Innehållsförteckning för Sep-15 från go!

Marine biologist and explorer Monty Hall and his expedition crew follow a pod of dolphins racing through the water off the coast of Port Alfred in the Eastern Cape. The dolphins, along with whales, seals, sharks and gannets, follow the mass migration of sardines from Port Elizabeth to the KZN South Coast. You can experience the Sardine Run from anywhere along this section of coast, although the Wild Coast around Port St Johns traditionally yields the best sightings.…

TOUR DETAILS Dates: 19 – 23 November 2015 How long is the tour? 5 days, 4 nights Average daily distance: 30 – 50 km Departure point: Fairview wine estate, Paarl Accommodation: Guesthouses, lodges and a luxury campsite. Rates: R7 950 per person sharing (single supplement R10 335); R3 975 per child under 10. ITINERARY Day 1: We meet at Fairview wine estate for lunch. We spend the afternoon tasting wine, beer and cheese at Spice Route next door, before heading to Paarl for the night. Day 2: After an early breakfast we load the bikes and gear and head to Prince Alfred’s Hamlet near Ceres, the gateway to the Koue Bokkeveld, which is where we’ll be riding for the next two days. We’ll ride some awesome single track between rocky…

D7200 The D7200 is up for anything, from shooting the slopes of Kilimanjaro to a lion kill in the Kruger. The D7200 is Nikon’s most advanced DX D-SLR. It might not have a full-frame sensor like its professional cousins, but that doesn’t mean it can’t take pro-level photos. The 24-megapixel sensor delivers incredible images, even in low light, which you can share instantly using the built-in Wi-Fi. The D7200 also shoots full HD 1080/60p video and it’s built tough – designed to survive the dust and damp that comes with any adventure. D5500 The D5500 might be smaller than the D7200 but it’s not short on features – or fun! With its versatile touch-screen monitor that can be flipped out and adjusted for various viewing angles, and a lightweight body…

TOUR DETAILS Date: 22 – 30 November 2015 How long is the tour? 9 days, 8 nights Departure point: Ulundi, KZN End point: Ithala Game Reserve Accommodation: Formal accommodation Rates: R15 550 per person. Single supplement additional 30 %. THE TOUR IN A NUTSHELL Day 1: We meet at Ulundi and drive to Hluhluwe-Imfolozi. Day 2: We drive a 4x4 route that’s not open to the general public. Day 3: We visit the game capture complex at the Centenary Centre before heading towards the coast. We’ll spend two nights in St Lucia. Dinner that evening is served inside iSimangaliso Wetland Park. Guests are collected from their hotel in game-viewing vehicles and taken for a night drive inside the park. Day 4: Enjoy some free time. Spend the day snorkelling at…

Like many South Africans, I grew up in a Toyota. Or a pair of Toyotas: an early 1970s model FJ40 Land Cruiser farm bakkie that still runs if you ask it to nicely, and a Cressida station wagon that someone liked so much they stole it. I don’t think the Land Cruiser has ever left our home district. During its heyday, it was a workhorse that transported firewood, sheep, salt lick and people from point A to B over mountain passes, through rivers in flood and along rocky dirt roads. Sometimes the Cruiser went into town, but I think the last time that happened was in the early 1990s. The Cressida was our family car. It took us to school on Monday mornings and fetched us on Fridays for weekends…

PADDLES None of these boats will go anywhere without a paddle. Fortunately, finding a decent one is neither difficult nor expensive. Legend Kayaks plastic paddle All the boats featured (except the canoe) use a double-blade, asymmetrical paddle like this one. It might be an entry-level paddle, but it’s got a strong aluminium shaft and tough plastic blades – and it floats. A great beginners’ option. R350 at dealers throughout South Africa; legendkayak.co.za TNP 603.2 paddle This paddle is cut from superior cloth: It has a super-strong duralumin shaft that extends all the way to the high-density polyethylene blades. It can also split in the middle for easy storage. R790 at Canoe & Kayak World and select retailers; canoekayak.co.za TNP 601.0 canoe paddle A canoe is much…

It’s quiet at first, then sounds start to filter through the silence: the bleating of sheep in the distance and a voice herding them along, a creaking windmill, a bakkie idling somewhere. I’m on a koppie with the word “Murraysburg” spelled out in white rocks on its slope. I climbed up just before sunrise for a view of the landscape. I might be deep in the Karoo, but my surroundings are far from flat. The Sneeuberg range rolls out to the east with Spitskop towering over everything. To the south-west is the comparatively lush gannaveld. The town is a fertile oasis fed by the Buffalo River. Murraysburg is in the north-western corner of the Western Cape on the R63, about 42 km from where the N1 connects Richmond and Beaufort…

