Table of contents for November 2017 in go!

How does it work? The tour is based on our popular Botswana tours, but with one important difference: a photographer from the magazine will travel with you for 11 days, which means you’ll get to ask questions all day long. There will be a few informal “lessons”, during which you’ll get tips to improve your photos. You’ll also receive photography notes and feedback about your pics. What kind of camera do I need? Anything from a point-and-shoot to a D-SLR. Our aim is to teach you how to get the best results using your existing equipment. Every camera has strong points and limitations – yes, even the really expensive ones. You’ll get individual attention so you’ll learn what all the buttons and dials do. Be warned: You’ll be asked what…

DATES 3-DAY TOUR: 14 – 18 December 2017 4-DAY TOUR: 14 – 19 December 2017 INCLUDED IN THE RATE Camping accommodation at the base camp on the first and last night, dinner on the first night, three meals per day on the river, breakfast on the last morning of the tour, all paddling gear and qualified guides. FOR YOUR OWN ACCOUNT Snacks and drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic). There is no formal accommodation on the riverbank. Bring your own tent, sleeping bag and inflatable mattress. TAKE NOTE You can upgrade your accommodation on the first or last night to an en suite room in the Bundi Bush Lodge. R600 per room per night (double, twin and triple rooms available). STARTING POINT The group meets at the Bundi base camp near Noordoewer.…

DAY 1&2 WITSAND Hear the dunes roar Witsand Kalahari Nature Reserve will steal your heart. It’s a place of small pleasures: sitting around the campfire, walking in the veld, feeling sand between your toes. It will make you look at a mongoose and think: What a miracle! Kick off your Kalahari holiday with two nights in this park – or end your trip here. There aren’t any dangerous animals so you can walk around and explore. It’s like visiting your uncle on his farm. Before you go, google how to identify pangolin spoor because Witsand is one of the best places in the country to see this rare animal. The reserve is also known for its roaring dunes – the sand makes a low, rumbling noise when you walk through…

We enjoyed wine, olives and cheese from the region, and sat around the fire as the magazine’s writers talked about their many travels and discussed how best to plan a family holiday in Namibia and Botswana. We walked in the mountains with botanist Rupert Koopman and learnt more about indigenous fynbos and the best ways to eradicate alien vegetation. Everyone’s photography skills were sharpened, and there was even a fiercely contested potjiekos competition – congratulations to Hein and Louise van Greunen on their winning lamb knuckle potjie, which won them prizes from Outdoor Warehouse and Camp Cover. The biggest prize of all, however, was the friendships that were formed in this beautiful valley on the banks of the Holsloot River. It was so much fun that we’ll certainly do it…

MINI COUNTRYMAN Is the Countryman the most conceptually jarring Mini ever produced? Maybe. But try the Mini bakkie, built between 1967 and 1983. Safety belts and a heater were optional and its 850 cc engine developed 27 kW. It crawled from 0 – 100 km/h in 34 seconds with a top speed of 111 km/h. Clearly no Fortuner. So how close does the new Countryman come to being one? Mini is the master of the pocket rocket, but right now it seems that its heritage is up for sale. The Countryman is the lardiest Mini ever, competing with other premium compact crossovers like the Audi Q2, Mercedes GLA and BMW X1 – or the Mazda CX3 and VW Tiguan if money is a bit tight. At 4,3 m in length,…

CHANÉ CHEESE FARM, MTUBATUBA Looking for a padkos pit stop in Maputaland? Ditch the garage pies and pick a platter of home-made goat cheese at Chané outside Mtubatuba. You can also go on a cheese tour (R60 per adult; R30 per child), where you’ll get to milk a goat and learn about the process of cheese-making, finished off with a tasting of Zululand’s finest goat cheeses. Let the kids run amok in the play area and on the mini-golf greens, while you take in the view of tree-lined hills from the restaurant deck. Order a cheese platter for four people (R135) and nibble your way through a selection of roquefort, feta, chevin and plenty more. There are also burgers on the menu – the enormous double cheese and bacon burger…

SPECIAL READER OFFER FROM WHERE DOES THE TOUR DEPART? Letlhakane, just south of Makgadikgadi Pans in Botswana. WHAT DO I NEED TO BRING? • Your own vehicle and fuel • A stretcher or mattress, bedding and a camping chair (tents, tables, cutlery and crockery are provided) • Drinks and snacks • Medical insurance and evacuation insurance cover • Border-crossing fees and road taxes WHERE WILL I SLEEP? You 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. HOW MUCH? R13 950 per adult; half-price for children under 10. THE RATE 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 LONG IS THE…

