Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2016 i go!

My pet pangolin This winter I found a pangolin caught in an illegal snare. My husband and son freed it and I set about nursing it back to health. I did some research about how best to care for my patient, assisted by Darren Pietersen from the African Pangolin Working Group. In time, the pangolin healed. I called him Ietie. After a while he’d recognise my voice and trot over to look for snacks – usually ants I’d collected in the veld. Pangolins don’t do well in small spaces because they walk kilometres after every meal to aid digestion. So we took Ietie for walks. He slept in front of the heater with our dogs and our chicken Piep. Pangolins are an endangered species and it was a privilege to…

Spot a shark with your smartphone How many times have you and the kids arrived at Muizenberg Beach for a swim only to see the white shark flag blowing in the wind? Nothing derails a day at the beach like a shark that’s been seen in the water. The Shark Spotters organisation has a new app you can use to check out the conditions at your favourite beach in Cape Town. The spotters work on the beaches and update the app to ensure you get the latest information. This free app not only reports shark sightings, but also provides safety tips, weather conditions, sightings of other marine animals (like whales, seals or dolphins) and even video clips of the waves so you’ll know whether to bring your surfboard. Download it.…

No other tree is as distinctive as the baobab. According to African folklore, God asked the animals to help him plant the trees of the earth during the Creation. The hyena, lazy and slow of wit, was given the task of planting the baobab, which he stuck in the ground upside down. Interestingly, the baobab is regarded as the world’s largest succulent. It has no woody parts and when the tree dies, it disintegrates into a tangle of fibres. The African baobab (Adansonia digitata) occurs only on our continent, but the Adansonia genus has eight other species, of which the Adansonia kilima also occurs in Africa. This tree resembles the African baobab and grows in the same places, but has a different genetic makeup. Six other baobab species are endemic…

Far below my feet, ocean meets land. The navy sea lightens and turns to foam, blending with Coke-coloured water from the Lottering River. The cliffs are steep on both sides of the river, and full of trees. At the base of one of those cliffs are two huts, a lapa and a bathroom. The buildings look tiny from up here. It’s day three on the Otter Trail and we’ve already hiked about 7km. The hills have taken their toll. Every time I bend my knees, my legs start shaking. Moments ago I was obsessing over the belt of my backpack, which was cutting into my hips, but this view has wiped out all my complaints. I’m on the trail with 11 friends. Between us we’ve done quite a few of…

1 KORINGKORRELBAAI: Spy and Nazi sympathiser Robey Leibbrandt came ashore here in June 1941. Leibbrandt represented South Africa at the 1936 Olympic Games in Germany as a boxer, and returned there two years later to study at a gymnastics academy. When World War II broke out, Leibbrandt joined the German army and became the first South African to train as a paratrooper and glider pilot. During Operation Weissdorn, a German coup to overthrow the South African government headed by Jan Smuts, Leibbrandt was dropped off on the Namaqualand coast with orders to promote the pro-German movement and teach people how to build bombs. He was arrested in 1942 and charged with high treason. When he was found guilty, he was given the death penalty, but Smuts changed his sentence to…

Ford Ranger 2.2 Automatic Nearly 70 % of Ranger buyers choose automatic transmission over manual. This is hardly surprising since bakkies have become extremely popular with suburbanites. Who wants to fight with a manual bakkie on a daily commute? But a 2.2-litre automatic? Common wisdom has it that a small-capacity, turbo-diesel engine mated with an automatic gearbox often suffers from sluggish performance or amplified turbo lag, or the gearbox hunts around for the appropriate cog. However, Ford seems to have avoided these pitfalls thanks to torque-converter technology and attentive engine-management software. A total of nine 2.2 TDCi auto models will be offered, including single, super and double cabs, in 2x4 and 4x4. This expands the Ranger range to a mega 36 models. This is good news for suburbia because the…

My family has always enjoyed exploring southern Africa, and we have lots of photo albums full of memories. This photo was taken during a tour of Swaziland, Mozambique and Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in 1951, when I was 7 years old. Our group of eight travelled in a 1948 Plymouth Special Deluxe sedan, with a roof rack for our luggage. In the boot was a set of bespoke travel bags designed to fit the vehicle. During the holiday, we spent some time camping on Polana Beach in Lourenço Marques, now Maputo. The ablution blocks were primitive. I remember that the showers worked with chains – if you let go of the chain, the water (always cold) stopped flowing. So you had to wash with one hand. It’s best if we don’t…

