Table of contents for December 2017 in go!

A narina trogon flew into us! We recently visited Marloth Park, which borders the Kruger Park. One afternoon, as we were driving home from a nearby shop, a bird flew into the window of our car. We were sure the bird had been killed by the impact, but then I saw it struggling in the road. We pulled over and rushed to get it to safety. That’s when I realised: It was a narina trogon! For most birdwatchers, this is a seldom-seen bird and one that you would be very lucky to spot in a dark forest canopy. The bird was dazed, so we took it home and put it in a tree in the shade. It sat there for about an hour and we were very relieved when it…

Have you seen a red disa? The red disa (Disa uniflora) is the symbol of the Western Cape and it’s in bloom from December to March. We asked Dominic Chabon, aka The Fynbos Guy, about which hikes to do on Table Mountain if you want to see this special flower. The easy option: Disa uniflora is an orchid that grows in the high mountains next to streams and wetlands. Start at Constantia Nek and walk up the concrete road to the top. Go past the Overseer’s Cottage and bear right onto Smuts’Track, which runs along the eastern side of the mountain. Continue past Nursery Ravine and Skeleton Gorge until you get to Window Stream in Window Gorge, where there are usually lots of disas. Then you can retrace your steps…

The Jimny might have made my life a misery but at least it had character, like a badly behaved chihuahua. My wife Jess and I recently bought a low-mileage, second-hand Subaru Outback at a strangely low price. We needed more space for the children and their paraphernalia and we wanted something safe and powerful for the open road. We got all of that and more. The Outback has all-wheel-drive and sticks to the road like a lion on an impala. It has cruise control and a punchy engine that allows you to sail past everyone else when the highway opens up to two lanes. It has more safety features than a kids’ playground in Sydney and it even has heated seats. Do you know how nice a heated seat is…

TOUR INFO 2018 DATES 19 – 29 April; 28 June – 8 July; 6 – 16 August; 15 – 25 September How long is the tour? 11 days/10 nights Departure point: Nata, Botswana End point: Kasane, Botswana Accommodation: Formal Rates: R23 950 per adult; single supplement additional 30 %. THE RATE INCLUDES • A professional tour leader and an experienced field guide • Three meals a day • All park fees • All accommodation • Bedding and towels • Two-way radios WHAT TO BRING • A vehicle – a 4x2 with high ground clearance will do (fuel and border fees are for your own account) • Drinks and snacks • Camping chairs • Your passport • Personal things THE TOUR IN A NUTSHELL Day 1: We meet at Nata Lodge and enjoy sunset at the famous Makgadikgadi Pans.…

TOAST SAYS: Few antelopes in southern Africa can rival the majestic kudu. It’s a big buck that stands out in the landscape, unlike the camera-shy duiker or grysbok. There are lots of opportunities to take photos of wildlife on our Botswana tour. The tour ends in Chobe National Park, where hippo, buffalo and elephant are abundant. Before then, you’ll travel through the Zambezi Region in Namibia, where you’ll get to photograph antelope like kudu, lechwe, roan and sable in Mahango Game Reserve. Karin took this photo in Mahango. Getting the exposure right was tricky because the kudu was standing in the shade of a tree. Maybe there were some clouds in front of the sun, however, because the contrast between the shade and the clearing in the background is not…

Day 1: The tour starts at a guest farm near Clarens in the Eastern Free State, a half-day drive from Joburg or Durban. You’ll leave your vehicle there - safe parking is available. If you’re flying in, a shuttle is available from OR Tambo. At the farm, you’ll meet the other cyclists and the guides, who will talk you through the itinerary over a delicious meal and a glass of wine. Day 2:You’ll be transferred in one of Dryland Ride’s 4x4 bakkies to the top of Moteng Pass in Lesotho, more than 3 000 m above sea level. From there, you’ll ride a thrilling gravel road down into the Malibamatso River Valley. After lunch and another stint of pedalling, you’ll be transported to Katse Lodge where you’ll spend the next…

Is this the toilet with the best view in Africa? We think so! Mount Nyiragongo (3 470 m) is an active volcano just north of Goma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This is the view from the edge of the main crater, looking past a smaller crater towards where Goma lies shrouded in the early morning mist. Nyiragongo is part of the Albertine Rift Valley, which straddles the border between the DRC and Rwanda. The building at the bottom right of the picture is where the porters overnight. Tourists stay in A-frame huts on the crater rim, with awe-inspiring views over the bubbling pool of lava during the night. It takes about five hours to hike up the mountain and it can get very cold at the top;…

Dove kebab QJOHAN FOURIE from Centurion writes: I photographed this dove in my garden. Although impaled by a porcupine quill, it didn’t seem to be struggling too much, but it did sometimes trip over the quill. It ate some pap that I put out and flew into a nearby tree. I know it’s a myth that porcupines shoot their quills and to my knowledge there aren’t any porcupines in my area. However, Rietvlei Dam is about 13 km away. Any idea what might have happened here? A Bird expert FAANSIE PEACOCK says: It looks like the quill has penetrated the right side of the bird’s chest, but it missed the wing so it doesn’t seem to have an effect on the bird’s ability to fly, eat or walk around. The…

GEORGE Red Berry Farm Geelhoutboom Road (next to the R404), Blanco Times: Monday to Saturday from 9 am to 4 pm. Closed on 25 December. Entrance fee: Free. Strawberry prices: From R20 for a small punnet. More info: 044 870 7123; redberryfarm.co.za KUILS RIVER Polkadraai Farm About 6 km from Kuils River next to the M12 towards Stellenbosch. Times: Open every day except 25 December, from 9 am to 4 pm. Entrance fee: Free, but every person in your group must buy a punnet of strawberries. Strawberry prices: From R40 for a small punnet. More info: 021 881 3303; polkadraaifarm.co.za MAGALIESBERG Tangaroa, The Strawberry Farm Near Hartbeesboort Dam, next to the R560. See the website for detailed directions. Times: Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays from 7.30…

