Innehållsförteckning för August 2019 från Getaway

On a recent trip to Australia for a family wedding, I decided to tick one more sight off my bucket list: Uluru (Ayers Rock). The five-day ‘Kangaroo Dreaming’ camping tour with Wayoutback Safaris started in Alice Springs and our first stop was Uluru. A walk around the base of the rock revealed fascinating facts about traditional methods of painting and the interpretation of artwork, integral to sustaining the Aboriginal culture. Sunset and sunrise over Uluru was spectacular. Over the next few days we travelled across the vast outback and hiked through amazing canyons, including the towering walls and crevices of Watarrka National Park, Kings Canyon and the Ghost Gum Walk in Ormiston Gorge (pictured) in the West MacDonnell Ranges National Park. Our guide, a jack-of-all-trades, kept us entertained with local…

Tintswalo Lapalala WATERBERG, LIMPOPO You might be forgiven for spending most of the time in your tented suite rather than exploring the surrounding 45 000 hectares of Lapalala Wilderness Reserve. Each of the seven suites is so visually inviting you’ll want to sit a while and absorb the colours and textures curated by Tintswalo’s co-founder Gaye Corbett. I was in this predicament while Gaye showed us around. As our group toured the property, I lingered and got left behind, mesmerised by the arresting art displayed on the walls of each tent. South African photographer David Ballam’s portraits hold centre court in the suites, each themed around an African culture. The richness of bush colours – red ochre to orange browns –accent Himba and Turkana suites, while Tuareg and Venda come…

ADD TO YOUR KIT • Invest in a high-quality circular polariser (from around R2 000) to reduce window reflections and glare from shiny objects. • To minimise camera shake, you’ll want a shutter release, either a cable like this one (pictured right, from R670) or a wireless remote (from R370). • To ensure vertical and horizontal lines are straight, a triple-axis level is a decor photographer’s best-kept secret, and inexpensive enough to add to your own kit (from R90). It’s a mini spirit-level that fits onto the camera’s hot-shoe adaptor. Alternatively, most good digital cameras have electronic levels, which are almost as good. All these accessories are available at good photographic shops or online; prices quoted are approximate retail. GET MORE ONLINE From this issue onwards, Getaway will be adding…

Britain had just gained control of the Cape when the Barnards rolled out of Cape Town in a wagon bound for the interior, in 1798. Lady Anne was under strict instructions to ‘write how you found cultivation, what fare and accommodation you had in your tour into the interior, if there was good sport for your husband, and whether he and you think the Colony worth the keeping’. They opted for fast horses rather than slow oxen and packed essentials including ‘a pair of mattresses, two pair of blankets, sheets, pillows &c, in case we should find a want of beds at any of our nightly quarters’. My family (wife, two girls and a baby) and I are following the same brief 221 years later – in a similarly overloaded…

STAY HERE The Blue House is a handsome Victorian on Stanford’s market square. Built circa 1910, it has wood floors, tree-loads of fresh guavas and a wood-burning stove. R2 500 a night (sleeps eight). 082-893-2282, overberggems.co.za The Oaks outside Greyton is a sprawling property of farmlands, waterfalls, fynbos and magnificent Cape-Dutch architecture. Loft rooms in the manor house are R900 pp sharing B&B or Zonderend Farm House is R2 400 a night (sleeps six). 028-254-9710, theoaksestate.co.za Bontebok National Park is one of my favourites. We stayed in the modern chalets, from R1 342 (sleeps three), but the riverside campsite with half-tame bontebok is also a winner, from R227 a night (max six people). 028-514-2735, sanparks.org Penhill Farm in the Nuy Valley has a manor house that was built in 1840…

The African savannah was humankind’s original home – the landscape where our ancient ancestors started walking around on two legs about seven million years ago. More recently, however, researchers have uncovered strong evidence which shows that it was probably at the Cape where modern humans really came into their own. It was perhaps near a place like Kogelberg, on the shorelines between the mountains and ocean, where, about 100 000 years ago, humans started to think creatively and symbolically for the first time. Here, you can imagine, our ancestors could take a good ol’ break from the 9-to-5 grind of surviving on the savannah. And so, when you leave the coastal road that runs between Betty’s Bay and Kleinmond, and drive the few kilometres into Kogelberg Nature Reserve, there’s a…

My friends wore looks of scorn when I revealed my choice for the long weekend. ‘Glencoe by the sea,’ said one pal, a KwaZulu-Natal local. Now, I’d never been to Glencoe or Richards Bay, so the comparison was lost on me, but I knew Richards Bay didn’t have much of a vacation reputation. It was founded by Sir Frederick Richards, the Commodore of the Cape, as a supply post during the Anglo-Zulu War (1879), then evolved into a small fishing village surrounded by a nature reserve. In 1976 it underwent a drastic personality change with the development of Africa’s deepest natural harbour into SA’s largest port. Now people tend to associate Richards Bay with heavy shipping traffic and hardcore industry. They’re not wrong – it’s an important site of…

