Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2017 i go!

A thief in the night – with quills! We visited the Karoo National Park in February and had an unusual experience. One night, we packed snacks into a small cool bag for the following day’s game drive. When we went to bed, we left the cool bag in our side tent on a chair – the bag wasn’t closed all the way. The next morning I went into the tent to get the bag, but it was gone! On our way out of the camp, I asked one of the staff members, William Frieslaar, to keep an eye out for it, with our stash of biscuits, sweets, dried fruit and coffee inside. He smiled and said, “Sir, it’s the porcupine.” I was so baffled that I didn’t ask any more…

Now you see it, now you don’t An occultation occurs when a celestial body like a planet, dwarf planet, asteroid or the moon moves in front of a star and obscures the light from that star partially or completely. You’d expect the moon to move past stars regularly, but such an occultation is actually a rare occurrence. And when it does happen, you have to be in the right place at the right time to witness it. So mark off 31 May, when about half the country will bear witness to the brightest occultation of the year, when the moon moves in front of the star Regulus. If you live along the line that roughly transects Kathu, Kimberley and Port St Johns, you’re in for a real treat. As Regulus…

The other day I discovered my first wrinkle. I was in the car, and it appeared during a routine glance in the visor mirror. I took a picture and sent it to my sister, who pronounced its veracity. She battled to hide her glee. Then there’s the supermarket shopping thing. My partner and I have discovered that it’s one of our favourite things to do together. He likes the outdoorsy stuff in that one odd aisle where you’ll also find the seed packets; I like the veggies and anything in a glass bottle. We prefer shopping to clubbing. Finally, and importantly, a doctor friend of mine recently pinched me. As he did, he pulled the skin on my arm a good two inches. “Look!” he said with delight. “You’re so…

1 The prickly pear must be celebrated The humble prickly pear is one of the Karoo’s lesser-known delights. In Laingsburg we bought prickly pear jam and in Gamkaskloof we were taught how to pick prickly pears and then how to preserve them. Picking them is no easy feat because they’re covered in microscopic thorns. Thankfully we had a pro to help. Tannie Annetjie Joubert, who was born in the kloof and has lived there for most of her life, showed us how to rub farm butter over our hands and then scrape out the thorns using a knife. (Read an interview with Tannie Annetjie on p 60 .) Often, when we arrived at a new guesthouse, a bowl of fridge-chilled, peeled prickly pears would be waiting. We had prickly…

“When people talk about the Kloof, it tugs at my heart,” says Annetjie Joubert (71), her voice filled with emotion. “I can still see the blood on my father’s shoulders after a day of carrying sweet potatoes in baskets to store them for the lean months.” “The Kloof” is Gamkaskloof, better known as Die Hel, a 20km-long refuge deep in the Swartberg between Oudtshoorn and Prince Albert. There’s only one road in, which turns off near the summit of the Swartberg Pass. It takes me two hours to drive in the magazine’s high-clearance Renault Duster. I meet Annetjie at the restaurant on Fontein Guest Farm, a popular stop for tourists, adventure bikers and other visitors to the kloof. Yes, it can get blisteringly hot in summer, she says, but the…

BLYDE CANYON, A FOREVER RESORT If you thought that family resorts were busy places with loud music and noisy children, think again. Blyde Canyon is surprisingly quiet, even during peak season. The stone chalets stand in rows on terraces. Some are under big trees (yes, that’s a vervet monkey in the branches) and others (numbers 73 to 98) have great views. Narrow paths wind through dense forests from one terrace to the next, where you might see the flash of an African paradise-flycatcher. Some of the paths take you to the edge of the escarpment for views of the Blyde River Canyon, the Three Rondavels and the dam down below. Other paths follow the course of a stream. The resort is near the northern tip of the canyon and it’s…

When you travel along the N5 between Bethlehem and Senekal, you’ll see Paul Roux next to the road with its back against a sandstone koppie. You might glimpse the tower and the weathervane of the Dutch Reformed church above the trees and you’ll probably notice the small filling station closer to the road, but you won’t see much else. Many people simply drive on. If you visit Paul Roux on a weekday between 1 pm and 2 pm, you won’t see much in town either. The OVK co-op will be closed for lunch and the streets will be deserted barring a few cows and a tractor. In earlier years, even before the town was established in 1910, the area was a popular and busy stopover for Voortrekkers and post cart…

Spending time on an uninhabited island has a way of calming the mind. Robinson Crusoe discovered this therapeutic phenomenon, as did Tom Hanks’s character in Cast Away. It takes only 20 minutes to walk around Malgas Island and during my six days there I must have done so a hundred times. Occasionally I walked with my wife and daughter, but most times I walked alone. Every now and then I’d get bogged down reflecting on personal problems, but then I’d witness a gannet trying in vain to protect its chick from a ravenous pelican. My problems suddenly seemed small by comparison. That said, gloomy thoughts certainly weren’t the norm on Malgas. In the beginning I diligently wore shoes, but by the third day I went barefoot and allowed guano to…

