Love off-the-beaten-track? Try the less touristy section of Route 62, along the back of the Garden Route through the Langkloof. Photos and words by Caroline Webb.

Somewhere between Kareedouw and Joubertina.

The challenge came right at the start. Once out of Port Elizabeth, en route to J-Bay, road signs kept tempting me to the coast, but I resisted. Soon Jeffrey’s Bay wind farm appeared on the horizon, the mighty windmills a thrilling sight ‒ even more so up close.

For 10 kilometres, they are a constant companion to travellers on the N2. I reached a crossroads and took a left to Humansdorp, a scrappy town run by dogs ‒ or so it seemed on this day. Every few metres down the main road, there was a dog or two on the loose, crossing the road like seasoned jaywalkers. The eye-catching cultural centre, a ‘green’ building on the way into town, was closed up and quiet. Pity. The town has shops that might appeal to avid browsers, and the Humansdorp Boutique Hotel (built 1858) has an impressive hexagonal- shaped bar.

Back on the road, it pretty soon became quite overgrown ‒ nature was encroaching right up to the edge of the tar, leaving no shoulder at all. South Africa’s roads tend to have a lot of space on the sides ‒ enough for people to walk along, cars to pull over and baboons to sit on… This was pretty unusual, and it felt a little like I was in another country. Not jungle, exactly, but very closed in. I enjoyed this stretch, and after passing many railway sidings with intriguing names, Kareedouw came into view around a bend.

It felt welcoming and charming and cared for ‒ several side streets were closed off, getting a new layer of tar. It’s just a small village, with an incongruously grand old church. The main attractions are the Dutch pancake and coffee shop and a famous butchery ‒ its boerewors is so good, I was told, when the ‘Vaalies’ come down to the coast in December, they always pop in here first to stock up. I also heard about the karrie (Khoi honey beer) unique to this area ‒ and from which the town possibly gets its name. Bee man Nico Gerber keeps various wild hives out on the farms and in the mountains, and uses the food baby bees eat, herbs from the area and honey to make his beer.

Before leaving, I took a quick drive to Oude Bosch, and was rewarded with an unexpected glimpse of the sea at the top of the hill (see left). Then it was on to Joubertina, a stretch through lovely countryside, the Krom River running alongside the road for much of the way, and the Suuranys Mountains to my right. I made a quick detour left into Tweeriviere, a village that turned 250 years old last year, but as pretty and pastoral as it was, most of it turned out to be private property.

Despite being the regional hub, Joubertina was as sleepy as could be (although I did spot some teenagers shooting guns in their backyard). It’s larger than Kareedouw, and boasts an even bigger church. At the bottom of the main street, the town ‘centre’ has a lovely old locomotive on display but a raggedy collection of shops.

The quiet town of Joubertina.

To find the real adventure, I’d have to turn off Route 62 and into the hills. There are dozens of farm stays with activities for visitors committed to staying for a few days (see page 60). I didn’t have that much time, but I swung right onto the Bo-Kouga road just outside Joubertina – and found myself on a nice farm road that became a nerve-shatteringly narrow and lofty pass. My car was barely up to the challenge, but it was spectacular.

I chose to stay over in Krakeel, 10 kilometres from Joubertina. This tiny settlement in the shadow of Formosa Peak (the highest in the region) has a lost-in-time feeling. That evening I saw a fire on the mountainside, and was told that this is where the village’s rubbish is burnt every night. So I sat on the stoep of the guest house, drinking strawberry wine and watching this giant bonfire, the only light around.

A day in, it had started to dawn on me that this Other Route 62 pretty much heads straight for miles through the Langkloof, like a long corridor between the mountains. The scenery does not vary much ‒ orchards, farms, dams, mountains ‒ but there are many picturesque cottages and rural scenes. One drawback of this straight, easy, well- maintained road is that the farmers are impatient drivers… no country niceties here. I lost count of the number of times a big bakkie loomed up in my rear-view mirror, speeding down the valley.

This area would be beautiful in spring (blossoms) or summer (leafy trees laden with fruit). Driving the route in midwinter meant passing rows and rows of stark skeleton trees. Without the pretty orchards, my eyes were drawn to the fynbos and veld and the shapes of the Kouga and Kammanassie mountains to my right and the Tsitsikamma and Outeniqua mountains to my left.

I whizzed past Louterwater, almost missing it ‒ it has the ubiquitous farm stall and railway siding ‒ but came to a halt just after Misgund at the Kliphotel Country Store (built in 1931), a rather chic farm stall on the border of the Eastern and Western Cape.

Kliphotel Country Store.

 
I pushed on to Haarlem, an old mission station which runs for about three kilometres along Route 62, with no obvious centre. It’s crumbling and clinging on, but charming. There is nothing commercial about it (not a farm stall in sight); sturdy plowhorses graze in allotments (on weekends the local children race these horses down the dusty roads) and even the old church here is humbler. I passed the enticingly named Siesta (a railway siding) and at Avontuur took a right to Uniondale via a craggy poort.

Nico Gerber in Ferrari’s; Haarlem’s church.

 
The landscape changed and I started to sense that I was entering the Karoo. I admit it felt good to drive into a ‘real’ town, neat and pretty, with lots of old, lovingly cared-for buildings. Interesting shops dot the main street, making it a good place to stretch your legs, on evening strolls or slow-paced bike rides. That evening after dinner, I relaxed in the bar at The Townhouse and downed a shot of Spookasem, the local witblits. Cheers to the Other Route 62!

I left Uniondale via the Potjiesberg Pass (a wonderful drive). At the bottom it rejoins Route 62, and I eased into another long stretch, passing blips on the map (Molenrivier, Noll…), The Goose wine estate and – my favourite – Eenzaamheid, an abandoned garage. From Herold, you can head up to Oudtshoorn to continue on Route 62 or dip down to George, which is what I did. The snaky Outeniqua Pass was even more spectacular after the long, straight stretch I’d just driven for the last few days.

Things to do on Route 62:

1. Eat big pancakes at The Sweaty Dutchman in Kareedouw. Sweet and savoury options (from R25) and the best coffee for miles around. Tel 0422880056, find it on Facebook.

2. Drink honey beer at Ferrari’s, Nico Gerber’s characterful bar which he runs from his house in Kareedouw (look for the giant tractor tyre outside). If there’s no honey beer in stock, order a dop anyway. Tel 0720848849.

3. Head into the hills on the Baviaans-Kouga 4×4 trail which starts just outside Kareedouw. If you’re not in a 4×4, Kouga Wildernis near Joubertina offers guided 4×4 trips (R250 per person) and self-drive trails. 0422739903.

Kouga Wildernis Campsite.

 
4. Horseride the hills on tough boerperde with Moria Riding School near Kareedouw. From R150 per person. baviaanshorsetrips.co.za

5. Taste strawberry wine from Jenny Whitehead-King of Apple Valley Guesthouse in Krakeel who makes this rosé- like wine but doesn’t sell it. You’ll have to stay over. From R350 per person. Tel 0422742259, applevalley-guesthouse.co.za

6. Walk on Formosa Peak but get route advice and assistance from Sam van der Merwe, who’s been walking these mountains for 40 years. Tel 0826509435.

7. Rent a bicycle at African Aloe Café (R100 per person for four hours) in Uniondale and enjoy historic sites on the Town Cycle Routes; map provided. Tel 0760336067.

8. Dine in an 1854 watermill, now Die Watermeul bistro – just a few tables up some very steep stairs. It has an outstanding menu (from R25). Tel 0447521079.

10. Appreciate boerekitsch at Altelekker in Kareedouw, a maze of rooms filled with objects and decorative sayings (all for sale). The cafe serves SA classics such as jaffles and bobotie (from R25). Tel 0422880018.

11. Visit the cafe at Die Kraaltjie, a guinea fowl and quail farm in Joubertina. There’s a stuffed springbok outside and a real tractor in the playground. 042-273-1313, diekraaltjie.co.za

12. See the biggest hubcap collection in South Africa. Collected over 40 years, it has been moved from the Kloof Hotel to the wine shop at Joub’s, at the entrance to Joubertina. (Pick up some wine while there.)

13. Walk the Path of Hope, a labyrinth created by street kids, at The Cottages B&B in the main street of Uniondale. Just open the gate and go in.

14. Do a tasting at The Goose wine estate (owned by golfer Retief Goosen). Call ahead. Tel 0826102276, thegoosewines.com

15. See local art and pottery in the rustic, straw-bale Kannabos Gallery (look out for the sign off the N9/R62). There’s also a succulent nursery. Tel 0834445237.

Where to stay:

Assegaaibosch Country Lodge, just outside Kareedouw, is a real gem, founded in the late 19th century by a French army deserter and filled with history. It’s stylishly decorated, has a fantastic courtyard pool deck and great family-holiday facilities. From R425 per person sharing, children from R300. 042-288- 0700, assegaaibosch.co.za

Kouga Kliphuis is on the Kouga River, and accessible only by 4×4 (transfer R150 for group). Canoes are provided, and there’s a hike to a waterfall. From R500 for two, self-catering (sleeps six), no electricity. kougakliphuis.co.za

Kouga Wildernis, deep in the mountains outside Joubertina (down that pass), has a cottage and cabins, but even better is the remote campsite beside a stream, near a waterfall and overlooked by the awesome visage of the ‘Gladiator Rock’. From R100 per person. Tel 0422739903, wildernis.shadowna.com

Afsaal Guest Farm, on the banks of the Groot River in Haarlem, has cottages that are 150 to 250 years old, restored by owner Gary Olivier (who is also restoring other buildings in the village and knows a lot of local history). From R300 per person. 0447631407, afsaal.net

The Townhouse in Uniondale is an historic home, but not precious at all – you’ll be sharing it with dogs, cats and birds. Plus there’s Dave’s Bar. From R350 per person sharing B&B. Tel 0447521331, uniondale.co.za

This story originally appeared in the October 2016 issue of Getaway magazine.

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All prices correct at publication, but are subject to change at each establishment’s discretion. Please check with them before booking or buying.

The third shortlist for our urban nature competition with Canon is in, and there’s only one more to go. Here are our top picks for June – if you think you can do better, make sure to enter soon!

We’re running a competition over on Instagram where you can win a new Canon DSLR worth R32999, or one of four monthly camera bundle prizes worth more than R8000 each. (Want to know more, as well as read our judge’s cheat sheet? Read through the competition guidelines here.)
See our previous top picks
Best of #MyCanonWorld for April
Best of #MyCanonWorld for May

1. These inventive little dudes

A post shared by Ja Scene (@m_ya_seen) on Jun 11, 2017 at 4:19am PDT

2. This captured flower

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.#MyCanonWorld

A post shared by George Nel (@georgenel1512) on Jun 11, 2017 at 5:31am PDT

3. These pigeons respect the signage

A post shared by Kirsten Packer (@seaturtles9) on May 28, 2017 at 8:41am PDT

4. Urban bushbaby

A post shared by Gareth Smart (@thegarethsmart) on May 20, 2017 at 6:04am PDT

5. Just frogging adorable

A post shared by Pieter (@pieterb22) on Jun 11, 2017 at 12:14pm PDT

All of the above entries (as well as next month’s top entries) are now in the running to win the grand prize of a Canon DLSR camera kit worth R32999!

And the winner of this month’s spot prize (drawn at random from the above selection), is Pieter Burger, who has won a Canon EOS M10 and a TS 6040 wireless printer. Well done!

At the Good Food and Wine Show hosted in Cape Town, I got the chance to sit down with the Food Network stars, Jenny Morris and Reza Mahammad, to hear their thoughts on seasonal foods, world cuisines, and the limitations of puff pastry.

Jenny Morris and Reza Mahammad cooking at the Good Food and Wine Show, in the Chefs Open Theatre. Photo by Welcome Lishivha.