September is eclipse month! On 13 September (at new moon) there will be a partial solar eclipse. And during the early hours of 28 September, at full moon, there will be a total lunar eclipse. What will make the lunar eclipse even more impressive is that it coincides with a “super moon” , when the full moon appears bigger and brighter. (See go! #98.) A solar eclipse always corresponds with the new moon and a lunar eclipse is always at full moon. That said, there isn’t an eclipse with every full moon or new moon because the moon’s orbit around the earth is slightly slanted with respect to the earth’s orbit around the sun. Twice a year, when the two orbits intersect, we get “eclipse seasons” – it’s normal to…

How did you fall in love with hiking? The idea of climbing Kili entered my mind in 2002, while I was being pushed into the operating theatre for knee surgery. I had never even hiked before, never mind climbed a mountain. Two weeks later (on crutches), I spent my bonus on the necessary equipment and later that year I climbed to the top. It felt as if I was born to be in the mountains. Why mountains in Africa? During a hike in 2004 I bumped into a group of people who were training to climb Margherita Peak in Uganda. I decided to join them. Two weeks later I was on the summit of Margherita. Among mountaineers, doing the seven summits – the highest peaks on each continent – is…

I never met my grandfather, but I’ve been going on holiday to the house he built on the seafront since I was born. It’s an elegant white double storey and inside it will always be 1975: the year the house was finished. The kitchen is orange – from the tiles to the linoleum floor – and the wall-to-wall carpets are somewhere between leopard print and tiger stripe. There are four bedrooms and each has its own bathroom and colour scheme: blue, yellow, green and purple. The master bedroom – the so-called Purple Palace – is astonishing. The other en suite bathrooms are accessed via saloon doors (like in a Western), but the Purple Palace is open-plan, designed in a conservative era before the concept even existed. That’s only half of…

It’s a cliché to say that Africa is a continent of contrasts, but it is. Incredible natural beauty and dire poverty exist side by side. This is highlighted once again when we visit the Batwa pygmies in the town of Kisoro and Lake Bunyonyi on the same day. We are now almost halfway through our ninth expedition in Africa for our new series Voetspore in die Groot Skeurvallei, which traces the Great Rift Valley from where it runs into the Indian Ocean near Beira in Mozambique, north through Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia and finally to Lake Assal in Djibouti. Kisoro is in the south-western corner of Uganda, close to the borders with Rwanda and the DRC. The landscape is dotted with dormant volcanoes – about 70km south-west of Kisoro is Nyiragongo,…

TOUR DETAILS Dates: 19 – 29 April 2016 28 June – 8 July 2016 6 – 16 August 2016 15 – 25 September 2016 How long is the tour? 11 days, 10 nights Departure point: Nata, Botswana End point: Kasane, Botswana Accommodation: Formal accommodation Rates: R20 850 per adult. Single supplement additional 30 %. THE TOUR IN A NUTSHELL Day 1: We meet at Nata Lodge and enjoy sunset at the famous Makgadikgadi Pans. Day 2: We explore Maun and surrounds, with an optional flight over the Okavango Delta. Day 3: Near Sepupa, motorboats will take us to a houseboat on the Okavango River, where we’ll spend two nights. Day 4: Enjoy a mokoro or motorboat cruise on the delta, or do some tigerfishing. Day 5: We return to the…

CRUISE-N-SNOOZE, VAAL BARRAGE A weekend on a houseboat is not only tranquil and romantic, it’s also an adventure! Be the captain of your own ship as you explore the Vaal Barrage Reservoir, a 64 m-long dam on the Vaal River. Cruise-n-Snooze is on a peninsula in the Vaal Barrage. The houseboat is moored right in front of the premises, where there are also two self-catering rondavels. Once on board, you can cruise at your own pace and sip something cold while the sun sets over the water. Drop anchor in a side stream and watch as the birds come home to roost, then listen to the frogs start their nocturnal serenade. If you’ve never piloted a boat, don’t stress: There’s a short training session before they let you out on…