Donald Trump’s caterpillar? Q SAM BASCH from Pretoria writes: I found this larva on a game farm near Thabazimbi. Its hair reminded me of a certain US president! Do you know what insect it is? A Entomologist DUNCAN MACFADYEN says: This is the larva of a tiger moth, fondly known as a “woolly bear”. As Sam says, the larva has hair like an ageing Donald Trump, which is there to protect it from predation. These caterpillars are particularly susceptible to being parasitized by braconid wasps, which lay their eggs directly onto the body. The caterpillar ultimately succumbs, and is eaten alive by the wasp’s larvae. The long hair is thought to reduce this threat. Interestingly, when the caterpillar pupates, the hairs become part of the cocoon, protecting the insect further.…

Millys, Machadodorp If ever I need fuel on the N4 between Joburg and Nelspruit, I always pull over at the thatched buildings of Millys near Machadodorp. A few minutes on the deck overlooking the dam will make you forget all about the trucks and toll gates. Millys was established in 1974 and was originally a shop selling fresh trout. Over the years, it has grown into a bustling complex with a farm stall, accommodation options and a restaurant. The restaurant is spacious and modern with a view of the dam. Try the smoked trout cakes with chips or salad (R82; pictured). If you’re in a hurry, buy a trout pie (R38) at the farm stall, which also stocks jams, preserves and home-made bread. The banana bread is a winner (R37,50),…

The cabin of the SANParks motor boat is scarcely big enough for two crewmen and three passengers. Having the misfortune of being born without sea legs, I keep my eyes locked onto the horizon as ocean spray drenches the nape of my neck. My wife Suzaan – the architect of this adventure – joins my daughter, eight-year-old Miri, in giggling at daddy’s discomfort. We speed past the Saldanha Terminal, where cargo ships gorge on iron ore from the mines at Sishen. At Marcus Island, the bay abruptly surrenders its sheltering embrace to the cold Atlantic Ocean. The little motor boat heaves from side to side as it carves a path through the swell. Malgas Island gradually reveals itself through a veil of fog. A wooden jetty juts towards us like…

THINUS SCHOEMAN Canon EOS 6D Canon 100 – 400 mm lens THINUS WRITES: My brother and I visited Zimanga Private Game Reserve near Mkhuze in KZN. Zimanga has special photography hides to help photographers take specific kinds of pics. Lagoon Hide, for example, is in the middle of a dam with views in all directions. Half of the hide is underground so you’re at eye-level with the birds and animals that visit the dam. A yellow-billed stork showed up, looking for something to eat. It was about 5 m away and the low angle offered a unique perspective. It was a cloudy day and I had to increase my ISO to 2000 to use a relatively fast shutter speed of 1/320 second. TOAST SAYS: Zimanga’s innovative hides offer photo opportunities…

Bring yourself and your friends for a camping weekend of stargazing and unwinding. You’ll stay in a luxury tent and we’ll take care of everything. You can look forward to great-tasting breakfasts and dinners, informative evenings at Sterland and a tour of SALT. During the day you can explore the Karoo area on foot or on your bicycle. WHEN? 14 and 15 July 16 and 17 July 18 and 19 July 20 and 21 July HOW MUCH? R1 475 per adult per night sharing; R1 850 per adult per night single (minimum two nights). Kids under 10 pay half-price. Check-in time is at 2 pm, checkout is at 10 am. WHAT DOES THE RATE INCLUDE? · Accommodation in a luxury tent, including beds, linen and towels · Breakfast and dinner in our…

At braais around the land, there’s always a couple who quibble about which seven-seater SUV they should buy to transport their growing family. This discussion usually hinges around the respective merits of the Toyota Fortuner and the Ford Everest. That is, until someone muddies the water by mentioning the Mitsubishi Pajero Sport or some other bakkie-based people-mover. Oddly, the Chevrolet Trailblazer is often the last to be mentioned. Once its name does come up, however, the “experts” will nod and sermonise: “Good car. Very underrated.” But do any of them actually own a Trailblazer? I recently spent a week with the updated 2017 Trailblazer, driving from Cape Town to Knysna along forest trails, and through the Baviaanskloof to Addo Elephant National Park. Does Chevrolet’s Cinderella finally deserve the glass slipper?…