The team behind the new-in-SA range of Gregory Packs has a simple philosophy: they make packs you wear, not luggage you carry. Gregory Packs started its journey back in 1977. Since then, it’s been creating innovative ways for you to tote your gear while exploring the world. The designers are dedicated to building bags you can trust to take you there – because, like you, they’re keen to get to their next adventure. Explorers, adventurers and go-getters will find that Gregory luggage is designed for active travellers. The bags are high quality, durable and comfortable to wear. Whether you’re bagging a few bucket-list hikes in the Drakensberg or strapping your bag to an alpaca train in the Andes, there’s a Gregory bag for you. The Day Packs range comes in…

Nick Dall Following Lady Anne Barnard, page 56 Nick’s never been a fan of sticking closely to guidebooks, but he made an exception for Lady Anne Barnard’s Journal of a Months Tour into the Interior of Africa, written in May 1798. Swapping a wagon for an SUV, and adding three kids under six, he retraced her journey from Cape Town into the Overberg. It’s a trip and story that’ve been five years in the making for Nick, who first borrowed her diaries from the local library and was instantly hooked by her personality. Karin Schimke Israel, page 96 Israel is known for its religious and archaeological tourism, but Karin, a poet, was drawn to its bodies of water. She combined work and play to exploit the country’s relative smallness, and…

At the crack of an autumn dawn, our group from Bushmans Kloof lodge came together for the pilgrimage to the rocky outcrops above the remote hamlet of Heuningvlei, deep in the Cederberg mountains. On the rugged road there, open to traffic just once a year for this event, we passed city kids on mountain bikes and jovial impromptu 4x4 carpools. We were going to plant baby cedar trees. Seeds of the endemic Clanwilliam cedar tree are germinated at the nursery at Bushmans Kloof; the seedlings are then planted in bags and nurtured for about two years, until they’re strong enough to be planted out in nature. A sudden stillness descended on our merry lot once we put shovel to soil. The charred bark of the centuries-old cedar tree plantation around…

Take it yourself You don’t need to be a Photoshop whizz to bring the outdoors into your interiors. The secret is to balance the light. There are two ways to take a beautiful interior. One involves blending or merging different exposures in post-production. The other method is to wait for the light outside to get soft enough to match the light in the room – usually just before sunrise or after sunset. EQUIPMENT Whichever method you choose, a tripod is almost as important as the camera itself. Although it’s not a hard-and-fast rule, the most useful lens for interiors is a wide angle, either a zoom such as David’s 14-24mm lens or a prime lens of 20mm or wider. A circular polarising filter will reduce reflections in windows and cut…

FINALIST Camel Packing This image was taken in the unbearable heat of Ethiopia’s Danakil Depression, while an Afar tribesman loaded his camel with salt blocks. In the background lay an old camel waiting to be loaded for what was probably its last trip. – By Hesté de Beer, Kroonstad FINALIST A Gentle Touch On my first trip to one of my bucket-list destinations, I was observing a troop of baboons on the banks of Botswana’s Chobe River from a boat. There were many adults and several babies, which were barely a week old. I loved seeing the intimacy between this mom holding her baby lovingly and the dad gently touching the youngster’s face. It’s an experience I will always treasure. – By Braeme Holland, Cape Town FINALIST Starling Bath I…

ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHER David Rogers first visited Zambia’s Luangwa Valley in 1995 during his lengthy tenure as a photojournalist for Getaway. Since going solo as a freelance photographer, David has added photography teacher, guide and author of 12 books to his CV. When not behind the lens, he runs Photos & Africa, a photo-safari company that prides itself on putting guests in the right place at the optimum time. Join him this year on a guided predator safari to Luangwa in November, or an ‘emerald season’ river trip in February 2020. photosandafrica.com HOW HE GOT THE SHOTS There are few places on Earth that combine the landscapes, wildlife and wilderness of South Luangwa, says David. Spending a lot of time in the area, and learning to predict animal behaviour, are…

GETTING THERE From Durban, it’s 190km on the N2 north past Ballito and the R34 to Richards Bay. From Joburg, take the shortcut via Vrede, Newcastle and Vryheid. STAY HERE Imvubu Lodge has log cabins that sleep up to five in a tranquil forest setting. Don’t miss the happy-hour special at the Sundowner Bar. Self-catering from R590 pp sharing, or luxury suite with jacuzzi and sea view from R1 405 pp sharing B&B. 035-753-4122, imvubulodge.co.za Indaba Lodge is close to the beachfront and harbour. The website only shows hotel rooms but its swish self-catering suites are the bay’s best-kept secret. Each has a balcony begging for a fish braai, a fridge for bait and lockable parking for a boat. From R1 400 (sleeps four). 035-753-1350, indabarichardsbay.co.za Richards Bay Caravan Park…

On 23 August 1966, Lunar Orbiter 1 captured the first view of our planet, from the moon, 380 000 kilometres away. (The black-and-white image showed half the Earth, from Istanbul to Cape Town.) Ever since the Americans and Soviets became locked in a ‘space race’ in the late 1950s, space photography has been vital for weather prediction, map-making and surveillance. From a human perspective, these images have also put ‘us’ into context, creating an awareness of how fragile and inconsequential our planet is in the greater scheme of things. Who won the space race? Well, the jury’s out on that one, but there’s a new space race for the 21st century: taking ordinary people into orbit to enjoy views like this. It could be argued that the Russians have already…