Both Jenny and Reza travel extensively; in fact, their Food Network shows involve exploring various cuisine around the world with some suggestions from them on how to re-make the dishes to your own style. Jenny’s shows include Jenny Cooks Riviera, and Jenny Cooks Morocco. Reza explores Indian cuisine through his show Reza, Spice Prince of India. Reza also explores cuisines from other parts of the world such as Thailand and Vietnam.

On friendship

One of the first things I noticed when I saw them together cooking lamb on stage on the open theatre kitchen at the Good Food and Wine Show, was that they are as genuine and energetic on-camera as they are in person. Watching them cook together is like witnessing the best of friends catch up while putting a meal together – their food descriptions are funny and mildly inappropriate, and they make hilarious jabs at each other the way only close friends are allowed to.

‘Be careful with that meringue now, don’t drop it like the last one,’ says Jenni on stage as Reza helps with the layering the meringues in between a mixture of Greek yoghurt, fresh cream and berries. ‘After that, you drip this red sauce all over for the finish,’ adds Jenny with a naughty smile to the audience.

This chemistry is simply attributed to the fact that Jenny and Reza have been friends for 14 years. With both their cooking shows on the Food Network running successfully, they both travel extensively and spend a lot of time together in between filming. Jenny recalls the day they met at the Cape Town International Convention Centre after doing a show:
‘I was running to the car from doing a show here at the CTICC and it was raining outside, so we were both running towards the car looking down when we bumped heads like goats. We fell on the floor, soaking wet, with me on top of him. We sat on the floor in the soaking rain and started laughing, and we’ve loved each other since then. He’s watched my boys grow up. My parents love him. My cats love him. My dogs love him. He has a home with me when he’s in the country. In fact, he has his own room in my house, called Rez’s room. He is family to me,’ shares Jenny.

Reza Mahammad cooking on stage at the Good Food and Wine Show alongside Jenny Morris. Photo by Welcome Lishivha.

Food

They are both into gardening and are constantly on the look out for seasonal food, locally and across countries when travelling. Their seasonal approach to food is informed by the fact that they are both interested in bringing out the essence of food at its most ideal season, instead of overcomplicating and compromising the natural flavours of the food. ‘We don’t over-engineer our food. If we’re going to give you lamb, you’re going to taste the delicious succulent taste of lamb, maybe with a little sauce over it. We don’t cook the lamb out of the lamb,’ explains Jenny.

Although both Jenny and Reza are knowledgeable and particular about their work, part of their charm is their openness to bending a few rules. Given their relaxed and humorous approach to food, I asked, ‘What is the one thing you do that other chefs might frown upon?’
‘Well… sometimes I don’t always make my own pastry. And I doubt many chefs would frown upon that because most don’t always make their own pastry anyway,” says Jenny as she leans forward from the coach.
‘I’m with you girlfriend! I don’t like making puff pastry as well because it’s such a waste of time. I would rather buy filo pastry instead. I don’t have the time or the patience it takes to make pastry. I could’ve done 10 other dishes with the time that it takes to make one bloody pastry!’ adds Reza.
‘But you know what? You can cheat it. You can get butter, make layers, roll it up and they’ll think you made it from scratch it,’ Jenny adds.

Jenny Morris cooking on stage at the Good Food and Wine Show in Cape Town. Photo by Welcome Lishivha.

Travel

When travelling it’s important to learn about other people’s cultures and embrace what the locals do, shares the two stars on how they navigate travelling to new countries.
‘For example, China has such lovely food and when you get there you have the opportunity of trying out the cuisines made by the locals themselves, yet you still get people who go there and all they do is have bacon and egg!’ laments Jenny as she waves a disapproving finger and leans back on the couch.

Both of them are particularly impressed with Asian cuisine and are especially fond of Chinese culture.
‘I take people to China on food trips and we would often have 20 different dishes at lunch and 20 different dishes at dinner. They never repeat a meal. The chefs who cook in the palace really go out of their way to impress the Empress. It’s unbelievably competitive, those chefs would chop your head off,’ says Jenny.

Reza advises, ‘if you go to Asian countries or India for example, make sure to eat cooked food. Don’t eat raw food because your body might not be acclimatised to the water there; or you could get a bacterial infection. It’s always important to only eat cooked food when visiting new countries.’

Watch Jenny Morris at the next Good Food and Wine Show coming to Johannesburg from 28 – 30 July 2017. When she’s not cooking on screen, Jenny Morris spends a deal of her time in Cape Town where she also runs her own restaurant, Yumcious. The restaurant had a pop-up store at the Good Food and Wine Show – where she took me around and insisted I try out the pork belly served on a bed of coleslaw. The crackling turned out as perfectly as she had promised, crispy on the outside and tender inside, sticking to the minimalist approached she emphasised earlier. Make sure to try it out at the Good Food and Wine Show in Johannesburg.

Follow Jenny Morris and Reza Mahammad on the Food Network as they explore and share their food adventures around the world. And if you’re in Cape Town, visit Yumcious, Jenny’s restaurant in Green Point.

It’s a fact, colour makes the world go ’round and the proof is in these neighbourhoods. Which ones would make it onto your travel bucketlist?

1. Pelourinho, Salvador

Michael Jackson filmed his 1996 music video They Don’t Care About Us in ‘Pelo’ and it was clearly influenced by the neighbourhood’s vibrant Afro-Brazilian music and dance. Pelourinho is notable for being the home of capoeira and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. As a former colonial city, it has the largest collection of baroque architecture in the Americas, but the buildings were in deterioration until the 1990s when the government stepped in to refurbish.

Photo by Angelica Alves

Photo by Debora Araujo

2. Chefchaouen, Morocco

Chefchaouen is a rural town near the Rif Mountains where most of the buildings are painted blue. One of the theories about this tradition of sapphire houses is that it was a practice brought by Jewish refugees escaping the Spanish Inquisition in the 1500s. Another theory is that the blue colour was to honour the sky and heaven; it also apparently repels mosquitoes. Being quite far out of the way, there aren’t as many tourists here as in other Moroccan cities.

Photo by Singa Hitam

3. Bermuda

The pink-sand beaches of Bermuda are not the only colourful sight to behold. The British Overseas Territory has houses painted in gentle tones of greens, corals, yellows, pinks and peach. Blue has only recently been introduced to the colour palette. The houses also commonly have white slate roofs and stepped chimneys.

Photo by Vlad K.

4. Cinque Terre, Italy

The houses of Cinque Terre sit on the steep, craggy Ligurian cliffs of the Italian Riviera like uncut gemstones. Cinque Terre means ‘Five Lands’ and is a cluster of five villages, connected by eight kilometres of footpaths which you can easily walk. It’s also a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has been declared ‘The Cinque Terre National Park’.

Photo by Kelly Hunter

5. Balat and Fener, Istanbul

These areas of Turkey were formerly known as the Greek Orthodox and Jewish neighbourhoods, and the mix of colours and houses reflect the cosmopolitan community. There are also hints of Armenian culture in the neighbourhoods. ‘Fener’ is from the Greek word meaning ‘lantern’ and ‘lighthouse’ in Turkish. A blend of religious buildings can be seen in Balat with its many synagogues, mosques and churches.

Fener, Photo by Tabea Scotchdopodo

6. Guanajuato, Mexico

Located on the mountains of central Mexico, are the wonderfully pigmented homes of Guanajuato. Famous Mexican painter, Diego Rivera was born in Guanajuato and he was the leader of the country’s mural movement. The multi-coloured homes are a testament to Guanajuato’s vibrant artistic culture. It hosts the Festival Internacional Cervantino, a four-week event that celebrates the performing and visual arts. There is also a museum dedicated to naturally mummified bodies from the 1800s.

Photo by Bud Ellison

7. Wroclaw

Pronounced ‘vrots-wahf’, Wroclaw is Poland’s cultural and intellectual centre and also has one of Europe’s most splendid market squares (Rynek). Throughout history, the riverside city has belonged to Austria, Hungary, Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland. Though modern, Wroclaw has some medieval features with church spires and cobbled streets. Making it stand out are its vividly coloured buildings. Wroclaw also has a growing film industry and many arts festivals are held there. It’s not very well-known by tourists, so it’s a great place to visit now before it becomes very popular.

Photo by Proggie

8. Caminito, Buenos Aires

These colourful homes line a 100 metre street in Buenos Aires and ‘caminito’ means ‘little walkway’ or ‘little path’ in Spanish. They were built and painted with shipyard materials by immigrants who worked in the port between 1880 and 1930. Some of these immigrants were Italians from Genoa who carried the tradition of painting their houses from their homeland. They used leftover paint from the shipyard because that was all they could afford.

Photo by Andre Deak

9. Trinidad

Trinidad in central Cuba is also a UNESCO World Heritage site. It’s on the coast and is surrounded by the Escambray Mountains. It may feel as if you’re frozen in time because there are more than 1000 colonial buildings and many historic mansions-turned-museums. You’ll also find some of the classic cars associated with Cuba stationed on the sides of the cobblestone streets.

Photo by momo

10. Kampung Pelangi, Indonesia

Most neighbourhoods have had colourful facades for generations. Not Kampung Pelangi. The psychedelic colours that bounce off these walls are quite new and were used to give the rundown village a facelift. Stirred from the imaginations of its residents, the transformation of Kampung Pelangi was funded by the government who hoped that it would boost tourist interest. It seems to be working because the village has its own hashtag on Instagram (#kampungpelangi) in a growing movement by visitors.

Photo by arieprakhman

Lost something on your last holiday? Turns out it’s not your fault: there are things in your luggage plotting an escape.

Image by Alasdair McCulloch.

 
I was in the middle of donating my fourth Leatherman to airport security when a thought struck me so absolutely that my body lengthened and my pupils widened like someone who has just realised they’ve left the oven on. Which would have been ideal, actually, as I would have had to abandon my flight, allowing the nice woman who drives the hand luggage through the MRI-for-objects machine to return my offending tool.

As it happened I was heading to Joburg, a place that waits for no person, and I knew, the moment I saw my backpack disappear into the machine for a second scan, that I’d lost yet another gadget to thoughtless packing.

‘You can go back out and give it to whoever dropped you off,’ said one of the security officials. I thought about my Uber driver, Suleiman. He was nice. We had bonded over a mutual mistrust of minibus taxis and the government. Perhaps he’d have use for a blade that also had no fewer than 16 other handy applications. But he was long gone, probably shaking his fist admirably at the taxis carving up Cape Town’s N2 like a shiver of sharks.

‘No, it’s yours now,’ I said to the official and bequeathed him my blade in the manner one might bequeath an heirloom sword. Except without actually holding the sword because in an airport the only people who can handle sharp objects are the ones in uniform. The blunt objects are left standing on the other side of the conveyors with lighter backpacks, ruing their oversight.

Anyway, back to that thought. It went like this: what if, after all these years of giving travel advice, I’m actually a lousy traveller? The thought got worse. I began wondering if I was the lousy traveller. See, in every group of travellers there is one. That one person who is always forgetting their ticket or passport or sentimental beach towel that your whole party has to wait for them to retrieve. Can’t think of that person? Then I’m afraid it’s you.

Faced with that unsettling proposition, I did what any self-respecting travel journalist would do. I dragged my team under the bus with me, and asked them what they’ve lost along the way.

•  Gear Editor Melanie van Zyl lost a solar panel 4x4ing in Namibia. She drove 30 kilometres before realising it was on the roof, still charging.
• Associate Editor Caroline Webb left her passport at a hotel in Russia. She’s still on the wanted person’s list in the Kremlin.
• Designer Leigh Taylor left a pair of leg warmers at a campsite in the Cederberg, a place that gets so cold in the evenings I can only think of one reason why you would need to take them off at all.
• Copy Editor Michelle Hardie left her maternity dress at a hotel in Athens while holidaying with her husband and first child in utero. She must have left her senses there too because she had another child soon after.

