Indholdsfortegnelse for April 2017 i go!

Elephants in mourning? While on holiday in Chobe National Park recently, we had the privilege of witnessing a rare display of social behaviour among elephants. We were on our way to Ihaha campsite and had stopped to spend time at the Chobe River. It was hot and some elephants came down to the river to drink and have a mud bath. We became aware of a female elephant behaving oddly. She appeared weak and she went down on her knees, but soon got up again. Other elephants tried to help her up by using their feet and trunks, but she collapsed again, this time with a bloodcurdling scream. She stopped moving after a while and it looked like she had died. The elephants nearby stopped what they were doing and…

Garden Route walking weekend The second Hi-Tec Garden Route Walking Festival will be held over the Easter weekend this year and will celebrate more than 50 trails in the area, from Mossel Bay in the west to Storms River in the east, and inland. “Everyone is welcome,” says organiser Galeo Saintz. “It will be a great weekend for families and anyone else who loves the outdoors.” Experienced hikers can climb Formosa Peak behind Nature’s Valley, but there’s no obligation to do such a hectic outing. There are easy strolls along the beach, a fancy dress “masked walk” to keep things interesting, a pirate walk and a treasure hunt for the kids, a moonlight meander, an art walk where you can make charcoal sketches along the way, an underwater “walk” –…

Hornbills are a common sight in most of South Africa’s game parks. The biggest member of the hornbill family – and the most conspicuous – is the terrestrial southern ground hornbill. If you spend time in the Kruger Park, chances are you’ll see one of these black-and-red birds, often walking through the grass in a small family group. But their conspicuous nature belies the fact that these hornbills are under severe threat. Only about 1 500 birds remain in the wild in South Africa, largely confined to protected areas. This situation is exacerbated because the birds use a co-operative breeding strategy: A family group consists of only one pair of breeding birds and the rest are helpers – usually males or juvenile birds from previous breeding seasons. Only the alpha…

Q My dual-battery isn’t charging. I had a solenoid system installed in my 4x4 just over a year ago. The setup seemed to work fine the first time, but now there’s very little power in my auxiliary battery when I get to camp. On my most recent trip, I spent three to four hours driving between camps, but by the following morning the battery was flat and my fridge wasn’t running. I’ve heard reports that a solenoid-based dual-battery system doesn’t work with some vehicles, and that I should switch to a DC-DC system. But before I fork out thousands of rands on a second system, can you offer some advice? A We hear these complaints daily, and the answer is surprisingly simple: You need a 220V maintenance charger. Some time…

TOUR INFO Date: 12 – 21 August 2017 How long? 10 days, 9 nights Starting point? Kamieskroon, Namaqualand End point? Aussenkehr, Namibia Accommodation? Formal en suite accommodation Rate: R19 650 per adult. Single supplement additional 30 %. WHAT TO BRING • A vehicle with diff lock – a 4x2 with high ground clearance will do the trick (fuel and border fees are for your own account) • Drinks and snacks • Camping chairs • Your passport ADVENTURE ITINERARY DAY 1: The tour starts near Kamieskroon. We’ll explore the Skilpad section of the Namaqua National Park, famous for its daisies. DAY 2: We drive the back roads of the West Coast and visit a shipwreck at Hondeklipbaai before turning north. Our overnight stop is at McDougall’s Bay, near Port Nolloth. DAY 3: After breakfast we…

Wildlife photographer Greg du Toit ended up at Sossusvlei in Namibia with a 400 mm lens and no tripod – not the best gear for landscape photography! Then, while exploring Dead Vlei, he discovered a crow’s nest in one of the iconic camel thorn trees and knew he had an opportunity for a unique shot of a much-photographed destination. He composed his frame, then he tucked in his arms, spread his legs and remained in that position for an hour – a human tripod. The crow finally made an appearance and Greg was ready, waiting to press the shutter button. Talk about dedication!…

It was my second visit to the abandoned island village of São Martinho dos Tigres and this time I decided to test my sea legs. Previously, I’d driven south along the beach from the town of Namibe, through the notorious “Acre of Death”, to a point where a boat ferried us across to the island. It was a short trip on the water. This time skipper Paul Jonker and I travelled all the way from Flamingo Lodge south of Namibe in a boat named Dawn – a 10-hour journey. At first my sea legs seemed stable, but then the wind picked up and the waves grew bigger. This is a problem if you grew up in the old Transvaal! I tried to calm my stomach by taking a nap in…

Our hit TV series Weg Agterpaaie is back for a second season, starting on 15 March. This time Erns Grundling and Toast Coetzer travel more than 5 000 km, from the Little Karoo, through the Eastern Cape Karoo and the southern Free State and into the Great Karoo, the Upper Karoo, the Tankwa and the Hantam. Along the way they meet farmers and families who have made a living here for generations, inkommers who are looking to forge a future on the platteland and everyone else from artists and authors to entrepreneurs and a windmill doctor. They ride horses, dose ostriches, play cricket, dance the riel and even learn to water-ski on a farm dam… Set your PVR The series starts on Wednesday 15 March at 8 pm on Via…

@DRAGONTREE_ PHOTOGRAPHS Marianne Schwankhart is a freelance photographer who has done various assignments for us, most recently about Swaziland and her favourite parks in her home city of Johannesburg. MARIANNE SAYS: I was on assignment in Chrissiesmeer for go! in June last year. The Mpumalanga town is at the centre of one of the most important drainage areas in South Africa and home to 270 lakes and pans in a 20 km radius. The landscape is quite flat, however, so I took to the sky to try and convey the scale of all the water. I saw movement below and captured a flock of lesser flamingos in flight using my Canon 5D Mark III camera and 17 – 35 mm lens. SHELLEY SAYS: This shot is breathtaking in its simplicity.…