Make sure to take precautions against malaria if you plan to visit the Kruger Park between December and April. Doctor Nardus Visser from the Skukuza medical centre says there have been more reported cases of malaria in 2017 than there were in 2016. This is probably due to good summer rains following last year’s drought. SANParks recommends that all visitors get prophylactics as prescribed by their doctor, and that they cover their skin at night. If you are unfortunate enough to get malaria after a visit to the Kruger, please inform the doctors in Skukuza so they can identify risk areas. DID YOU KNOW? • Malaria is only transmitted by female anopheles mosquitoes. • The early symptoms include fever, headaches, muscle pain, tiredness, jaundice, rapid heart rate, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and…

You’ve just returned to South Africa after a wonderful holiday in Botswana and the immigration official’s ink is still drying on your passport. Stockpoort is one of those small border posts in Limpopo where you can usually cross without too much hassle. It’s a rare thing to enjoy your time at a border post, but Stockpoort is actually a nice spot. Why race back to busy Gauteng? Take it slow and see if you can spot this tall-as-a-house shepherd tree on your left as you follow the tar road towards Lephalale. It has a picnic table – score! Pull over on the road verge and drink lukewarm coffee from the flask you filled earlier at Woodlands Stop Over near Francistown. Peek under the front seat of your vehicle to see…

MORNING Pull over at Valley Farm Stall ( 021 790 3803; valleyfarmstall.co.za ) in Valley Road. The garden is a peaceful spot where you can have a quick coffee while the kids play on the jungle gym. The tea garden serves light meals and has a kiddies’ menu. The kids will love meeting the ponies, donkeys, dwarf goats and pigs in the farmyard. There’s also an indigenous nursery and animal feed store on the same premises. Don’t get too relaxed, though, because World of Birds is just down the road… You’ll need a few hours to do justice to the World of Birds Wildlife Sanctuary and Monkey Park. The circular paths are built around spacious aviaries home to hundreds of birds, from camouflaged indigenous ones to jewel-coloured…

It’s 10.30pm on a Friday and Merweville is quiet. The streetlights cast shallow pools of light. At least the streetlights are working: An hour ago, this little Karoo town was still in the dark. The power had been out for about 30 hours. The power failure couldn’t have come at a more inconvenient time: It’s the Dankfees weekend, an annual highlight for this farming community. A blue Ford bakkie pulls up. It’s Belia Muller, owner of Muller Handelaars. She’s here to bring me the key to the guesthouse next door. “We had to use the generator at the store to power the fridges,” she says. “We had to make a plan – bazaar pudding has to be kept cold!” Over the next few days I’ll learn that making a plan…

In October, South African photojournalist Brent Stirton was announced as the winner of the 2017 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition for this heart-wrenching, savage portrait of a black rhino killed for its horn in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi. In 2015, an estimated 5 000 black rhino remained in the wild. Since then, their numbers have fallen even further. “When an image shocks us, there needs to be a good reason,” says Lewis Blackwell, chair of the competition jury. “With this one, there is.” The Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition is owned by the Natural History Museum in London.…

You could set your calendar to the social behaviour of impalas. Every year in February, adult impala males (four years and older) start splitting off from their bachelor herds to form temporary territories of their own – a process that lasts until the end of April. They mark their territory by defecating in middens, pasting gland secretions from their foreheads and by their distinctive roars and coughs that can be heard throughout the night. (I’ve often had to convince safari guests that the “roar” they’re hearing is actually a benign antelope and not some fierce predator!) Female herds are non-territorial and move freely though males’ territories. When a female herd arrives, the males do their utmost to keep them in the area while attempting to mate at the same time.…

Do you remember the Dieselgate scandal in 2015? The one that saw the Volkswagen Group being fined in excess of R22 billion for emissions cheating, causing huge damage to their corporate image in the process? Heads rolled like bowling balls and every new diesel-powered VW and Audi “disappeared” overnight from US showrooms, where the bombshell first dropped. But nothing smooths over controversy faster than the sands of time and Audi has been brave enough to equip the entry-level version of their new, second-generation Q5 SUV with – you guessed it – a diesel engine. And do you know what? The world’s a better place already: underneath the Audi’s bonnet and in the cockpit. The new Q5 is bigger, lighter, smarter and more frugal than its predecessors, but unfortunately a little…

An hour and a half from Joburg, on the golden brown plains of Mpumalanga, between a railway line and a river, you’ll find the town of Val. With three streets and fewer permanent inhabitants than a touring Springbok squad, you’d think Val was a one-horse town. Well, it isn’t. It’s a half-horse town. Rita Britz from the Val Hotel tells me that the town shares a horse with Greylingstad. The first thing you notice when you drive into Val are the shoes. They dangle in a clump on a wire strung across the main road, swaying in the breeze. It was Rita and her husband Andre who threw the first pair over the wire, which now sags with donated takkies. The act was inspired by the Afrikaans saying “Om jou…

I have seen technology evolve from a cooler box packed with dry ice to a fridge connected directly to the vehicle’s main battery. Then solenoid systems took over the market and today we have vehicles with smart alternators, absorbent glass matt (AGM) batteries and best of all, DC-to-DC chargers. People have argued for many years about which split-charging system is the best, but with the latest alternator and battery technology, we need to admit that solenoid technology is outdated. It served the market very well for many years, but DC-to-DC charging is the future. Most vehicles still have an older lead acid battery as its main cranking battery, and the alternator is designed to charge that battery. However, with the use of an “intelligent charging system”the unit can be programmed…