Aside from those, it turned out there were a handful of things that travellers lose frequently. Three, in fact. Things that we’ve all probably forgotten at least once. Things that, I’ve deduced, are not lost through the fault of their owners but rather the fact that some objects have a stronger urge to be on holiday than others. Here they are (keep this list handy when you check out):

• Toothbrushes. Face it, your bathroom at home is a bit of a dump compared to the luxury your toiletries experience at hotels. It’s no wonder your toothbrush hides behind the faucet when it’s time to go.
• Smartphone chargers. Like most electronics, chargers act purely out of malice. They delight no end in picturing you back on home soil, trying to hail an Uber with the last five per cent of your battery.
• The sock. Still at No. 1 on the-world’s-most-wayward-items list, the lone sock excels abroad. It wanders off to sip piña coladas on secluded beaches, explore new cities by night, drink at local bars and fraternise with exotic yarn in offbeat laundromats. You’ll never see it again because the sock is no lousy traveller. Whether home or away, it’s always planning the perfect escape. The sock, dear readers, is the greatest traveller of all time.

This story originally appeared in the July 2017 issue of Getaway magazine.

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Our July issue features the best places to stay in the Midlands, budget family breaks in Durban, and the best (and mostly free) things you have to do in New York.

With miles of unspoilt white beaches and its warmer waters, Arniston is a pretty village which makes for a fantastic weekend escape. If you go now, you’ll spot some whales. Photographs by Teagan Cunniffe.

How it works

TripAdvisor lists accommodation rated by guests, but as much as we love peer reviews, they don’t offer a comparative voice. So how do we know if Number 1 really is the best? Pippa de Bruyn, who has reviewed accommodation for 18 years for the likes of Frommer’s and the UK’s The Telegraph, scours TripAdvisor and other online sites when researching a destination. For Arniston, she created a long list of 29 to inspect. The following made the cut.

What we learnt about accommodation in Arnistorn

• There are two letting agents: Arniston-Etnas has the largest selection, with 62 options – arniston-etnas.co.za. Arniston Letting has fewer (36 options) but represents some of the best properties – arniston-letting.co.za.
• It’s a predominantly self-catering destination so TripAdvisor representation is thin. There are no stand-out B&Bs. Self-catering is geared to larger groups with few one- or two-bedroom options. Most are two-day minimum rentals.
• Given the beauty all around, it’s surprising how run down and shoddily maintained many places are. Needless to say, the properties featured on these pages are all in top nick.
• A large indoor braai – in the kitchen and/or enclosed lounge or sunroom – as well as an outdoor braai is a common feature of many Arniston houses. Nifty for those who really love to braai when the wind is blowing (which it does).
• Just about everything is within walking distance, so unless you really want a seafront location, it’s not that important. When booking, do ask how long the walk to Roman (best swimming) Beach and Harbour Beach is.

Best-value luxury without a sea view

1. Pirate Hill

Unlisted

Artist Linda Radford has spent a decade transforming a double-storey barn-like structure into a character-filled space that is much more textured than the more predictable beach-house style. The central open-plan living area, centred on a large fireplace, is filled with an interesting collection of furniture, much of it mid-century modern mixed with some Cape vintage pieces. Walls are a deep green sage and industrial steel-framed windows create a good contrast with the traditional thatched roof. The kitchen – modern and well equipped – is made for entertaining, overlooking a 10-seater dining table. The whole feel is eclectic and cosy, and who cares about the sea when you’re watching the sun go down over the fynbos plains from the upstairs deck? Linda’s managed to coax a fairly lush fynbos garden from the thin Arniston soil.
Room tip: The two upstairs bedrooms with king-size beds are the ones to bag, but all four are en-suite and in their own wings – two upstairs on either end of a mezzanine walkway, with the same configuration mirrored below.
Cost: From R2000 (sleeps 10).
Contact: 0833055140, arniston-letting.co.za

Most atmospheric beach cottage

2. Busch House

Unlisted

One of the first holiday homes to be built in Arniston, this charming low-slung 1940s house with its thatched roof and thick whitewashed walls has been in the same family for almost 50 years and exudes a well-loved aura. Kyra Schlebusch inherited it two decades ago and has slowly but surely imprinted her distinctive decor style, ‘doing something new every year’: a fireplace one year, a deep watertank-style plunge pool the next, built-in seating in the back garden, a decadent walk-in shower room, an outside en-suite guest room, and so on. The result is a barefoot-chic, easy-living beach house that feels more Churchhaven than Arniston, only more affordable. There are four bedrooms (sharing two bathrooms) in the house, plus the outside unit.
Room tip: For privacy, bag the outside suite.
Cost: From R3600 (sleeps 10).
Contact: 0828991549, inhoek.com

Best hotel stay

3. Arniston Spa Hotel

Tripadvisor No. 1 of 2 Hotels.
There is so much to like about this welcoming, unpretentious four-star hotel. Affordable, spotless, comfortable accommodation right on the seafront is already a big tick, but staff are also super, food satisfying and the rooms generously sized, with up-todate bathrooms. Then there’s the value-for-money rate that encourages an interesting mix of clientele – tattooed locals in slip-slops and tracksuits next to tables murmuring German or French, all gazing at the many-hued blues that draw the world to Arniston. There’s a bit of rust in the lift and staircase (that corrosive sea air) but overall maintenance is great – I inspected 10 rooms and they were all in great shape. Breakfast is a hot-meal station and great big buffet that serves up just about anything you could possibly want to kick-start the day, including bubbly.
Room tip: The best are those facing the sea on the top two floors. With the exception of rooms on the ground floor (where privacy can be an issue), it’s definitely worth booking a sea view (from R370 more) – but they are popular. Number 223 is the best pool-view room, with an oblique view of the sea from the bed and balcony.
Cost: Doubles from R1100 B&B.
Contact: 0284459000, arnistonhotel.com

Best contemporary beach house

4. Whale House

Unlisted

If you want to be a lob from Roman Beach and enjoy wrap-around sea and harbour views, and prefer modern interiors, then Whale House is a class-act choice. This airy open-plan beach house, on an elevated foundation, has been artfully renovated by its Franschhoek-based owners to create a main living space upstairs with large glass windows and sliding doors onto a large deck, really making the most of the elevated views. On the same level are two en-suite bedrooms. Very sensibly they have created two more bedrooms downstairs (sharing a bathroom) on either side of an open-plan TV lounge with fireplace, making this a cosy hideaway for kids. By far the best option on sought-after Harbour Street.
Room tip: There is only one double bed. Suitable for families travelling with children old enough to sleep on another level (downstairs).
Cost: From R2700 (sleeps eight). Minimum stay three nights (in season, seven nights).
Contact: 0833055140, arniston-letting.co.za

Best for big groups and celebrations

5. Inhoek Farm

Unlisted

When Kyra and Tom Schlebusch purchased this farm on the outskirts of Arniston (five minutes’ drive; ‘close enough to hear the sea’), it was derelict. Too small for agricultural purposes, the couple started chopping out aliens and transforming a swampy 6 x 8m hole into a fabulous swimming dam while they continued farming nearby. In 2013 they sold that farm and decided to build a large four-bedroom holiday house (fabulously furnished, with a wrap-around veranda, this is a real spoil). From here the project grew. ‘After the house came the cottages (Thelma, Madeleine and Mo), then someone said the sheds would make a marvellous function venue.’ They are too; recently Kyra – bowing to popular demand – opened a pop-up restaurant in one. ‘Sometimes I feel I’m bullied into things,’ she quips, ‘but things just fall into place.’ A very good place, as it happens.
Room tip: The farm sleeps 22 in total. The two bigger cottages are quite far from the farmhouse but close to each other – a great getaway if you’re six or eight people.
Cost: Farmhouse from R5600 (sleeps 12). Cottages from R1400 (sleep two to four).
Contact: 0828991549, inhoek.com

Best four-bedroom sea view

6. The Beach House

Unlisted

A contemporary, double-storey classic beach house, predominantly white, and well-furnished by owners Mike and Linda Pitt. Cleverly designed to provide sea views from three of the four bedrooms, and the decision to place the main living area upstairs delivers a wonderful sense of space beyond the large open-plan kitchen, dining and lounge, and outdoor balcony with braai enjoying great views. There is one en-suite bedroom on this floor; downstairs are two sharing a bathroom, an en-suite bedroom (shower only; no view) and another living area. Close to the hotel and Harbour Beach.
Room tip: There is an outside room that the owners loathe to rent out – it’s not in the same class as the rooms in the house but it is neat and clean. Worth knowing if there are nine or 10 of you (strictly no more!).
Cost: From R3 500 (sleeps eight).
Contact: 0833055140, arniston-letting.co.za

Best three bedroom house

7. Slipway

Unlisted

A classic thatched Arniston cottage built on a slightly raised stone-clad foundation, with partial sea views from the downstairs deck and a good sea view from the upstairs one. It accommodates four people in two bedrooms in the main house (sharing a bathroom, making this more suitable for family than friends) and two in a spacious en-suite cottage (as opposed to a converted garage or staff quarters, as is often the case). Furnished with practical, pleasing pieces (not a plastic chair in sight), there is an enormous hearth-like fireplace on the deep, semi-enclosed veranda and another in the kitchen, plus a wind-protected outdoor braai. The house is set back one block from the harbour area, a two-minute stroll from Harbour Beach. A great option for a small, multi-generational family.
Room tip: If Slipway is full, enquire about Seaview, a large apartment (attached to a house) that also sleeps six. It was occupied so I couldn’t inspect interiors but the location is super and it even costs slightly less (from R1500).
Cost: From R2060 (sleeps six).
Contact: 0828184529, arniston-etnas.co.za

Best luxury seafront house

8. Pirates Landing

Unlisted

If there is no budget restriction then this is the best option in the village: a large, luxuriously dressed house with a prime location on the elevated ridge overlooking the harbour and hotel. Harbour Beach is a minute’s walk away; Roman Beach is five to 10 minutes’ stroll from your front door. It’s a great house for a large group: the open-plan living space is huge, the four bedrooms are all en-suite, there’s a plunge pool in the wind-protected back courtyard and three braai options (sea-facing braai pit, in the pool courtyard or a built-in braai in the kitchen). Decor is classic beach house – all white walls and white wicker chairs with tasteful stripes. It’s pricier than The Beach House or Busch House, but that doesn’t stop it being booked out months in advance.
Room tip: If you have first dibs, opt for the upstairs loft-style room in the eaves. There is also a separate en-suite flatlet.
Cost: R6700 (sleeps 10).
Contact: arniston-etnas.co.za

Worth a look

9. Clydesdale House

A nondescript exterior hides a smartly decorated home with a modern kitchen, scrupulously maintained by owner Sunell Human. There’s a fairly unobstructed view from the patio towards the hotel and harbour. Sleeps six in three bedrooms.
Cost: From R2500.
Contact: 0824446967, capestay.co.za

10. Napier Street

The best self-catering option I saw for a couple, solo traveller or small family. It comprises two compact ground-floor flats under the main house. Unit 1 sleeps two adults and a child, and has a small private patio (from R500); Unit 2 sleeps three or five (an extra room with a double bed can be added) and has a sea view from its balcony. A smattering of antiques add character.
Cost: From R900.
Contact: arniston-letting.co.za

11. Nautilus

Another house owner who has partitioned off the ground floor for rental. It’s a one-minute walk to Harbour Beach, is well furnished and has one of the classic indoor braai hearths in the kitchen. Sleeps seven in three bedrooms.
Cost: From R1400.
Contact: arniston-letting.co.za

12. Full House

This is spot is good-value place has partial sea views and is very conveniently located for either of the swimming beaches, and has a good wind-protected courtyard. The Stellenbosch owners are clearly fastidious – the house is impeccably maintained and equipped. Sleeps 10 in four bedrooms.
Cost: From R2500.
Contact: arniston-letting.co.za

Do this

• Kassiesbaai, the 200-year-old fishing village at the harbour – home to Willeen’s craft shop and restaurant, 0837290651. Wanda’s Waenhuis 0783676672, also a restaurant and the fish and chips shop Richman Poorman, 0739316816.
• The Sterna Hiking Trail is a seven-kilometre circular route through nearby De Mond Nature Reserve, taking in coastal forest, fynbos and dunes. 0284253708
• Long beach walks over dunes towards endless horizons (you may spot the ribs of the Arniston wreck poking out the sand), and long swims in safe, warm waters at Roman Beach.
• Waenhuiskrans Cave.

