms. The spacious guest suites come with all creature comforts,…

Dale R Morris GARDEN ROUTE (P 70) Dale R Morris is a multi-award winning travel writer and photographer with a passion for wildlife and nature. ʻMy mission in life is to motivate people to get out into the wild, connect, become impassioned, and then become concerned.ʼ To that end, the majority of Daleʼs 500-plus published magazine articles have been about wildlife, conservation issues and ecotourism destinations. A resident of Wilderness, he lives on the edge of the Garden Route National Park. Read his feature on this amazing destination in this issue. Matthew Sterne BEST OF BOTH WORLDS IN MOZAMBIQUE (P 92) Matt has been a photojournalist at Getaway for the past four years but his recent trip to the Maputo Special Reserve was his first genuine 4×4 adventure. He imagined…

FIVE FESTIVE SEASON FACTS Christmas trees are part of a very old tradition that goes all the way back to the ancient Egyptians and Romans, who would decorate evergreens during the winter solstice to signify that spring would return. In 1965, astronauts broadcast ‘Jingle Bells’ from space. Nine days before Christmas, Gemini 6 told Mission Control they’d seen a UFO about to enter Earth’s atmosphere, travelling from north to south. Just before they began to panic, Wally Chirra started playing a harmonica while Tom Stafford shook sleigh bells as they broadcast Jingle Bells back to Earth. Few know where the iconic Christmas spruce in Trafalgar Square comes from. THE TRAFALGAR TREE HAS BEEN GIVEN TO BRITAIN BY NORWAY EACH YEAR SINCE 1947 in gratitude for Britain’s support of Norway during WWII.…

Itʼs the 21st of December 2003 and Iʼm thinking of roast turkey with cranberry sauce and Brussels sprouts. Iʼm thinking presents stacked under the tree and my border collie curled at my feet beneath the table should scraps of Christmas pudding fall. Most of all though, Iʼm thinking about my family. I wonʼt be seeing them again this year. Usually, I feel content and privileged to wake up to the booming calls of great blue turacos as they run around the canopy above my wooden hut. I always imagine that they must have just heard the funniest joke. What else could make a bird laugh so raucously. Thereʼs also the early morning, cat-like wails of the crested hornbills and the pumping baritones of a distant male mona monkey. This is…

‘We have removed ourselves from the original garden,ʼ says the artist, Dylan Lewis, standing brooding and intense before a small audience in his garden. He alludes to Eden, our idealised beginning, and simultaneously to our departure from nature, potentially our very real end. ʻThe Eden we were cast out from seems to be an important image in the human psyche,ʼ he adds, leading us to dwell on this analogy: ʻWe began our conscious life in the quiet of the womb and were taken from that state into a world of great horror and beauty. The peacefulness of a garden perhaps connects us with that, and the wider context of our evolution in nature.ʼ Dylan is a powerful presence. You can sense his desire to escape his small audience and return…

GETTING THERE From Durban, take the N1 north to the Kosi Bay Border Post. The reserve lies 40km north. From Johannesburg, take the N12, followed by the N4, all the way to Maputo, crossing the border at Komatipoort. The reserve is two hours from the border. Keep an eye on the speed limit as police often trap cars going over 60km/h. Do This Go scuba diving There’s a new operator in Santa Maria called Ocean Echo Scuba that is the only public dive centre in the area. The focus is on groups of six or less and the company tailors its dives to suit the divers. From R500 (excluding gear). oceanechoscuba.co.za Go snorkelling The coral reefs near Machangulo and Anvil Bay are home to a dazzling array of reef fish,…

South Africans enjoy working for food. It gives us perspective and purpose. And nothingʼs going to take that away from us… Once, in the densest marshy wilderness of Botswana, a hyena jumped on the back of our bakkie in the middle of the night and tried to drag our cooler box away. Mom flew out of the rooftop tent, threw a skottel braai pan at it and grabbed the Coleman by the handle. She wrestled the thing out of its strong jaws and proceeded to chase the shocked animal from the back of the bakkie, cursing him in Afrikaans. Iʼm sure it was a Tswana hyena, but it got the gist of it and scurried off. We were ecstatic. The food had been saved. Mom later told us that the…

Misty Morning I hardly ever use man-made structures in my images but I made an exception in this case as I liked how the pier created leading lines that drew my eye to the heron. The grey, misty conditions, the beautiful glow of the sun in the water, the pier’s reflection and the stark white neck of the black-headed heron provided interest and intrigue, and encouraged me to walk around the scene, trying different compositions, until I found a frame that appealed to me. - Richard Flack…

1 December 1955 - Rosa Parks is arrested in Montgomery, Alabama, for refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a municipal bus. Her arrest results in a year-long boycott of the city bus system and legal actions ending racial segregation on municipal buses throughout the American South. 3 December 1967 - Dr Christiaan Barnard performs the first successful heart transplant at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town on Louis Washkansky, who lived for a further 18 days. 4 December 1791 - The Observer, now the oldest Sunday newspaper in the world, is published for the first time in Britain. 5 December 1901 - A boy is born in Chicago, Illinois, and grows up drawing farm animals. He eventually gets a job as an artist, and in…

WINNING LETTER Lost in Paradise Maybe this pandemic has more hidden pluses than weʼd like to admit. I have forgotten that thereʼs no end to the spectacular local spots to be discovered or revisited. I found Enjo Nature Farm in the Biedouw Valley by chance on the internet while looking for a spot to view this yearʼs flower extravaganza and also take my canine companion. My inquiry was met with a: ʻWeʼre fully booked for August and September… but 10 minutes ago we had a cancellation.ʼ What bliss! The friendly people, the heavenly landscape, the abundance of flowers and species, a gurgling Biedouw River with crystal clear, snow-melt water in front of my Enjo Cottage. My hound got me out of bed early every morning to tackle one of the…