After a night spent camping on otherworldly Koppieskraalpan, I went to visit the owners of the land on their adjacent farm, Inkbospan. I knocked on the front door of the farmhouse and heard a voice from inside: “Come in, I’m at the back!” It was Landa Conradie, and she was busy preparing a mountain of gemsbok meat. A group of hikers would be arriving soon and she still had lots to do. Her husband Thinus kept bringing in more cuts. I had plans to visit Rietfontein and Hakskeenpan that day, but I could see that Landa was stressed so I offered to help. I’d never butchered a gemsbok before, but before I could second-guess myself, Thinus had sharpened three knives and passed them to me. Landa gave instructions: “Remove these…

It has been 60 years since the Soviet Union launched the sputnik 1 satellite on 4 October 1957, heralding the start of the space age. To celebrate, look for satellites in the sky this month. To be able to see a satellite, it needs to be dark where you are but the satellite must be in sunlight. That’s why you most often see them just after sunset or just before sunrise. At certain times of the year, however, especially in summer, the earth’s shadow falls in such a way that allows us to see satellites deep into the night. The International Space Station (ISS) is by far the brightest satellite in the sky. The best time to look for it is during October and November, when it will be visible…

The Free State is often compared unfavourably to other provinces. People are quick to point out that it’s flat and dusty and that the best road is the N1 because it’s the quickest way out. And the poor Cheetahs! (Although, what people forget is that when the Sharks, Bulls and Lions players go home to their mothers, they all go back to the Free State.) Come autumn, however, the humble Free State is one of the most scenic places in the country, especially on a windless day when the poplar trees are etched against a pastel-blue sky. And then there’s the jewel in the Free State crown: Golden Gate Highlands National Park, where the Drakensberg and the Malutis snuggle up side by side. One visit and you’ll fall in love…

BOMBER KENT @bomber0707  Nikon D750 Sigma 120 – 300 mm lens BOMBER WRITES: I took this picture on a recent trip to the Kruger Park. I was travelling from Shimuwini to Mopani when I found this female hyena walking along the road carrying a huge ribcage – maybe from a buffalo. She’d carry the ribcage for about 50 m, then stop and put it down, get a better grip and pick it up again. It was obviously quite heavy. I followed her for about 40 minutes. TOAST SAYS: A photo that captures animal behaviour is always more interesting than one of an animal lazing about. This hyena is clearly on a mission. Maybe she had pups somewhere waiting for a meal, or she was looking for a quiet spot to…

Part of the main route between Cape Town and Johannesburg used to follow the current R717 via Philippolis in the southern Free State. Nearly 50 years ago, however, the route was altered to bypass Philippolis and go through Springfontein (40 km away) instead. The new route later became the N1, but it remains a mystery as to why it was moved in the first place. Maybe the apartheid government wanted to show off the new Verwoerd Dam (now the Gariep Dam)? It’s the biggest dam in the country and close to the N1. Or it could be that the road between Colesberg and Philippolis goes through several gorges and around several koppies, making road maintenance that much more challenging. The winding road caused a fair share of car accidents and…

Look at a map of Namibia and draw a triangle between Windhoek, Walvis Bay and Sesriem. In the middle of that triangle, you’ll find Namib’s Valley of a Thousand Hills – a spectacular wilderness destination on the edge of the Namib-Naukluft National Park. Except that it wasn’t so spectacular when Willem van der Berg arrived late one afternoon, on a camping trip with his wife and three friends. A furious wind was blowing and it was nearly dark thanks to Willem having missed a turn-off or two. Pitching the tents was a nightmare. Luckily the wind abated in the night and the frazzled campers were greeted by this sunrise the following morning. “Everyone was in awe,” says Willem, who has written and photographed numerous stories for this magazine. “Since then,…

This tea plantation is about 25 km by road south-east of Gisenyi in the west of Rwanda, near Lake Kivu. Tea farming is one of the biggest industries in Rwanda, along with coffee production and tourism. The terrain might be mountainous but the volcanic soil is perfect for the practice. The drive from Gisenyi south to Kibuye and onwards to Nyungwe National Park must be one of the finest road trips in Africa. You’ll pass indigenous forests and small farms like this one, crest some incredible mountain passes and be treated to lovely views over Lake Kivu.…