This story first appeared in the March 2017 issue of Getaway magazine.

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Our March issue features a self-catering trip to the Seychelles that you can afford, a karoo secret retreat, learning to fly-fish in Rhodes and a joburg road trip for beer lovers. 

We live on the second most polluted continent on Earth. Here’s what you can do about it, writes our editor, Sonya Schoeman.

When British comedian Ricky Gervais was little, his older siblings used to take him to the forest, where he loved to get knee-deep and investigative with nature. One particular day he was especially thrilled to find a discarded snakeskin, and like any little brother worth his salt began chasing his older sister with it. To his utter delight, she was revolted. ‘Put it down, it’s got germs!’ she said, and ‘You’re not coming in the car with that!’ Years later, wanting to get one up on her in front of his teenage mates, he began teasing her about it, when she shot back: ‘You do know it was a used condom, don’t you?’There are many morals to this story besides ‘always assume your siblings have more dirt on you than you on them’. Another is that Earth makes a poor bin for rubbish, leading to many instances of mistaken identity. Heard about whales confusing clear plastic packets for jellyfish, for example?

According to Dr Tony Ribbink from the Sustainable Seas Trust (SST), Africa is the second-most polluted continent in the world (number one: Asia, especially Southeast Asia) and something needs to be done about it. This is why SST is organising the first-ever African Marine Waste Conference in Port Elizabeth this July. It’s a first attempt to get the 38 African coastal and island states to find solutions to these waste management challenges.

There are many ‘what can be done?’ conversations to be had around this, ranging from government action and legislation to personal responsibility. Civic action is one within our control and so there’s an opportunity to throw one’s hat over the wall, here, and see what we, as South Africans, can do to alleviate the situation. Kenya has just become the latest country to ban plastic bags (Rwanda did so back in 2008). Should we motivate to bring about such a thing for South Africa, for instance?

We’re partnering with SST to see what we, the public, can bring to the party. Keen to put forward an idea? Keep an eye on our social media platforms and join in the conversation. We’ll be collecting the good ideas, giving our own suggestions, and keeping you informed about this initiative.

Enjoy this issue.

4 things to look out for in the July issue

KZN Midlands
Our cover story this month is the gorgeous KZN Midlands. We sent our professional reviewer there to find 15 top spots for a cosy winter break. See page 42.

Virunga National Park
I can always tell a good story by whether it makes me want to start saving, and Scott Ramsay made this destination come alive for me. It’ll cost, but this is ultimate wish-list stuff. Read his story on page 76.

Budget Challenge
We set two families a challenge: to find a weekend getaway outside of Durban for R3000. Impressively, they took their budgets seriously and still had fun (page 68).

Look out for the good-value star
Each Getaway issue has several inexpensive accommodation options, places to stay for under R550 per person (some for less) and that we think offer good value.

This month’s contributors

Angel Campey– New York, page 94
Angel is a South African stand-up comedian who spent most of 2016 performing in New York, with a short stint in Montreal and Hong Kong. After a successful initial tour of NYC’s underground clubs, Angel was invited back to some of the most prestigious comedy clubs in the world, where she spent the summer performing by night and sightseeing by day. She shares some of her favourite outings with us.

Africa Melane– New York, page 94
When he’s not filling the airwaves with his deep and distinctive voice on Cape Talk’s Weekend Breakfast Show, Africa loves to travel and there’s no place better place for him than the Big Apple. Here he revels in an abundance of three loves: different types of food, museums and jazz. Read about his favourite haunts in this cosmopolitan city.

Taweni Gondwe Xaba– KZN Weekends Away, page 68
Taweni’s heart and head continue to debate her preference between the ocean and bush aspects of her new home province, KwaZulu-Natal. She chose the latter when we challenged her to a family weekend away on a budget – and discovered a new favourite. ‘If I could go anywhere alone for a quiet weekend right now, it would be to The George Hotel in Eshowe. I would spend a quarter of my time in its gorgeous, romantic library and the rest in the Dlinza Forest, which is possibly the most beautiful hike I’ve done in years.

Obie Oberholzer– Morocco, page 62
A photographer who needs no introduction, Obie has regular bouts of extreme wanderlust, a large percentage of diesel and dust in his head, and more horizons in his heart than money in the bank. He has just returned from a month-long journey across the Nullarbor Plains in southern Australia.‘I follow my photographic roads like Elvis sang: “You’ve gotta follow that dream, wherever that dream may lead you…”

This story originally appeared in the July 2017 issue of Getaway magazine.

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Our July issue features the best places to stay in the Midlands, budget family breaks in Durban, and the best (and mostly free) things you have to do in New York.

With more than 700 performances crammed into 11 days, the National Arts Festival can be overwhelming to frequent and first-time goers. To help you get the most of this year’s festivals, take our advice to help you navigate the fun-filled week that is the National Arts Festival.

Mandla Mlangeni performs with the Amandla Freedom Ensemble at the Jazz Jam at Saints Bistro. Photo by Jane Berg.

1. Book the big shows ahead of time

If you want to watch a production, chances are ten other people do too. To spare yourself the disappointment of missing your favourite production by booking your tickets as soon as possible. It’s best to book online now. Browse the programme and book about two shows maximum for each day that you’re most likely to enjoy. Be on the lookout for more suggestions throughout the Festival. If you do buy online, print them before going to the festival, or make sure you’ll be able to collect them upon arrival at the venue.

2. Look out for Standing Ovation Awards

Standing Ovation Awards are awarded to first-time productions on each day across categories. Overall winners are announced at the end of the festival. The shortlisted winners are announced on Cue Newspaper throughout the festival. Grab a copy of Cue to find winners and get your tickets as soon as possible; remember that tickets might already be sold out. It’s a good approach if you are especially interested in discovering new and unknown artists on the rise.

3. Know the difference between the Fringe and Main programme

The first things to note when browsing through the bible-sized programme are two main sections: the Main programme and the Fringe programme. The main programme features award-winning, renowned and established artists and productions. The Fringe programme hosts upcoming talent with a lot of first-timers. A lot of artists often progress from the Fringe to the main programme through forms of recognition, like the Standing Ovation Awards.

If you look through the Fringe programme, you’ll find various colour codes on the schedules of the programme. The red highlights times and dates when the production is free. This is a strategy for artists who want to spread the word about their work as the Festival begins. The early days of a show might often be free, which is a bonus for people planning on arriving for the earlier part of the festival. The green indicates days when the tickets are going for 50% of the usual price and blue, and blue means you can buy two for the prize of one.

4. Don’t overcommit

With over 700 shows taking place, it’s easy to think of yourself as Bradley Cooper in Limitless and imagine that you can watch five shows in one day. Unfortunately, it’s not that kind of party, and coffee can only do so much to keep you going. Don’t festival yourself out. Two shows a day should suffice. One during the day and one in the evenings. This is to also allow you time for drinks, meeting people and exchanging ideas, shopping, and indulging in all the various food on offer at the markets!

4. Mix up the genres

Step out of your comfort zone a little and try watching something you wouldn’t ordinarily watch. Look out for initiatives such as ThinkFest! which hosts intellectual and often robust engagements about various issues in the country. Talks include conversations on the evolution of various art forms and their role in nation building. There’s also WordFest, where talks on writing are hosted and some poetry readings. Look out for the launch of the annual collection of stories launched at the Festival, Short sharp stories.

5. If all else fails, try comedy

There is a vast array of comedy sessions available at the festival through the Cape Town Comedy Club. The club hosts the likes of Loyiso Gola, Stuart Lewis and Rob Van Vuuren. They host a show every night featuring various comedians with a line-up that changes every other night. It’s a value-for-money show that also offers a good sense of comedy across the country with newcomers bringing out their best and newest jokes.

6. Look out for handmade crafts by locals

The National Arts Festival hosts over 1000 stalls across Grahamstown selling a variety of goods. Items on sale range from crafts, clothes, food, bags, shoes and much more. Most of the items on sale are sold by locally produced and sold by local businesses. So doing your fair share of shopping at the festival means supporting local businesses and local entrepreneurs. It’s worth spending your buck. Look out for new and interesting products, you might just discover the next best thing or unearth hidden gems that we’re all sleeping on.

7. Read Cue daily

Cue Newspaper is produced daily and distributed for free across various spots in Grahamstown like festival venues and ticket sale points. Pick up the paper for the previous days Standing Ovation Award Winners, news related to the Festival and events taking place beyond your immediate activities. It’s a nice way of staying abreast of the Festival and not missing out on conversations taking at and about the Festival.

8. Hydrate!

Drink lots of water throughout the festival to stay hydrated and avoid unnecessary fatigue, cramps and headaches. With all the food and drinking that’s bound to take place, it’s easy to forget drinking water. Just remember that drinking water will help you stay energised, get better sleep and feel less fatigued during and after the festival.

Top 10 performances worth looking out (that you should probably book now):

Click on the links to book the tickets now.

1. The Soil is a South African award winning and double platinum-selling a cappella group. Their music is a blend of contemporary township style and an eclectic mix of urban contemporary, fusing beat box and soul. Look out for their concert at the Festival.

2. Pendo Masote is a 13-year-old violinist who is making his debut at the National Arts Festival. I don’t know that many 14-year-old violinists who are dropping albums, this might the star awaiting your discovery.

3. Rob van Vuuren brings a collection of his best material in a career that has seen him become one of South Africa’s most popular and original comedians.

4. Two-time Emmy-nominated and Comics’ Choice Award-winning Loyiso Gola is one of South Africa’s most loved comedians. Loyiso pushes the envelope with his thought-provoking comedy tackling politics, race, history. At this year’s Festival, he offers Loyiso is Unlearning. He’ll also be taking place in the one-time production, The Very Big Comedy Show, I am willing to bet that tickets for this quickly selling out.

5. A Man and a Dog – winner of a 2015 Silver Standard Bank Ovation Award and nominated for a Fleur du Cap. The play makes use of oral tradition, song, instrumentation and physical theatre to weave together a retelling of our collective family as South Africans.

6. Platinumb Heart is a protest album in progress and a personal musical, poetic inquiry on identity. Msaki and her band The Golden Circle create a sound that combines soulful folk, symphonic movements and African poly-rhythms with portals of improvisation. For this project, they feature poet, Modise Sekgothe. Composer, musician and co-curator of the Pan African Space Station, Neo Muyanga.

7. Justice Dikgang Moseneke, former Chief Justice and author of My own liberator, an intimate autobiography, where he pays homage to the many people and places that have shaped him, and his career that saw him rise as one of the country’s top legal minds. Find him at the National Arts Festival talking at length about his book.

8. Globe-trotting laughter master Stephen K Amos arrives in South Africa for the National Arts Festival with his new show World Famous, following a sell-out world tour.

9. Sabela is an African contemporary dance piece inspired by our names, as human beings. What they mean to us, how they carry us and how we carry them as we journey in life. The piece is choreographed by Thandazile Radebe, an award-winning choreographer, a contemporary dancer and a dance teacher.

10. Kalushi: The Story of Solomon Mahlangu is set in the height of apartheid when 19-year-old hawker from the streets of Mamelodi, Solomon Mahlangu, faced a daunting trial in which he was hung by the apartheid state for his involvement in the struggle against apartheid. The moving and important film was popular and well received by many South Africans when it was out in cinemas earlier this year. If you missed watching it, you can catch a screening of it at the National Arts Festival.