WHERE DOES THE TOUR DEPART FROM? Letlhakane, just south of the Makgadikgadi Pans in Botswana. WHAT DO I NEED TO BRING? • Your own vehicle and fuel • Stretchers or mattresses, bedding and camping chairs • Drinks and snacks • Medical insurance and evacuation insurance cover • Border-crossing fees and road taxes (Bhejane provides all tents, tables, cutlery and crockery) WHERE WILL I SLEEP? In tents, which Bhejane’s logistics team will pitch and dismantle daily. AND THE FOOD? Bhejane’s experienced bush chefs will prepare three tasty meals a day. COST? R13 250 per adult; half-price for children under 10 THE PRICE INCLUDES: • All camp and park fees • Three meals per day • The use of two-way radios • The services of a professional tour leader and guide HOW…

West Coast, best coast I have wonderful memories of childhood holidays on the Namaqualand coast. The filling station at the Clanwilliam Dam meant that the seaside was close and our holiday was about to start. Near Koekenaap (inset), we’d turn onto a dirt road and drive through the gates of Skaapvlei Farm, where we’d have a competition to see who could see the waves first. We sniffed the air, breathing in the cool sea breeze like animals smelling for prey. We’d drive on to Gert du Toit se Baai where days of fun lay in wait. I remember waking early to drink coffee and eat rusks while the coals from the previous night’s campfire still smoked in the cooking screen. Then we’d be plastered with sunscreen because only hunger and…

Here’s a fact to share around the campfire… In a zoo environment, elephants sleep about four hours per day, but researchers were unsure about sleep patterns in the wild. That is, until Prof Paul Manger, Dr Nadine Gravett and Dr Adhil Bhagwandin from the University of the Witwatersrand put fitness monitors and GPS collars on two matriarchs in an elephant herd in Chobe National Park, Botswana. “We decided to measure the activity of the trunk – the most mobile and active appendage of the elephant,” says Manger. “And we made the reasonable assumption that if the trunk was still for five minutes or more, the elephant was likely to be asleep.” The results were interesting: The elephants slept for only about two hours per day on average, usually in the…

How do I get there? We drove to Tanzania from South Africa. The easiest route is via Botswana and Zambia. Enter Tanzania at the Tunduma border post. From there you can follow the tar road to Dar es Salaam and swing north and then west through Arusha towards Ngorongoro. It’s a tar road from SA all the way to the Ngorongoro gate, but you’ll need to set aside at least six to eight weeks to do such a trip properly. Flying is much quicker. There are flights from Joburg to Dar es Salaam and from there to Arusha. (You might have to go via Zanzibar, too.) Expect to pay about R10 000 return. Check skyscanner.net  for options. Visa? South African citizens don’t need one. What does it cost?…

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…

Serene sea horse Adriano Morettin, Italy Adriano spent months photographing sea horses in the Adriatic Sea off the coast of Croatia. This shot is an in-camera double exposure, made by combining two photographs: a portrait of a long-snouted sea horse and a shot of sunbeams filtering through the water. “This is the most satisfying image I have produced during my long career as an underwater photographer,” says the Italian. Martin Edge, one of the competition judges, had this to say: “The balance of the composition and the weight between sea horse and sunbeams is perfect. The colour combination between the two also works so well together.” Adriano’s photograph was commended in the “Portrait” category. HOW? Nikon D800E, Micro Nikkor 60 mm lens, shutter speed 1/250 second, aperture f22, ISO 100,…

WHAT TO BRING • Yourself and your family • Your 4x4 (fuel is for your own account) • Drinks and snacks • Camping chairs THE RATE INCLUDES • A professional tour leader and an experienced field guide • Three meals a day • Accommodation in luxury chalets and guesthouses • All park fees • Two-way radios TOUR DETAILS Date: 22 November – 30 November 2017 How long is the tour? Nine days, eight nights Departure point: Ulundi, KwaZulu-Natal End point: Ithala Game Reserve Accommodation: Formal accommodation Rates: R17 550 per person. Single supplement additional 30 %. THE TOUR IN A NUTSHELL Day 1: We meet at Ulundi and drive to HluhluweiMfolozi Game Reserve. 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…

Located in Welgevonden Game Reserve in the Waterberg, Mhondoro Game Lodge is about a three-hour drive from Johannesburg. The diverse landscape stretches across 35 000 hectares and is home to the Big Five, including a large white rhino population. The exclusive five-star lodge is in a malaria-free area and sleeps a maximum of 20 guests – guaranteeing privacy and tranquillity. The luxury accommodation includes a child-friendly family suite, a romantic honeymoon suite and Mhondoro Villa. The range of options make Mhondoro perfect for an intimate weekend for two, or for families and friends travelling together. The lodge decor reflects a fusion of African chic with edgy European influences. Fine cuisine, passionate service and breathtaking views are par for the course. Some of the unique features include a custom-built star deck…