When I was young and single, I travelled all over Africa as a travel writer, from Pilgrim’s Rest to Madagascar. It was exciting but often tiring. Time flies. Before I knew it, I was married with two kids. Now, the most important things on my packing list are nappies and sing-along CDs! My daughter Emilie is five years old and I wanted to show her that I don’t just sit behind a computer all day. We left Cape Town early and pulled over at several farm stalls on the N7, hunting for milk tart. We arrived at Cedar Escape late in the afternoon and we explored the tree houses together. Later we ate pies from the Kardoesie farm stall for dinner and watched birds flying from branch to branch. It…

Supersize meal for a martial Q PIERRE BRITTION from Joburg writes: Near the Leeudril waterhole in the Kgalagadi, I saw this martial eagle and kori bustard sitting close to each other on the ground. It was clear that there had been a skirmish because there were clumps of feathers in the grass next to the kori bustard. And I could see blood on the eagle’s beak. Now the two were just staring at each other and neither was trying to make an escape. Suddenly the eagle attacked again, and the bustard fought back. Again, neither was an outright winner. It this normal behaviour? A Ornithologist ADRIAN CRAIG says: This is a very interesting sighting. Although there have been some recorded incidents of martial eagles preying on kori bustards, they usually…

Cordon Bleu Farm Shop, Iringa, Tanzania You probably don’t travel to Dar es Salaam on a regular basis, but if you ever come this way you should pull over at Cordon Bleu. It’s named after a rare waxbill and it houses equally rare finds (for this region, at least). When I saw the sign advertising biltong I almost drove off the road! They also sell honey, butter, cheese, meat, olive oil, chutney, ice cream and South African wines. The biltong is expensive (R240 for a big bag of sliced beef biltong), but if you haven’t had biltong in a while you’ll pay it with a smile. Where? 32 km west of Iringa on the highway to Dar es Salaam. Contact: 00 255 767 008 657 (Mark); loiborsoit.tz@gmail.com –…

You were up early, early enough to see a lioness stalk an impala, a hippo chase away a pesky crocodile and now, after a glorious sunset that lit up the acacia trees, you’re bone tired and ready for bed. Except there’s no bed. There’s just a dinky tent and an old yoga mat waiting for you… Don’t worry, the folks at Camp Master have got you covered! This original South African brand knows our African conditions and it has a comprehensive range of essential camping equipment for all your needs. All our featured products come with a one-year quality guarantee, whether it’s the Camp Dome 800 tent that can comfortably accommodate a big family, or the single camo stretcher that ensures a good night’s sleep – even if you’re built…

Francois van der Merwe from the farm Brakfontein looks at the list in his folder. “Rough and Dust... I should be at Space Cowboys... No, Metastofisis,” he says. “I don’t understand the names. Did they just make them up, or is there some deeper meaning?” We’ve just dropped off a water tank at the Purple Spanking Booth. Francois is quiet for a few seconds. “I’m having trouble visualising what’s going on here,” he says. “They have a guillotine type thing and people will be chained to it?” Francois and I are driving around the AfrikaBurn festival site on Stonehenge farm, about 160 km north of Ceres. On one side, the Cederberg rises from the horizon. In the other direction is the Roggeveld escarpment. It’s almost the end of April, a…

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 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 leave for the Richtersveld. We pass through the villages of Lekkersing, Eksteenfontein and Kuboes. We stay two nights at Sendelingsdrift on the Orange River. DAY 4: We spend…

1 Cedar Escape NEAR CITRUSDAL At the foot of the Olifantsrivier Mountain, there’s a poplar forest on the bank of the river. In this forest, you can sit on a deck in the branches, watching a pair of Cape robin-chats chase each other around. Cedar Escape is a tree “village” crossed with a backpacker lodge. Wooden walkways in the forest connect five double rooms to a communal bathroom. There are two ways to exit the forest – one route goes down to the parking area and the other heads to a communal outdoor area next to the river. You can braai on one of the decks or under the trees, or you can explore the river in a canoe. The tree houses can sleep 10 people in total. Invite your…