11. Standard Bank Jazz Festival
This programme is jam-packed with fantastic artists you don’t want to miss out. Ranging from Judith Sephuma, Desmond and the Tutus, The Soil, The Standard Bank National Youth Band (made up of a selection of the top young jazz musicians in the country between the ages of 19 and 25 years) and much much more. It’ll be worth your while popping into any one of the productions that make up the jazz festival.

What are you most looking forward to attending? And what tips do you have for people attending the festival on how to better navigate this big event?

Caught in transit, our columnist stops pretending he’s in a movie to discover a world of real life drama.

Photo by Jong Soo

I had missed my flight from Amsterdam to Vienna and had several ghastly hours to spend hanging around in Schiphol.

Airports can be melancholy places, great comfortless supermarkets of anxiety and loneliness. There are so many people funnelled together, all wanting to be somewhere else, all for their own private reasons, all so guarded and inward that it’s quite easy to forget that you are all there being human together.

At first I felt sorry for myself, drifting like a half-sunken plastic packet down the green cold canals of the food courts and duty-free shops. There are only so many samples of expensive cologne you can spritz on yourself before the assistants start recognising you, and there were still five hours to go. I didn’t have any conscious plan to wander along to the arrivals hall, but I drifted and I bobbed and the next thing I knew I was standing at the metal barrier in front of those sliding glass doors, amid a throng of people waiting for their loved ones.

There are different categories of arriving passengers. Some come striding out of the doors as though they’re the only ones there, scowling at their phones as though engaged in weighty business and not in fact just checking to see who liked their last Facebook post. Some emerge blinking and startled at the waiting crowd, as though they’ve just stumbled into a surprise party and it’s not even their birthday. Some stand there a little sadly just for a moment, scanning the faces for one that’s familiar even though they know no one’s waiting for them. There were even a few people who seemed to be performing what I consider my signature arrival move: striding smoothly through, neither too fast nor too slow, with a soundtrack playing in their heads, silently pretending to themselves that they’re James Bond arriving in Jamaica or Kyoto, on the lookout for agents of Spectre.

It was unexpectedly moving to be there amid the small joys and dramas of arrival. A girl burst into tears as she hugged her boyfriend; a young man blushed in embarrassment as his parents hollered and made a fuss; an elderly woman met another elderly woman and they both stood there wordlessly, trembling a little and looking at each other. How had it taken me so long to realise that this is how I should spend every spare minute at an airport: in the arrivals hall, where emotions are the strongest, where people are looking outward to other people, where love is most visible.

The people around me had a special excitement. They were gathered in small groups, holding elaborate hand-made banners saying ‘Welcome home, we’re proud of you’ and ‘Our hero is back!’ It puzzled me until the tall, muscular men carrying army kitbags started emerging and being submerged in love from their families. ‘I have been waiting three months for you to kiss me’ read one woman’s sign. Her husband was a burly soldier with a red beard, and when he came through and saw her he didn’t make her wait a moment longer. I wanted to applaud.

But there was one woman, all alone, carrying a very young baby. She didn’t have a sign but stood very intently watching the glass doors. The other soldiers gradually emerged and the crowd dissipated, but still she stood there. Soon it felt like it was just her watching the doors, and me watching her. When it was clear there was no one else coming off that flight she turned with her baby and walked slowly away. Maybe I shouldn’t spend too much time at the arrivals hall. I don’t think my heart would stand it.
Read this story and others in the July issue out on sale now.

This story first appeared in the March 2017 issue of Getaway magazine.

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Our July issue features the best places to stay in the Midlands, budget family breaks in Durban, and the best (and mostly free) things you have to do in New York. 

Is this magical island holiday your wildest travel dream? Here’s a way to do it without cracking your credit card. Words by Caroline Webb. Photography by Teagan Cunniffe.

Snorkelling around Chauve Souris, you will hear ‘clicking’ noises from the busy coral reef; the palm trees at Vallée de Mai, a World Heritage Site, are up to 30 metres high and hundreds of years old.

You won’t believe me, but I felt a little sorry for the guests at the resorts. I sat in the rosy twilight, sipping a piña colada and staring at the same magnificent view as everyone else on Beau Vallon beach, but I was getting that little something ‘extra’, more authentic, from my sundowner experience. My delicious cocktail had been served in a plastic cup by shy 13-year-old Christopher at a street market stall, had cost me just 75 rupees (around R75, a bargain, believe me!) and I’d merely strolled straight onto the beach to enjoy it – a unique experience for a South African, where drinking on beaches is not allowed. Sure, the hotel guests had their pretty cocktails and their loungers and their waiter service, but weren’t they somehow missing out?

Pretty soon they’d be going to dinner, probably at their resort, which meant they might never be humbled by a meal at Baobab Pizzeria… It’s nothing grand; a small, plain, open-walled structure with about 20 tables at the far end of the beach. There’s no booking, no greeting when you arrive – just wait for a table to empty and grab it. It’s presided over by one woman who runs it like clockwork. You might feel ignored at first, but just as impatience and doubt set in, she arrives with menus, and from this point on everything flows effortlessly. There’s no fake friendliness, no ‘professionalism’, no frills: the restaurant of my dreams – and cheap for the Seychelles.

Chalets d’Anse Forbans, just 10 steps across the lawn to the shore; large palm fronds and umbrella-like takamaka trees provide shade on most beaches.

Afterwards, Teagan and I ambled down the road to The Boat House – it specialises in pricey Creole buffet dinners (420 rupees per person), but we paid 100 rupees to take our pick of the desserts. Not exactly a bargain but it has a great vibe, two wandering minstrels strumming reggae-pop on guitars (live local music is a rare find, unless it’s carnival time), and the unique decor alone is worth the price. At the end of the night, we felt we’d had a fairly genuine and interesting evening’s entertainment we would not have been able to replicate anywhere else in the world. As we walked back to our apartment, along the now-dark beach, we felt happy and safe. There’s no price for that.

Dispatched to the Seychelles, like Cinderella to the ball not in glass slippers but tackies, we had instructions to do it on a budget. We’d be staying in B&Bs, self-catering apartments and chalets; we had to use public transport (there is a bus service on Mahé and Praslin), and we had to feed ourselves without feasting. Would we still have a happy ending?

I was rather surprised by the Seychelles – my impression, echoed by everyone whose response when I said I was going there (‘Ooh, la-di-dah’), was that it is expensive, upmarket and relegated to that ‘special holiday’ category (honeymoons, anniversaries). In reality, there is all that but also a down-to-earth, real and distinct Creole culture. It felt like a place where normal people live and work. The paradise element is there, of course – the powdery white sands, curvaceous boulders and tropical seas – but there are also wild jungly interiors (great for forest hiking), one of the cutest capital cities in the world, and the delightful oddity of seafaring Rastas raving around in their motorboats.

A boatman waits for customers at Cote d’Or on Praslin; fresh coconut is offered everywhere (like chips or peanuts in SA).

There is also what must be one of the best bicycle rides in the world – on La Digue. Riding beside a turquoise ocean, along the east coast’s concrete road shaded by towering palms and dotted with interesting dwellings and beach shacks selling fresh fruit juice, I felt like I could burst with sheer giddy happiness. Freewheeling downhill, hair blowing in the breeze, I soaked up the pinch-me- I’m-actually-in-paradise feeling. We pulled over often to take in the view or cool off in the sea, and watched the owner of Chez Jules cafe expertly chop open a coconut, after which he offered some to us.

There are over 2000 bicycles on the island, and (almost) no vehicles – this cycling culture allows visitors freedom to explore at their own pace and to feel truly part of life here. It made me fall hard for La Digue. That, and our nightly entertainment: riding down to the jetty, sitting on the quayside, eating a takeaway dinner, looking at the stars – and watching the resident giant stingray glide gracefully around in the shallows right below us.

Jules, the owner of Chez Jules on La Digue, shows how it’s done; step off the beach into Baobab Pizzeria in Mahé’s buzzy resort area.

After our first Seychelles sunset, we determined to always seek out a spot to wind down the day. Twilight is special on the islands – like when falling snow turns the world quiet… That first night at Beau Vallon, it was as if people were trying to squeeze the last drop out of the day – going for a final dip, playing beach bats, bringing boats in or heading out, sunbathers catching the very last rays, people standing around in small groups, all increasingly becoming silhouettes. Even the island dogs came out in packs, along with the fruit bats circling above. The whole world on pause for just an hour…

Landlubbing is all very well, but it’s the magnificent sea studded with islands in every direction that would prove too great a temptation to resist. Swimming is free, of course, but any other water-based activity comes at a price. Nearing the end of our trip, on Praslin we finally splurged on a half-day excursion, arranged on the spur of the moment with a taxi driver. It included visiting the free-ranging giant tortoises on Curieuse island, a short hike through a mangrove swamp followed by a beach barbecue and snorkelling around Chauve Souris islet. Sure, it was touristy (we were a motley crew of nationalities thrown together) and it seriously dented our wallets, but given that it included transfers from the other side of Praslin, the boat trip, food, cold drinks and a terrific little adventure, it was worth it.

These people are looking at the tiny black-and-white striped fish that crowd around bathers at Anse Lazio on Praslin; cycling rules the roads on La Digue.

But it was our search for sundowner spots each day that would ultimately create some of our best memories – feeding stale bread to swirling schools of tropical fish from the terrace of the Sunset Beach Hotel (and paying a spluttering 200 rupees for a cocktail there!); sitting on the lofty wooden deck of a local family’s house above the jungle canopy of the highest point on La Digue; the next day taking a last dip in surprisingly hot water on the island’s western shore; watching Rasta families play amid fallen-over trees on Praslin’s Anse Kerlan; finding a rock outcrop covered in daisy-like flowers jutting into the sea at Anse Forbans, a turtle beach in Mahé’s quieter south.

This daily routine was a simple act of engaging in local life on some level, not tucked away in a luxury hotel. We rarely knew what to expect, or what we’d find when we got there, and often it didn’t cost us much at all. There are tourist attractions, to be sure – and we visited many of them – but sometimes just being out and about in the ‘real world’ was enough. Happy ending? You bet.

Anse Forbans, south-east Mahé.

8 super-useful Seychelles budgeting tips

1. Accept that you will want to splurge on certain things – one special meal every other day, a watersport activity or boat trip, taxis to hard-to-reach beaches.

2. Look for local takeaway shops for basic meals (stir-fries, curries, stews, burgers). These can be real hole-in-the-wall kind of spots but the food is generally okay. We had a few hits and a few misses, but when you’re paying around R50 (as opposed to over R150 in a smarter restaurant), you can’t be too fussy.

3. Groceries can be a bit more expensive than in SA, or quite a lot more. Some examples: long-life milk R20, a box of tea bags R44, single yoghurt R22.50, cereal R50, chicken thighs R200, rice R88, eggs R32 for a box of 10, local lettuce R10, imported tomatoes R60 (800g), steak R100/kg. Fruit and veg stalls, markets (for fish) and bakeries in your area will be cheaper than supermarkets. Many self-catering places kindly offer daily transfers to the shops.

4. Drinks are expensive – local beer (Seybrew, about R65) is the cheapest option, while a G&T can set you back around R125, cocktails even more. We bought a bottle of Takamaka rum (around R265, and mixed it with ginger ale as the locals do) for our sunset excursions, which lasted the week.

5. Bring your own snorkelling gear – there are countless places to pop your face into the water right off the beaches, and you won’t have to hunt around for a place to rent from.

6. The inter-island Cat Cocos ferries cost from R680 (Mahé – Praslin) and R195 (Praslin – La Digue), but if you’re on a strict budget there is no real need to island-hop lest you ‘miss out’. The three main islands are very similar – all have various kinds of beaches (each has at least one super- stunner), a forested interior, the same Creole culture… Choose one based on your interests: buzzy Mahé has more activities and attractions, although the south is quieter; Praslin has a slower pace but also several villages; tiny La Digue is the most provincial, with only two resorts and one vibey port town straight out of a storybook.

