Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2022 i Getaway

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…

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 Instrument strings were originally made from GUTS OF ANIMALS like cows or sheep (depending on what was geographically available to the makers).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,…

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1 | Stanley Adventure Stainless Steel Shot Glass Set, green R640, campandclimb.co.za This set of four 60ml, stainless steel shot glasses is perfect for a party on the move. They nest together and pack away into something that looks, a little amusingly, like a tiny flask. 2 | Melvill and Moon Harry Moon Side Table R3 750, melvillandmoon.com This compact fold-up table comes with a roll-up wooden slatted top that’s covered in a removable canvas. I like the look without the cover best, but drinks balance better when it’s on. The top is tightened with straps when stored and the legs are collapsible, allowing everything to fit inside its own heavy-duty draw-string canvas bag for easy trips to your favourite outdoor spaces. 3 | Melvill and Moon Field Chair R2…

Piketberg sits brooding on the eastern slopes of Piketberg Mountain, a range that stands alone, an island bordered by the three towns – with Aurora to the west and Redelinghuys to the north. It is intertwined with its mountain, which watches over it, benevolently. The little town is dominated by its huge neo gothic Dutch Reformed Church, built at the top of Kerk/Church Street in 1880 with a commanding view of the surrounding farmlands. It is here that Piketbergʼs historical heart sits. And it is this that we have come to explore, cranking up the N7 from Cape Town. The smaller roads always lead to the best places. The church was designed by architect Carl Otto Hager and is built of Table Mountain sandstone. Back then, it cost the princely…

As with many excellent ideas, it all started with a conversation in a tiny pub. INEOS Chairman, Sir Jim Ratcliffe and some friends were discussing their need for a stripped back, utilitarian, hard-working 4×4 engineered for modern day compliance and reliability. In 2017 this idea became a reality, and the INEOS Grenadier was born - named after the Grenadier pub where it was first discussed. Fun fact: the original drawings for the INEOS Grenadier were done on serviettes in the pub, and these now hang framed on the wall for those who want to visit the pub to see where it all started. Four years, numerous prototypes and millions of kilometres of testing later, and the INEOS Grenadier is now ready for its launch onto the adventure 4×4 market. INEOS…

Ilanded in Bangkok just before midnight on a muggy night in April. More specifically, 14 April, right in the middle of Songkran. ‘You go, you go!’ my driver barked at me as I stared wide-eyed at him from the back seat of his taxi. Water splashed against the windows. I could see no sign of the Green House Hostel. ‘You go!’ he shouted one more time, as I climbed out of the car and retrieved my luggage from the boot. I was there to teach English for the year, and had overpacked so desperately that I strained under the weight of my suitcase. It was too hard and too heavy to carry so I dragged it, wheels spinning in the wet streets. As soon as I closed the car door,…

Thereʼs only one rule for riding out in the lawless wastelands of the Skeleton Coast: stay on your horse. And it was being tested as 15 riders and two loose horses galloped in a ragged bunch, dirt powering from hooves and tears of exhilaration streaming from ridersʼ eyes, and wild whooping filling the air. Our horses felt the energy in the wacky race, had sensed it from the moment Andrewʼs hand waved that slow, lazy circle and dropped, like a flag on a race track, and then it was every rider for themselves in the quest to see who was the fastest. Pounding hooves and outstretched necks yielded to an easier lope as one by one the horses gradually pulled away, slowing down, and a winner was revealed: young Jac…

BROOKDALE – A HEAVENLY ESCAPE IN THE PAARL WINELANDS The Cape Winelands is a simply magical area. Rolling vineyards are drenched in African sunshine and here, set against the dramatic backdrop of the Klein Drakenstein Mountains, is Brookdale Estate. The recently opened Brookdale Manor House is a place of imagination, wellness and tranquillity, a refuge for the inquisitive and the inspired. Feel at home in the privacy and elegance of Brookdale Manor House, where six spacious suites, complete with all creature comforts and luxuries, sleep up to 12 adults and two children. In todayʼs busy and ever-changing world, Brookdale creates a space to think, feel, reflect and pause in a safe bubble with friends and family. Tranquil gardens, stylish interiors and a calming environment invite guests to destress and rejuvenate.…

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)…

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…

We remember that stormy afternoon in the Sneeuberg Mountains like it was yesterday: a stone-and-brick cottage next to a wetland, a rusty car wreck under a Scottish Pine, tea brewing in the kitchen and darkening skies over the looming Compassberg. We scrambled for cameras as the last splash of sunlight fell on the valley, turning all to perfection. In fact, it was back in the late summer of 2013, and we had been tooling around Doornberg Farm with the owner, Peet van Heerden, whoʼs quite famous in these parts as the unofficial historian-raconteur of Nieu-Bethesda. Peet took us to meet Liesbeth and Olav Loeber from the Netherlands down at Die Vleihuisie, their enchanting Karoo cottage in the middle of a rather splendid nowhere. Jules and I looked at each other…

‘There are so many ways to capture the beauty of the fynbos and I was looking for a different way to highlight the incredible symmetry and structure of the flowers, particularly the Leucospermums (pincushions) and other proteas. I've been experimenting with low-light photography for a while and I couldn't help but think that when the pincushions and proteas were gently illuminated with supplemental light, they resembled fireworks. To capture these portraits (which are of actual flowers growing in situ, either in the mountains or in Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden), I choose dull days or low-light conditions and I select very dark backgrounds to enhance the contrast. I then apply supplemental light – this requires some experimentation – and further underexpose the background. I donʼt use Photoshop but Lightroom enables me…

FINALIST Hippo Fight This photo was taken on the Chobe River in Botswana. We arrived by boat late in the fight with massive scarring visible on both the hippos. It was a long, physical and vocal encounter. The adage goes "size matters", and in this case Big Mouth won. As it was already late in the afternoon I had to use an ISO of 1800 to try to get an adequate shutter speed of 1/1600 to freeze the action. Every time I look at my picture, I re-live this unique experience. By Antionette Morkel, Gqeberha Nikon D5; Nikkor 600mm lens; f/6.1; ISO 1800; 1/1600 sec FINALIST Python Pair I found this by chance on a quiet sand road in Kruger National Park. I did a little loop overlooking the river and…

Stay Here WE STAYED ONLY IN HOMESTAYS and found the accommodation to be simple but superb. Although there are no frills (you’ll share a hut with your whole group; toilets are long-drops and you’ll need to bathe from a bucket), the host families take great care and pride in making sure guests are comfortable. Breakfasts and dinners are hearty, with most ingredients grown in the hosts’ gardens. From R450 to R500 per person per night, including all meals. Book through map.wildcoastza.co.za Do this WILDCOASTZA’S INTERACTIVE MAP allows you to “look” around the area (which is brilliant for helping to plan your trip) and take a 360-degree tour of the coastline’s hotels and homestays. You can also see the region’s attractions, and connect directly with the guides who’ll help you get…