Landscape photographer Liesel Kershoff was driving along Clarence Drive, between Gordon’s Bay and Rooiels on the False Bay coast, when she saw a reddish colour in the ocean caused by an algal bloom – a red tide. She stopped at a beach called Dappat se Gat with her Rottweiler called Rommel and took some photos at sunset. Only after the sun had gone down did she notice that the red waves had begun to glow. The same micro-organisms that cause a red tide are also responsible for this phenomenon, known as bioluminescence. Liesel stayed longer, shooting different angles. Rommel picked up on the excitement and started running in circles, his paws lighting up the sand like disco lights. “We stayed until 10 pm, just Rommel and me, having the most…

The longest summer day This year, the summer solstice will take place on 21 December at 12.45 pm. As summer progresses, the sun’s highest point above the horizon increases every day. During the solstice, the sun reaches its highest position and it is directly above the tropic of Capricorn. This results in the longest day and the shortest night, and it’s the official midpoint of summer. But don’t think that it signifies the turn of the season and cooler weather. In South Africa, our seasons are about two months “behind”, which means February is our hottest month. During the summer solstice, Antarctica experiences a midnight sun, when the sun doesn’t set. In contrast, the sun doesn’t rise at the North Pole and the day is as dark as night. The…

While you should always strive for elegance and poise in your daily life, you’re under no obligation to do so in the Kalahari. Being a kanaalaap – someone who grew up next to the irrigation canals that water the fields and vineyards of Upington and surrounds – has its advantages. I can tell a golden sultana from a Thompson seedless raisin, I could swim before I could walk and, above all, I know a thing or two about extreme heat. If there’s ever an Olympics for the hottest place on earth, the Kalahari would bring the heat to beat. Okay, places like Dallol in Ethiopia, the Lut Desert in Iran and northern Queensland in Australia might be hotter according to science, and even our own South African Weather Service says…

Children What makes one beach more child-friendly than the next? They all have sand and waves, so what’s the difference? Well, the parents want to relax. For that to happen, you need a specific kind of beach, preferably one with a shallow lagoon or some rock pools so you can build sandcastles and look for starfish and anemones. As soon as the kids are engrossed, you can slip away to your towel. If your kids are confident swimmers, a tidal pool is also a must. It’s much safer than the open sea. And, of course, there has to be a soft-serve kombi in the parking area. Our pick: Boulders (near Simon’s Town), Palmiet (Kleinmond), Goukou River (Still Bay), Nature’s Valley, Morgan Bay, Uvongo, Umhlanga Rocks. Tidal pools: Herold’s Bay, Victoria…

ELEPHANT LEISURE RESORT, NEAR CITRUSDAL This resort is good for a summer or a winter holiday. In summer, you can relax on the stoep with a view of the Olifantsrivier Mountains, fill the Jacuzzi with cold water (also on the stoep), lie in a hammock or make new friends at the resort swimming pool. In winter, bring board games and books, light a fire in the fireplace and fill the Jacuzzi with piping hot water. The resort was busy being upgraded during my visit and there were still a few finishing touches that needed to be sorted out, but the white linen and complementary coffee beans for the coffee grinder more than made up for the inconvenience. I can recommend Unit 4, which had a complete makeover. There are big…

There can’t be many South African sun-seekers who haven’t greased their shoulders and spread their towels on one of Plett’s golden beaches. Or maybe you have childhood memories of Plett: catching your first real wave at Central Beach and dropping your soft serve into the boiling sand while running back to the brolly. Yes, Plett is a happy place where families get together and catch up on the year’s events; where the stoep of the holiday house is eternally littered with boogie boards and flip-flops, covered in a gritty layer of beach sand. The town has changed over the years. Opulent houses have sprouted on the ridge behind Robberg Beach and the suburbs have grown. Main Street is busy at most times of the year, full of boutique stores and…

Angola is still finding its feet after years of colonial occupation and civil war. Popular tourist attractions are becoming easier to visit, but travelling in the rural areas remains a challenge. Camping is only possible if you have a relationship with the local people and permission from the local soba (chief). Travel journalist Evan Naudé works for our sister mag Drive Out. He was on an organised 4x4 tour of Angola and his group camped on a soccer field in the mountains near the town of Seles, south of Luanda. After the others had gone to bed, Evan put his camera on a tripod, set the self-timer and ran around to pose beneath the Milky Way, in front of an abandoned grass hut. He lit up the foreground with his…