7. The ‘budget’ places we stayed in were above average, and a couple were right on the beach. All had ceiling fans and air-con, a kettle, fridge, TV, good beds and linen, and towels and toiletries supplied. All had Wi-Fi (but not for free); and 100MG of data (R98) on a local SIM card did not last long. Note that guest houses often give the choice of self-catering, B&B, half-board or dinners on request.

8. If you’re not on a bus, transport is pricey. Petrol costs around R17 a litre (note: petrol stations are not open 24 hours); car hire starts from R500 a day. A 17km taxi transfer across Praslin cost us R584, but one advantage is that you can get good info out of taxi drivers. We recommend Marlon Panagary on Mahé (+2482526770) and Mike Victor on Praslin (+2482619441) – not because they’re cheaper but because they were informative and helpful.

Keron Jeanne gets to work (at this bar on the most famous beach in Seychelles) by jet ski. He invited us to a sunset beach party later; a salute to the local rum at Grand Anse, east coast of Praslin.

Plan your trip

Getting there

Air Seychelles flies from Joburg, Cape Town and now Durban (launch special R5000 return valid until 30 September). Normally from around R7000 per person. airseychelles.com

When to go

It’s near the equator, so the temperature is pretty much the same all year. There are trade winds from May to October.

Need to know

Seychellois are rather bemused by South Africans’ love of camping. There is no camping – not on the beaches nor in the (protected) forests. Unless you’re an experienced and fit hiker, don’t enter the forests or try to scramble over boulders to remote beaches without a guide (guides are compulsory at some places).

As beautifully perfect as the sea looks, it can be deceptive – even dangerous. Some places are too shallow for a proper swim, or the seabed is too rocky, or there are undertows. The islands’ roads are narrow, twisty and very steep in places – only for confident drivers. Bus rides can be quite thrilling and note that there is often no verge for pedestrians to walk on.

Sunset Beach, north-west Mahé.

Mahé

Stay here

Georgina’s Cottage is a double-storey beach house with different types of rooms (some self-catering) run by friendly Eddy. Super breakfasts on the stoep, and it’s across the road from Beau Vallon’s beach and close to restaurants and bars. The bus stops right outside. From R1 230 double room B&B; family room with kitchen R1 740 (sleeps four). Stay eight nights, get one free. georginas-cottage.com

La Fontaine, amid the forested hills behind Beau Vallon, is a very pleasant Creole-style apartment complex with a pool and braai area. The stylish, serviced flats have all the mod-cons. Free shuttles to the beach but it’s actually a quick, if steep, walk there. From R2234 for two (kids under 12 free). lafontaine.sc

Chalets d’Anse Forbans in the quiet south-east has very pretty, well-equipped cottages right on the beach. If you’re looking to chill, this is it. Apart from protecting the hawksbill turtles, the owners are involved in community projects. From R2220 for two, R3 510 for four (includes a discount voucher for a meal at the Hilton next door). forbans.com

Eat here

Baobab Pizzeria packs them in for two hours over lunch and three hours in the evening. A delicious pizza and a glass of wine costs around R180.

La Reduit is a best-kept secret up in the hills on the south-east coast. Chef ‘Mr Gerry’ has a restaurant in his house amid the trees (spot the fruit bats), cooks inventive Creole food – and will send a driver to fetch you from Chalets d’Anse Forbans (no cost). Starters from R105, mains around R300. +2484366116

Do this

Stroll around Victoria, the capital city. There’s a picturesque market, a Hindu Temple, the grandest priest’s house ever – and a Chinese pagoda coming soon. See exquisite model ships at the Domaine de Val des Près craft village, made by Jean-Louis Marchesseau. Then drive down the road to the Takamaka rum distillery. takamaka.sc

Once a leper colony, is now for giant turtles only – hundreds roam free here; a final late-afternoon swim at Anse Forbans. The sun rays shining through the water created a beautiful aquarium effect.

Praslin

Stay here

Britannia Hotel at Grand Anse on the east coast was one of the first hotels on Praslin. The beach, 250m away, isn’t great for swimming (free bus three times a week to the best on the island) but the hotel has a lovely pool plus stylish, spacious, modern rooms. R2422 double B&B (a child under 12 sharing costs R260). Free nights for stays of four or more days. Bonus: the restaurant serves fantastic, slightly retro Creole cuisine. Dishes from R250. britanniapraslin.com

Eat here

Bonbon Plume is right on stunning Anse Lazio beach – tables under thatch, sand under your feet, mostly-seafood menu (grilled on fires round the back of the bar area). Dishes from R260. Booking essential. +2484232136

Do this

Marvel at the Vallée de Mai, home of the coco de mer palms. There are three short trails you can follow yourself but it’s worth booking a guide to tell you all about these fascinating plants.
Entry R300 per person. +2484321735

Hike into the interior. There are several trails through the forests and up to viewpoints – for example, 200m from the Vallée de Mai entrance is a 1km trail. Consult locals for advice.

Take a boat trip, whether a simple lift to a beach only accessible from the sea, or to a nearby island. We used Lyly’s Boat Charter to go to Curieuse Island to see the tortoises, have a beach BBQ and go snorkelling. R1300 per person. +2482512461

The braai lunch on Curieuse island included fish and chicken, Creole mango salad and spicy relishes; frangipanis and other tropical blooms are everywhere.

La Digue

Stay here

Chez Marston is a short walk from the jetty and very central. It’s owned by a real character who is full of stories (Marston St Ange, the maverick brother of Seychelles’ tourism minister). It’s primarily a restaurant, with a few rooms out back. R1520 double B&B, add dinner for R215 per person more. chezmarston.com

Eat here

Fish Trap is an attractive, trendy spot next to the jetty, with a little beach and tables on the sand as well as indoors. Dishes from R125. +2482512111

Belle Vue is on top of the 300m hill right in the middle of La Digue. Tables are on a rustic wooden deck built onto a local house – good for sundowners. It also does a special Creole dinner for R500 per person (transport included – a good thing or else it’s a long, steep walk). +2482527856

Chez Jules, a thatched cafe beside the sea at Anse Banane (on the east coast bike route) is a welcome refreshment stop – for cold bottled water, fresh fruit juice or something light to eat.

Do this

Rent a bicycle and ride everywhere. It can just be left wherever you stop – no locking up, no worries. From R100 a day. Visit the famous Anse Source d’Argent (within the historic L’Union estate, entry R100 per person), a gorgeous, narrow beach backed by an intriguing labyrinth of boulders. Keep walking south as far as you can to escape the crowds.

Go snorkelling at Anse Sévère (just past town on the cycle route) – the best spot on the island. However, the Cocos Islands nearby are said to be one ofthe best spots in all of Seychelles. Find Hyacinthe Bouchereau at La Passe jetty; he charges R725 per person for a half-day trip there. +2482716220

This route from Joburg into the North West takes you past nine microbreweries where you can slake your thirst, no matter if it’s an ale or a lager you’re after, writes Chris Davies.

Halloumi at Lazy Lizard located on the border of Gauteng and North West.

When you date a Belgian, there are three things you learn never to dispute. First, French fries are not French. At the very least they make them better in Belgium. Second, Belgian chocolate is the best. Swiss is very good, of course, but Belgian is indisputably superior. Third, and most important: Belgian beer is the finest in the world.

And it’s that last one I have trouble with. Not that Belgium doesn’t make a fine beer, it’s just that while chips are chips and I’m content with a Kit Kat, beer is very dear to me. It was even my first word as a tottering toddler – in that sweltering Grahamstown summer an ice-cold Lion Lager was never far from my father’s hand. Or perhaps it was a Castle. Maybe a Carling… Anyway, it was one of the three. Because that was the 70s in South Africa and the drink of choice was oh-so-simple: lager, lager, or a lager anyone?

Blackhorse Brewery’s pink Gingerberry beer is not for the purist (but, actually, I quite liked it); Blockwurst and a fine dark lager on Brauhaus am Damm’s outside deck.

No weak lager will cut it for a beer-loving Belgian, but there’s variety in South Africa these days. Craft beer, artisanal breweries – they’ve exploded like a bar tab at a bachelor party – and since Ann and I first met I’ve been on the lookout for a local beer that would impress. Then a few months ago we had some days free in Joburg and it seemed an opportunity too good to miss. Based in the Cape, I knew nothing about craft beer in Gauteng. Maybe up here I’d find my grail. A road trip of discovery was in order.

An impromptu road trip is a tricky thing and frantic Googling followed. We both like pubs that brew on the premises, and while there were a few scattered across Gauteng, an intriguing cluster beckoned from over the North West Province border. We’d drive towards Rustenburg and Brauhaus am Damm, we decided, then follow the Magaliesberg mountains to Hartbeespoort, before a loop through Pretoria and home.

First stop: Copperlake Brewing Co in Broadacres. We bought supplies at the shopping centre, then grabbed an outside table and a beer-tasting tray. They went down fast and, as Ann was driving, I ordered a pint of my favourite, the ‘all-day IPA’ (Indian pale ale). I’ve always liked the story of IPA – it reminds me of the lengths people will go to for a good beer. In pre-refrigeration, colonial days, India proved too hot for brewing so the Brits, undeterred, shipped the stuff all the way from England. Hops are a preservative, so to help the ale last the voyage they added more than usual, giving the distinctive bitter aftertaste that’s the hallmark of IPA. Love it or hate it, it’s a taste of history and a fi ne beer to start a journey.

It’s bright and breezy inside Copperlake Brewing Co.

We had miles to cover so it was one beer only then back in the car and west, through the last of the suburbs and into the rolling hills beyond. Past Magaliesburg we caught our first sight of the eponymous mountains, looming up on our right as we sped north towards Brauhaus am Damm. Over our menus a few minutes later, I snuck a glance at Ann. German beer probably wasn’t going to win the day, no matter how good. Our orders arrived and sure enough they were great, especially the Bavarian dunkel. It was all as authentic as it comes as far as I could tell … but not authentically South African and not quite what I was looking for. The thought lingered as I flipped chops on the braai that night, and surfaced again as we retraced our route south for lunch at the Black Horse Estate’s brewery the next day.

‘That’s Jacques Brel!’ exclaimed Ann as we waited for our tasting tray. French music drifted down from the speakers. I stared back blankly. ‘He was one of Belgium’s most famous singers,’ she explained. I looked up at the painting above our table – a bucolic European village scene – then through the towering French windows to the beautifully manicured lawns outside. The food was excellent and the beer good, but this was no way to convince a Belgian.

‘She’s got beer and Brel back home,’ I thought, as we climbed back into the car. It was time to head to Harties. Perhaps there I’d find it: not just a good beer, but a uniquely South African beer. We sped east, past stud farms and darkening fields, the setting sun a dazzling glow in the rear-view mirror.

Capital Craft Academy has two branches – in Pretoria (pictured here) and Centurion.

Sunday dawned bright and clear and the water flashed and sparkled on Hartbeespoort Dam. We were on our way to Ale House, a last throw of the dice before turning home. Pulling into the car park the omens looked good. Although open barely half an hour, it was packed, the sprawling garden already full of thirsty customers. Beyond the trees an unassuming hut served as the bar and there was a long row of tasty-looking pizzas queued up at the wood-fired oven alongside.

This place was more like it. Kids and dogs played on the grass and a crowd of regulars laughed and chatted with owner Dirk van Tonder as he pulled himself a measuring jug of beer for his table outside. We ordered two pints of the same – a rich, golden buchuinfused brew – and took a long, satisfying sip. Ann smiled. And so did I. It wasn’t quite an IPA and it certainly wasn’t a dunkel, but under the slight hoppy bitterness there was a unique, full flavour that neither of us had tasted before. A moment later we were squeezed up next to Dirk, Ann and he in enthusiastic conversation about how to get buchu beer exported to Belgium.