1 How did it all begin? My husband Peter and I started a publishing company called Jacana Education (now Jacana Media) about 30 years ago. Back then, I co-authored a five-book series called Sappi Tree Spotting, with my colleague Dr Rina Grant. That experience was extremely fulfilling, but left me feeling that there was still a mountain of fascinating information that was accessible to qualified botanists but not to ordinary people. The botanical language was hard to understand and South Africa has extremely diverse habitats and a large number of indigenous species. To add to the confusion, some of these species look quite different in the various habitats. For a decade I dreamt of an electronic program that could filter and deliver co-ordinated material to anyone who wanted to engage…

Jackals are members of the dog family that inhabit the savannah. Their adaptability and resourcefulness have made them some of the most successful predators. In many livestock farming areas where lions, leopards and cheetahs have been eradicated, the black-backed jackal has filled the niche of top predator. Because of this, farmers are locked in an eternal battle with jackals, which have the uncanny ability to become inconspicuous in areas where they’re heavily persecuted. They might not be seen often, but they’re still quite common. There is the theory that farmers, in their quest to eliminate jackals, have actually sped up natural selection by killing all the “dumb” animals. The cleverer ones that manage to evade the traps, cages and poison, have been left to breed, creating a kind of “super”…

There’s something reassuring about a farm stall – it makes you feel that the place you’re in isn’t too remote, even if you’re in Zambia. The Fig Tree Café is next to the T2 (The Great Northern Road) about 5 km south of the busy town of Kabwe. It’s the last farm stall you’ll see if you’re travelling north to the wilder parts of Zambia. Spotting it next to the road feels like an unexpected luxury: something familiar that reminds you of home. You can sit inside, but it’s even better in the garden. There’s a small playground for the kids and clean bathrooms. Order anything from a Zambian beef burger (K60/R84) to Thai beef salad (K55/R77) or a toasted cheese-and-tomato sandwich (K35/R49). If you have a sweet tooth, try…

It’s nice to have so many options in life. Sometimes we think it’s our right, that we deserve such luxury. But we don’t. Next time you visit your local Checkers, take a moment to consider that there are people elsewhere who will never see such abundance. I’m in the departure lounge of Kasane International Airport in the north of Botswana. Soon I’ll fly to Joburg and from there I’ll connect to Cape Town. But besides looking forward to seeing my girlfriend Alice later tonight, there’s very little else in the city that I’ve missed. A TV is blaring and the noise is getting to me. Maybe I’m getting old. During the past few weeks camping in Botswana and the adjacent Zambezi Region of Namibia, I hardly saw a TV. Television…

The silence sings in my ears. Ssssh. I’m on a plateau in the Nuweveld Mountains on day three of the Heuningland Slackpacking Trail. So far, I’ve walked more than 60 km. That’s a lot of time on your feet! My calf muscles are sore and I have aches and pains all over. I haven’t had cellphone reception for ages and I’m not even sure what day of the week it is. Is it Monday? I hear a distant droning noise: Probably an aeroplane tracking north over Sutherland, full of people on their way to boardrooms in Joburg where time is measured in money. Not here. I have one task for the day: to hike 18 km to a farm called Kareebos. Along the way, I ponder the words of American…

For the past seven years, we’ve been amazed by the quality of the photos from the BirdLife South Africa Oceans of Life competition. (See portfolios in go! #81, #108 and #118.) All good things run their course, however, and this year it was time to bid the competition farewell with a retrospective show at the Iziko South Africa Museum in Cape Town from October 2016 until June 2017, in aid of the Seabird Conservation Programme. Protecting South Africa’s sensitive coastline and ocean – and the world’s – should be at the very top of our list. Climate change is here and the signs are all around: Rainfall and snowfall patterns are changing, droughts and floods are happening more often and extreme weather events are becoming the norm. In order to survive,…

WELTEVREDE FIG & GUEST FARM, PRINCE ALBERT The landscape draws you in as you wind your way along a gravel road to this farm in the foothills of the Swartberg – one of the first fig farms in South Africa. You’re in a very scenic valley in the Great Karoo, where six generations have farmed since 1853. Current owners Jaco de Klerk and his wife Liezl will make you feel at home the moment you arrive. You’re here to relax. It’s quiet and peaceful. Sitting on the stoep is considered work. The farm has more than a thousand fig trees. Liezl’s grandmother, Sienie Koorts, first started drying figs more than 50 years ago. Facilities: There are four luxury units. There’s no electricity, but each unit has paraffin lamps, a gas…