BELLWOOD COTTAGES, KZN MIDLANDS This working stud farm about 2 km from Nottingham Road combines everything we love about the Midlands into one laid-back and affordable package. The cottages overlook a lake set against rolling pastures dotted with cattle. The farm also boasts a large stand of pines and poplars, where you’re almost guaranteed to spot a duiker or a bushbuck. You can fish, walk or paddle on the farm and you can eat, drink and craft yourself silly on the nearby Midlands Meander. Facilities: Bellwood is a popular wedding venue and the lakeside cottages (all named after birds) sleep between 14 and 16 people each. The cottages all have DStv, inside and outside fireplaces and very well-stocked kitchens. (Sixteen shot glasses might be overkill…) Two smaller, historic cottages located…

When most people think of Hermanus, they think of whales, mountain trails, beaches and braais. For me, the town is a giant chill pill. As soon as I arrive, I start to relax. My family has been holidaying here since I first opened my eyes and my mom has been coming here since she was a girl. If you live in Cape Town, Hermanus makes for an easy weekend away. It’s just 115km from the Mother City via the N2 or the more scenic coastal road. It’s becoming quite a big place – the hub of the Overstrand, a region that also encompasses other holiday towns and villages like Gansbaai and Stanford. These days the ocean might be its greatest asset, but Hermanus owes its existence to plains of tasty…

Wildlife photographer Greg du Toit took this photo at dawn, on the banks of Lake Nakuru in Kenya. Nakuru is a freshwater lake and it’s best known for the thousands, sometimes millions, of flamingos that visit to feed off the abundant algae. Most photos from Nakuru show masses of the pink birds, but Greg was after something different. He lay flat on the ground and waited for two other birds to join the lesser flamingos in his frame: a yellow-billed stork and a great white pelican, both of which were likely hunting for fish in the shallows.…

71 The height, in metres, of the Witpoortjie Waterfall – the most popular attraction in the garden. 220 The number of bird species recorded, including a well-known breeding pair of Verreaux’s eagles. 300 The size of the garden in hectares – about 300 rugby fields. It has natural veld and flowerbeds designed by horticulturists. There’s a section with medicinal plants and a water-smart section that promotes sustainable gardening. 600 The number of plant species that occur here naturally. The natural veld of the area is known as “Rocky Highveld Grassland”: savannah intermingled with dense vegetation in kloofs and along streams. 31000 The highest number of visitors to the garden in one month (December 2016). 275000 The average number of visitors per year. Source: sanbi.org…

Every year, more than 100 million people make a pilgrimage to Southeast Asia to upload pictures of themselves tanning and waterskiing. It’s easy to understand why people go there: warm water lapping blonde beaches, mysterious jungles crawling with obscure wildlife, delicious food served on every street corner… And you get good value for money, even if you’re paying in rands. Of these millions of tourists, the majority are farangs. Farang is Thai for anyone with European ancestry, and the word is used throughout Southeast Asia to describe the bumbling, sunburnt creature perpetually consulting his map and avoiding eye contact with souvenir sellers. I worked in Malaysia a few years ago and I recently travelled across Thailand by rail, tracing the Mekong River and its tributaries through Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos.…

It’s late in the afternoon when I see the tip of the long, sandy island. Chimney stacks from old fish factories break the horizon line, where the sun has slipped below a bank of cloud and hangs a hand’s breadth above the sea. Now I see more buildings: pastel-coloured houses and a church. The 15 m boat I’m on is called Dawn and it ploughs through waves into a strong headwind. Skipper Paul Jonker and I left Flamingo Lodge near the town of Namibe at dawn. That was almost 10 hours and 135 km ago. We’re on our way to the island village of São Martinho dos Tigres, a once bustling fishing community that flourished on this desert coast in the previous century. But 41 years ago all the residents…

Have you ever snorkelled over a reef and wished you could take a pic of the colourful parrotfish gnawing away at the coral? Or have you sat precariously in a mokoro, wanting to photograph the gnarled buffalo grazing a few metres away but afraid you might drop your expensive D-SLR into the Okavango Delta? Maybe you just want to take fun family photos of your Labrador playing with the kids in the swimming pool? It’s situations like these where an underwater camera like the Canon PowerShot D30 comes into its own. What’s to like? I took the Canon D30 to Madagascar recently for a paddling story (see go! #129). My wife Ronel and I also took our regular D-SLR and an assortment of lenses along, but we found ourselves using…

DUCK PARADE, VERGENOEGD WINE ESTATE This is a parade of a different kind. You won’t see drummies or a percussion band, but you will see ducks waddling across the farm yard from their pen. Lots of ducks – at last count more than a thousand! It’s a sight that will entertain both adults and kids. Vergenoegd started using ducks to control pests in their vineyards in 1984. The ducks like eating insects and other pests, especially snails, that damage the vines. It was only recently that they realised their ducks could be a tourist attraction. After watching the curious parade, sit under the trees and order a cheese platter with brie, biltong, chorizo, olives, basil pesto, humus and fresh bread (R150), plus a glass of wine, craft beer or home-made…

Puntjie is a seaside holiday village in the Southern Cape, about 50 km from Riversdale, and we go there at least twice a year. In the past, the farmers in the Vermaaklikheid area along the Duiwenhoks River travelled to a farm called Kleinefontein on the coast to catch fish and relax. The owner of the farm allowed the farmers to build kapstylhuisies for a lease fee of four shillings. The design of a typical kapstylhuisie originated in Europe and was adapted by the trek farmers of the Cape in the 18th century. It’s a simple A-frame house with a thatched roof that rests on the ground. My brother Pieter and I inherited our kapstylhuisie from our parents in 2005. Before that, in 1954, my father took it over from my…