I sat back and sipped, gazing out onto an unkempt garden that suddenly reminded me of a childhood in Grahamstown. Finally we’d found it, I thought with a grin, as the old jug of beer, an unlikely grail, was passed around the table again.

One of my favouritea of the trip – Lazy Lizard’s American Pale Ale.

Did you know?

Current Gauteng licensing regulations place restrictions on brewing and selling at the same premises. As a result, the region’s newest brewpubs are generally found in neighbouring provinces, while Gauteng brewers rely on specialist outlets such as Capital Craft Beer Academy, which stocks over 230 local and international craft beers and ciders.

The Beer Route

Day 1: Joburg to the Magaliesberg
Distance 120km Allow 6 hours Start with lunch and a beer-tasting tray at Copperlake Brewing Co (1) in Broadacres Centre. You can fi ll up at the BP and stock up at Woolies or Spar; Liquor City sells bottled Copperlake beer to take with you. Leave north on the R552. Turn left onto the R114 to Gilroy Brewery (2) and get some beers for the braai tonight. Then it’s west on the N14, right onto the R24 and 45 minutes to Brauhaus am Damm (3) for a pilsner. Thirsty Falls Guest Farm (4) is 16km back down the R24. Time to braai.

Day 2: Magaliesberg to Hartbeespoort Dam
Distance 75km Allow 5 – 7 hours Have a morning dip in Thirsty Falls’ eco pool. Return down the R24 but turn left before Magaliesburg and take the R98 to White Dog Taproom (5) for one of the weekend’s best pints, or Black Horse Estate (6) for lunch under the trees. Continue east on the R98, then left onto the R96. Turn left again onto the R563, right onto the R560 and head north round the dam. Your final stop is Chameleon Brewhouse (7) –right onto the R104 – before check-in at The Art Guesthouse (8), 4km down the road.

Day 3: Hartbeespoort to Pretoria and home
Distance 95km Allow 6 – 8 hours (depending on the patience of your designated driver) Drive back along the R104 and turn left onto the R512, following it south around the dam wall to Lazy Lizard Brewhouse (9). Start the perfect Sunday there with a tasting tray and brunch, and buy some takeaway beers to get you through the week ahead. Then it’s back up the R512 to Ale House (10) for an even lazier afternoon of buchu beer. If your driver permits, head to Capital Craft Beer Academy (11) in Menlo Park, Pretoria, before turning sadly for home.

Directory and map

1. Copperlake Brewing Co.
The perfect first stop for a beer tasting tray (R30 for eight) and pub lunch (burgers from R82). Opens 12:00 on Fridays. 0110366028, copperlake.co.za

2. Gilroy Brewery.
Good Friday lunch alternative (huge burger for R95), and excellent off-licence prices (from R59 for four craft beers). Opens 11:00 on Fridays. 0117963020, gilroybeers.co.za.

3. Brauhaus am Damm.
Try the pretzel and bockwurst (R68) – it’s as authentic as it comes, as are their German beers (R38 a pint). 0140040382. Find them on Facebook.

4. Thirsty Falls Guest Farm.
The three self-catering studios are fully equipped, with patio, braai and beautiful views. Their five self-catering cottages are more secluded but must be booked for two nights over weekends. From R800 per studio (sleeps two). 0824647376, thirstyfalls.co.za

5. Black Horse Estate.
French music and a sophisticated air; a grand place for a beer under the trees (R5 a taster glass and R35 a pint). 0824535295, blackhorse.co.za

6. White Dog Tap room.
Informal, friendly, with excellent, reasonably-priced beer (R25 a pint) and an unpretentious pub menu of pizza, steak and burgers (from R55 for a burger and chips). 0823300646 or find them on Facebook.

7. Chameleon Brewhouse.
A friendly road-side pub with plenty of outside seating and eight craft brews on tap (R35 a pint). 0723692309, chameleonbrewhouse.co.za

8. The Art Guesthouse.
A quiet retreat amid an explosion of Frida Kahloesque colour. Self-catering from R600 per unit (sleeps two). 0833441759, theartguesthouse.co.za

9. Lazy Lizard Brew House.
A brand-new brewpub, just across the North West Province border. You’ll get an excellent IPA (R45 a pint) and full English breakfast (R65). 0825683809, lazylizardbrewhouse.co.za

10. Ale House.
The home of uniquely South African buchu beer (R30 a pint). Recently relocated to new premises opposite Pecanwood Estate on the R512. 0824649387, alehouse.co.za

11. Capital Craft Beer Academy.
If your beer crazing is still not sated, this is ultimate final stop, with over 200 local and craft beers on tap (from R32 a pint). 0124248601, capitalcraft.co.za

Beer Route Map

Click on this image to view a larger version.

What we’d do differently

Book Black Horse Restaurant in advance to ensure an outside table, or go to the nearby White Dog Taproom instead. We’d also make Thirsty Falls Guest House our base for the entire trip and book one of their larger cottages that are only available for two or more nights over weekends.

Gordon’s Bay has certainly embraced the slow life, but there’s still plenty to see and do in this small seaside town. Plus the wind doesn’t blow very much in winter, making it an excellent time to go visit! Here are 30 things to do while you are there.

The first thing you are likely to notice when you go to Gordon’s Bay is the giant anchor and the initials GB on the mountainside overlooking the harbour. Interestingly, these initials don’t stand for Gordon’s Bay, but rather for General Botha, which was the original name of the Naval College named after General Louis Botha who was the first premier of the Union of South Africa. And did you know that Gordon’s Bay is the only town in South Africa with two working harbours?

Where to eat and drink in Gordon’s Bay

1. 47 Gypsies – Book A Bed

It all happens at 47 Gypsies on the beachfront! So if you want to know what’s happening in Gordon’s Bay, then this is a good place to start. Their carrot cake is legendary. It’s a massive piece though so prepare to take some time to enjoy it, while chatting to owner, Elouise Trichardt. They like to keep things simple here, so you will only find the carrot cake and various soft drinks and hot beverages for sale. However, if you fancy watching the sun set over a glass of wine, you are welcome to bring your own (R30 corkage fee). If you are looking for a place to stay, they have a clean and charming backpacker style room (from R225 per person per night), a twin room (from R450 per night for the room) and a rather swish sea view room (from R550 per night for the room). They are also wheelchair-friendly and pet-friendly for small dogs who will be nice to Koos, their resident and rather loveable hound. On top of all that, they also offer kayak hire at R100 per hour.

Contact: Tel 0740330301, 47gypsies.co.za

2. Mary Ann’s Natural Emporium & Eatery

Vegetarians and vegans will be delighted to know that a lunch time feast awaits them on Mondays to Fridays. The buffet table is laden with dozens of platters and bowls filled with all sorts of colourful and tasty goodies that even carnivores would enjoy. There’s also various smoothies available, along with fruit juices, herbal teas and coffee. Their vegan cheesecake is one of the best cheesecakes I have ever had – you wouldn’t believe that it contains no dairy!

After lunch, take a walk around their vegetable garden, browse through the shop and enjoy paintings by a local artists. Mary-Ann and Mark Shearer are passionate about encouraging people to embrace a healthy lifestyle along with taking care of our planet, so not only can you expect a plate filled with food that really is good for you, you’ll also find a selection of natural health and beauty products, organic produce, vegetable seeds, sprout kits and kind-to-the-environment cleaning products. I can guarantee you will leave feeling satisfied and inspired!

Contact: Tel 0218562500, mary-anns.com

3. River Streams Nursery

The Garden Kitchen Coffee Shop has a simple and affordable menu offering breakfasts, light meals and desserts, along with various beverages including shakes and floats. It’s a tranquil spot with tinkling fountains and chirping birds that will force you to slow down and relax while enjoying your cappuccino. On Sundays they do a roast for lunch. However, while you wait for your meal (which does take a while) you can have a wander around the charming nursery or talk to the parrots. They also have wine, beer and a few mixers, but if you want to take your own, corkage is a very reasonable R15. While you are there you can buy plants from the nursery, free range eggs from local farmers and the usual farmstall selection of rusks, jams and preserves.

Contact: Tel 0218564951, or visit their Facebook page

4. Mia Bella Pizzeria

Possibly the best pizza in Gordon’s Bay! This family-owned and run restaurant (right down to the waitresses) make their own bases and their wood-fired pizzas are large, juicy with generous toppings, and start at R60. We tried the spare rib pizza (a family favourite) which was loaded to the brim with roast pork, caramelised onions and mushrooms. If you are just feeling peckish, they also have a selection of pita breads from R25. There’s a fireplace to keep you warm, while the chandeliers, candles and photos of Italy and Cuba add to the cosiness. They don’t have a liquor licence so drinks come from Amigos Taverna next door, or you can bring your own (no corkage fee).

Contact: Tel 0713494434, or visit their Facebook page

5. Amigos Taverna

Amigos has a great Happy Hour from 17:00 – 19:00 on Mondays to Thursdays with draughts at R20, bottled beer and ciders for R15 and double whiskies, brandies and vodka for R20. At those prices, you may be advised to order a pizza from Mia Bella next door on your way in! They’re also big on braais, having a mid-month chicken braai (quarter chicken with a roll and salad) for R20 per person, a last Friday steak braai (200g sirloin with a mushroom sauce served with baby potatoes and a salad) for R30 per person. You can’t make it at home for cheaper than that! Both braai days have live music, while on Sundays you can bring-and-braai where they provide the fire, rolls and salad. They also host a pub quiz on Wednesday evenings at R10 per person with teams of four. Great value for money all round here.

Contact: Tel 0730344824 / 0828991789

6. Zest Restaurant

Zest has many glowing accolades on TripAdvisor and after having a meal there, I will give it one too! I had the rump steak marinated in stout and Jagermeister (of course!) and it was honestly one of the best steaks I have ever eaten. My friend had their Kadai chicken curry and also gave it a hearty thumbs up. Zest is more of a fine dining affair, but in a casual yet cosy bistro-type restaurant that serves up “a good meal with a bit of flair”, as chef and co-owner, Ruben van Berge, put it. In other words, you get a really good helping of a well-constructed dish. The menu changes weekly, and in the summer months you’ll find more Mediterranean-inspired dishes.

Contact: Tel 0212002605, or visit their Facebook page

7. Talla’s Tavern & Restaurant

You won’t find fine dining at Talla’s (which is next door to Zest), but I mention it as you cannot miss it with it’s huge mural on the wall of the historical building in which it’s situated. Back in the 1880s it was a general dealer store named The Magnet Store, but today the sacks of flour and drums of paraffin have been replaced by a bar counter and beer taps. Talla’s also has an extensive menu, including daily and winter specials.

Contact: Tel 0218563513, or visit their Facebook page

8. Old Cape Café

This popular beach-front restaurant is also pet-friendly, so you can take your canine best friend to breakfast after a walk on the beach (Note: only a certain section of the beach is dog-friendly). They also do lunches and dinners and there’s a cosy bar area in the back that doubles up as the smoking section. I have eaten there on a few occasions and always found their food to be tasty with ample portions – try the mussel pot, it’s my favourite. It’s a casual, cosy and semi rustic spot to enjoy a meal while playing a board game with some mates.

Contact: Tel 0218560248 or visit their Facebook page

9. Red Sky Brew

This could be Gordon’s Bay best-kept secret! Situated in Mansfield Industrial Park, The Hangar is the perfect spot to unwind from a busy week. There’s beer tasting (4 beers for R25), gin & tonic on tap (yes, on tap!) and a rather lethal-sounding Apple Pie Moonshine on offer, along with pints (R30), bottles (from R22) their very refreshing Ginga Ninja gingerbeer (R20) and a snack menu. On the first Friday of every month they do an American-style BBQ, which includes brisket, pulled-pork sandwiches and fried chicken waffles. Apart from the usual pale ales and amber ales, Red Sky Brew were the first to make a gluten-free beer – named Goshawk. You can enjoy that, along with a Vampire Robust Porter or a Beyerskloof Pinot Ale and a whole lot more every Friday from 16:00 (or by appointment during the week).