Change gear It’s so popular, it’s now been increased to four days of high-octane fun. The Festival of Motoring in Joburg is devoted to every kind of vehicle, from vintage racers, muscle cars and supercars (hello McLaren, Lambo, Ferrari…) to off-roaders and the latest releases – even a glimpse into the future. There’s lots to watch, including thrilling racing and skid-pan demos, but also ways to get into the action yourself: pro drivers are on hand to take you round the Kyalami Grand Prix circuit or over the challenging 4x4 course, or you can do your own test-drive on the handling track. This year there’s also a Tech Zone and picnic area. Tickets R200 a day (kids R50), or weekend pass R500. 22–25 August. safestivalofmotoring.com Fill your belly Calvinia’s lip-licking…

‘The developers have approached this complex task – recreating a piece of Joburg history – with great care, while providing a very trendy shopping and dining destination,’ says Alex Zohany of Curry Up, one of the restaurants at the new Rand Steam complex in Richmond. ‘It’s not flash, it has some soul,’ agrees George Meintjies of Cowfish, another restaurant tenant. Rand Steam opened at the end of April, rising from the debris of heritage buildings that were almost totally demolished in 2008. It had once been the site of two large-scale steam laundries in the early days of the city, and before that an informal laundry for miners operated by Zulu amawashas along the Gas Works/Braamfontein Spruit. Nods to this history are found throughout the new shopping complex – a…

CANON EOS RP R18 999 (body only), canon.co.za Canon’s new release is among the smallest and lightest full-frame cameras on the market, which makes it perfect for street photography or hiking. It’s also the least expensive full-frame camera at launch ever (top-range models can cost more than R100 000). Some nice touches I really like are the excellent grip, fliparound touchscreen and reliable autofocus system. To hit its weight (just 485g), Canon had to cut some corners, so it lacks weather sealing and the battery is smaller – you’ll still get through a day of shooting, provided you turn the camera off between shots, and it can be charged via USB. It shoots 4K video but only at 24 frames per second, so it’s not aimed at professional videographers. But…

Interior images tend to have high contrast, such as bright windows, and darker areas where there’s less ambient light. Lightroom’s HDR tool easily compensates for this. It has become increasingly intuitive as Adobe’s AI (artificial intelligence) has grown – the more photos we take, the more Adobe learns. Simply take two or more exposures of exactly the same image and import them into Lightroom. Select the images, and right-click on your mouse. Select ‘photo merge’, ‘HDR’. A composite image appears, which you can fine-tune tone and even auto-align. Occasionally there are ghost-like transparency areas after the HDR is formed and you can use the de-ghost option to correct this. Then click ‘create stack’ and, voila! The HDR file that Lightroom generates is a RAW file, so you still have the…

HOW TripAdvisor lists accommodation rated by guests, but as much as we love peer reviews, they don’t offer a comparative voice – so how do we know No. 1 is really the best? Pippa de Bruyn, who has reviewed accommodation for 20 years for the likes of Frommer’s and The Telegraph,  scours TripAdvisor and other online sites when researching a destination. For Bela-Bela, she created a longlist of 16 to inspect. The following made the cut. WHAT I FOUND ABOUT ACCOMMODATION HERE • Previously known as Warmbaths, Bela-Bela in Limpopo is an unprepossessing town with no attractions apart from the Forever Resort hot springs. This then is about the surrounding bushveld, and its proximity to Gauteng’s cities is remarkable: within two hours you’ve swapped traffic jams for dirt tracks, slowing…

My maiden name, Van der Merwe, means ‘from the stretches of the River Merwede’ (in Holland). I like to think that this explains why I’m so attracted to bodies of water – rivers, lakes, dams, ocean. Or maybe it’s because our own bodies are half H20. Growing up in Nelspruit (now Mbombela), weekends often consisted of outings to nearby streams, pools and cascades. On the Panorama Route, around Sabie and Graskop, we were spoilt for choice when choosing a waterfall for a family picnic – Lone Creek, Bridal Veil or Horseshoe, to name a few. I remember birthday parties spent splashing in Mac Mac Pools, and pretending we were at the beach at Barberton’s ‘seaside’ – a stretch of white sand near water in the nature reserve. We’d laze about…

‘Found it,’ I texted my son in his wintry boarding house in Cape Town. Bemused by why I didn’t let him skip the end of mid-year exams and join me on a 12-day trip to Mozambique, Tom had issued this parting instruction: ‘Well then, Mom, find us a perfect place for our next family holiday, near a surf break with lots of space for friends.’ I was standing on the balcony of Casa Malcampo’s main house when I sent the message. A balmy evening breeze rustled the palms, while I looked over a headland to the beach. Renowned Tofinho surf point lay just around the corner. It was the perfect spot for a frosty Dois M after a long drive. There are few short road hops in Mozambique. Long ones…