The quiver tree is easy to fall in love with: It’s ancient, hardy and humble. Most are older than you by decades and they survive in some of the harshest landscapes around. It’s not a tree that likes to show off, only displaying a crown of yellow flowers once a year in early winter. We thought we’d share the love: enclosed with this issue, local readers will find a few quiver tree seeds – just in time for Arbor Week (1 – 7 September). A quiver tree grows slowly and yours will only reach hip height in about 15 years’ time, but think of it this way: You’ll grow old together. 1 Prepare the soil. Mix two parts loam soil and one part decayed compost. You don’t have to sift…

5 SEPTEMBER Genealogy and family heritage festival How well do you know your own family history? Celebrate heritage month at this festival, where there will be various exhibitions and info sessions on genealogical topics. After you’ve worked up an appetite, visit the tea garden and food stalls. Where? Lynnwoodrif Dutch Reformed church, 269 Lancia Street, Lynnwood Ridge, Pretoria When? 8.30 am – 1.30 pm Cost: Free. Contact: Isabel Groesbeek 082 441 2325; isabelg@mweb.co.za 6 SEPTEMBER Cellar Rats Wine Festival If you live in Gauteng and like wine, you’ll love this event. The Cellar Rats Festival is only a 45-minute drive from Joburg’s northern suburbs. More than 100 wine producers will be showcasing more than 600 wines and products. There will also be craft breweries and food stalls. Book a picnic…

To “Kruger” is to experience one of the world’s premier big game conservation areas, from the comfort of your family sedan, in your own time, for cheap. Yes, I’m using Kruger as a verb here, because visiting this super park is an all-encompassing experience. It’s unique, and uniquely South African. To Kruger is to drive slowly – on a tar road, usually – through the bush, scanning the landscape for its wild details: a tree squirrel yakking at an African harrier-hawk, or the tiny ears of a Sharpe’s grysbok moving in the grass. But most of all you’ll be scanning for those golden brown shapes that can mean only one thing: lions! To Kruger is to pitch your tent or park your caravan in a safe campsite where you can…

It’s mid-winter in Lady Grey and I’m shivering on David Cock’s farm Tempe with Cobus van Graan from Potchefstroom and his son Coenraad. Winter in Lady Grey is no joke. Standing water freezes, the landscape frosts over and it snows regularly. “Raait, let’s go for a walk,” David says, sounding chipper. “I’ve never been in these mountains and not seen a reedbuck.” His enthusiasm is for our benefit: It’s already 11am and we’ve just spent four fruitless hours looking for francolin. We haven’t seen a reedbuck either. I wonder if we’ll succeed in any of the three disciplines… The annual Royal MacNab Challenge is held over three days. A big braai kicks off proceedings on the Thursday evening; on the Friday the participants adjust their rifles and get their eyes…

It was June 1955 and the winter holidays were around the corner. I was gathered with some of my friends in a residence room at the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein. My roommate Piet Strydom told us that he would be flying to Lusaka in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) to visit his parents. The rest of us were in awe – to our minds Northern Rhodesia was a strange, far-off place. But I was intrigued, and I told Piet I would visit him in Lusaka, hitch-hiking all the way in my university blazer. “Who’s with me?” I asked, and my friends just laughed. No one had enough money to travel. But Jan Smit from Villiersdorp raised his hand. We started making plans and agreed to meet each other…

The Nature’s Best Photography Africa competition was launched this year to celebrate the incredible diversity of wildlife, landscape and culture on our continent. A cousin of the US-based Nature’s Best Photography competition, the local version attracted 6 500 entries for the 10 categories. Many of us have heard of Bidvest CEO Brian Joffe in a business context, but who knew he was also a keen photographer? Brian won the “Photographer of the Year” category and says of his hobby: “Stress and fatigue are a constant threat to my well-being. That’s why I plan my schedule to allow frequent trips to places like Botswana. Putting my eye to the camera’s viewfinder becomes an act of regeneration in an outdoor environment that I love.” Our jobs might not be as stressful as…

ADRENALIN ADDO, EASTERN CAPE If you’re the competitive type, listen up: At Adrenalin Addo, you can ride what is claimed to be Africa’s longest double zipline. Ever wanted to race your best bud? Now you can! The zipline spanning the Sundays River is 65 m high, 500 m long and allows you to reach speeds of up to 80 km/h. Pant your way to the top of the hill with your harness, leaving the aloes and prickly pears behind. Turn your head and you’ll see the Zuurberg, where Boer, British and Xhosa soldiers fought and fell more that 100 years ago. Running below is the unstoppable Sundays River, like a metaphor for the history that flows along with it. “Three, two, one!” Suddenly you’re flying high above the river, as…