Contact: Tel 0795021531, or visit their Facebook page

10. The Thirsty Oyster Tavern

If you like 80’s music, live bands and calamari, this fun-loving (and on occasion, somewhat rowdy) restaurant and bar is for you. Situated on the old harbour, you can choose to eat in one of the restaurant sections, or you can have a basket of pub grub in the bar area while watching a live band (Fridays and Sundays). It’s perfectly situated for great views across the bay and watching the yachts bobbing on the water while enjoying a cold one. Plus it’s sheltered from the famous South Easter so if the wind is howling, then head here!

Contact: Tel 0218564457, www.thethirstyoyster.co.za

11. Berties Moorings

Berties on on Harbour Island is a great spot for a cocktail in the other working harbour, where you are very likely to be spoilt with a magnificent sunset if you go for sundowners. (You may have to ask for the cocktail menu specifically though, I almost had a beer before realising that I could have a Mai Tai or Tequila Sunrise!) Other than cocktails and the usual bar offerings, they also serve light meals, burgers, grills, pasta, pizza and seafood dishes. They have live music on Friday and Sunday evenings with some well-known South African bands.

Contact: Tel 0218563343, www.berties.co.za

12. Danny Cool Bar

The walls of Danny Cool have some of the funniest posters I have seen for a long time! They also have a doll called Chucky who keeps an eye on happenings in the bar, records in the bathroom and a fabulous Bob Marley mural. All that should give you a picture of what this place is about – a casual, light-hearted and fun beachfront bar that offers various specials on different days. You’ll find a fun-loving mix of friendly locals and visitors here, so don’t expect to pop in for “just one drink”!

Contact: Tel 0824682120, or visit their Facebook page

13. Rasta Rooster

Next door to Danny Cool is Rasta Rooster, a funky little restaurant that serves up free range and Halaal peri-peri and Moroccan chicken dishes that are both ridiculously affordable and delicious. Where else are you going to find a chicken burger with chips and a soft drink for R45? Or take two on Mondays for R75! On Wednesdays there’s vetkoek with chicken curry for R30 (or two for R50), Thursdays special is two chicken buns with a small chips for R40 (R20 each!) and on Friday to Sunday you can feast on chicken bunny chow for R25. Now there’s no excuse for not eating something before you have a beer next door. In fact, they deliver to the bar – but then you’d miss out on the fun chicken murals.

Contact: Tel 0822838889, or visit their Facebook page

14. The Dock In The Bay

When I first popped into the The Dock, I thought it was just another beachfront bar offering various drinks specials, live music (Saturday afternoons), karaoke on Fridays and a Trivia Evening on Tuesdays. But it turns out there is a rather cosy restaurant at the back that has a pianola! I had never seen one before –
but they’ve had it since 1928 and it’s worth a look. If you are lucky, there may be someone playing it too! They also serve curries, bobotie, steaks, chops, pasta dishes and there are plenty of seafood options. Or you can just sit outside under an umbrella with a cocktail and watch the world go by.

Contact: Tel 0218565556, http://dockinthebay.co.za

15. Car Wash Coffee Shop

“Carwash” may currently be classified as a dirty word due to our severe drought, but by the time you read this, they should’ve completed drilling for a borehole. That said, you don’t need to have a carwash, or even a car, to pop into the coffee shop for breakfast or a light meal. It’s the first time I have ever come across a coffee shop at a carwash (apparently popular in Gauteng) so I was delighted with my find just across from the Spar in Gordon’s Bay. Car washes start at R100 and while you wait, you can tuck into a full breakfast (think eggs, bacon, boerewors, mushrooms and toast) for R45, or just a cheese scones with extra cheese and jam (R30).

Contact: Tel 0794306782 or 0724384353

16. Locals Pub & Grill

As the name suggests, this is where you are going to find all the Gordon’s Bay locals on most nights. There are always cars outside, so you are guaranteed company! They have live music on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays (from 16:00), while Thursdays is reserved for kareoke. If you are feeling peckish, they offer pizzas and a Meal Of The Day from Tuesdays to Fridays, including bangers and mash, pie with gravy and chips and a burger with chips at very affordable prices.

Contact: Tel 0212001347, www.localspubgrill.co.za

17. Have an ice-cream

There are a few spots along the beachfront where you can get your dairy fix, including Uncle Barry’s Ice Cream and the Pop Inn Café. Both offer soft-serve ice-cream with a selection of cones and cups along with the usual add-ons like dips, flakes and nuts. It just depends on whether you only want an ice-cream, or if you need to get a few supplies from the corner café at the same time!

18. Eat fish n’ chips

You are spoilt for choice when it comes to fish n’ chips in Gordon’s Bay! The most famous being Ooskus Fisheries, who also sell frozen seafood, roll mops and pickled fish. They also offer pensioners a 10% discount on Tuesdays. Trawlers on the beachfront is another good option if you want your meal with a view (they offer pensioners 10% discount on Wednesdays). However, if you are looking for a good bargain, the locals recommend Gordon’s Bay Fisheries in Mansfield Industrial Park – conveniently near Locals, so you can grab take-aways before you head home.

Shops worth visiting in Gordon’s Bay

19. Amber Moon

If you are looking for a Bloodstone, a Mookaite or a Smokey Quartz, Amber Moon on the beachfront is the place to go. Along with a huge selection of gemstones (which are cleaned daily!) this esoteric shop has stocks moon calendars, dreamcatchers, tarot cards, incense sticks, herbal infusions, soaps, oils and wands. You can have a crystal ball reading or a Bach Flower Remedy consultation, or attend various workshops such as Holistic Lifestyle classes, Astrology and Reiki for Animals. It was a rather fascinating find and not something I thought I would stumble upon in this seaside town!

Contact: Tel 0793263651, www.ambermoon.co.za

20. Aladdin’s Cave

Anyone who has been to Gordon’s Bay will know all about the beachfront shop that sells Chinese-produced goods, vintage clothing and everything in between. For 30 years they have been open every day of the year selling anything from whoopee cushions to beads, flipflops to kid’s fishing nets and all manner of trinkets, ornaments and bric brac. Expect to hear much giggling as customers find something amusing, while dodging dangling shell mobiles and making sure you don’t knock a garden gnome off the shelf.

Contact: Tel 0218563297

21. Bikini Beach Books

Another much-loved Gordon’s Bay stalwart that’s been buying and selling books for over 25 years. Books start at 50c and whilst it may all look a bit chaotic, there is some order to the madness. They claim that it’s actually been cleverly structured to encourage book lovers to search and find! Which I promise you will – expect to leave with an armload of books! That said, fictional titles are alphabetical, while non-fiction books are grouped by genre. While they are not a library with books in categories, they generally know what is where, so just ask. Tip: The books on the floor are waiting to be fixed. However, it doesn’t mean you can’t buy them!

Contact: They deliberately don’t have a landline or website, but you can’t miss them on Beach Road. They are open from 08:00-21:00 every day of the week (including Christmas Day and other holidays).

Things to do in Gordon’s Bay

22. Try SUPing

Anneke Smit is so enthusiastic about SUP-ing and hiking in the area, you’ll probably find yourself in a wetsuit or lacing up your boots before you can order a slice of carrot cake from 47 Gypsies – which is where you’ll find this adventure-loving company. Their SUP boards available for hire (R150 per hour) are suitable for beginners and they also offer lessons in this trendy sport. They also have wetsuits for hire on request. If hiking is more your thing, they offer a guided hike to the Crystal Pools (November to April). Note: This is a fairly difficult hike that requires moderate fitness. Anneke can also organise horse-riding and an Eco Tour on a 10-seater speedboat that’ll take you to see the seals and local seabirds.

Contact: Tel 0218562246, www.capeadventurezone.com

23. Take a sunset cruise

Gordon’s Bay is well known for its sunsets and what better way to enjoy one than on the sea with the possibility of seeing seals, dolphins and whales! The cruise with Helderberg Sunset Cruise lasts for 90 minutes and there are various packages available, starting at R450 per person (minimum 10 people) and the best part is that they include a pick-up and drop-off service, so you can enjoy your bubbly and not worry about driving home. You can also choose whether to have snacks on board, have dinner at The Thirsty Oyster Tavern afterwards (they will collect you when you have finished dinner), or go on a fishing trip that includes braaing your catch on board.

Contact: Tel 0614794097, or visit their Facebook page

24. Hike the Gantouw Pass in the Hottentots Holland Nature Reserve

Also known as Eland Pass (the Khoi herders used this route which they called “Gantouw”, which means eland in the Khoi language) and proclaimed a national monument in 1958, it’s here that you can see deep grooves in the sandstone rock, caused by locked wagon wheels as they slid down the dangerous slopes. There are two hiking trails in the area allowing you the opportunity to explore, but you will need a 4×4 vehicle to get to the start.

Contact: Tel 0214830000 (Cape Nature)

25. Take a scooter for a spin

Imagine zooting along Clarens Drive between Gordon’s Bay and Betty’s Bay with the mountains on your left, the ocean on your right and the wind in your hair! Hire a scooter (from R100 per hour) from Scoot The Route and go visit the penguins at Stoney Point, have a picnic in Kogelbay or enjoy a lunch in Betty’s Bay. Scooters are a fun and economical way explore the area!

Contact: Tel 0614794097, or visit their Facebook page

26. Drive to the Steenbras Lookout Point

It’s worth taking the short drive up the Steenbras Lookout Point which is literally right in front of the gates to the Steenbras Water Treatment Plant. Not only is it a beautiful drive, the views across False Bay, Gordon’s Bay and Strand are magnificent. Plus, it’s also the only pass in South Africa that has a hairpin bend in excess of 180 degrees! So take it slow and enjoy the views.

27. Go for a dive

Indigo Scuba Diving Centre is in the mountainside residential area of Gordon’s Bay with a shop, a heated dive pool, a wet area to wash and hang your gear after diving and a lecture room. Not only can they teach you to dive and take you for a dive in False Bay (and beyond), they can also fill your cylinders while you enjoy a cup of tea or coffee. Be sure to give them a call before visiting as they may be out diving.

Contact: Tel 0832681851, www.indigoscuba.com

28. Take a walk

Go for a stroll along the beachfront and include the the whale-watching trail if you fancy a slightly longer walk. Apart from dipping your toes in the sea (which is warmer and calmer than the Atlantic coast), keep an eye out for the Ingrid Jonker memorial (the famous poet spent much of her childhood in Gordon’s Bay and was happiest here) and the beautiful ceramic tile map at the post office depicting the Cape and False Bay in the 18^th century.

29. Mukda Thai Spa

Unfortunately I didn’t get to personally visit the spa, but if you are looking to have a massage or spa treatment, they claim to offer an authentic Thai wellness experience, including a Traditional Thai Massage, Thai Reflexology, Thai Hot Stone Massage and a Waan Jai Gentle Body Massage to name a few, along with various packages, facials, manicures and pedicures.

Contact: Tel 0218565706, www.mukdathaispa.co.za

30. Gordon’s Bay Winter Wonderland Festival

Held annually at the beginning of July, this is Gordon’s Bay very own festival of lights, of which they are very proud. As mentioned, winter is generally a good time to visit this town as the wind seldom blows, but as there is a good chance it may rain, they have their Winter Wonderland over two weekends. It’s a good opportunity to visit all the places mentioned as many offer specials and activities, along with a fairground, plenty of fairy lights and fun events. I have been two years in a row and have enjoyed it every time. This year it’s being held from 30 June to 2 July and again on 7 – 9 July. Visit their website or Facebook page for updates.

Do you have any favourite places or things to do in Gordon’s Bay? Let us in on the secret in the comments below!

Just three hours from Johannesburg is a place that will make any wildlife enthusiast rejoice. Melanie van Zyl returns to her childhood stomping ground.

The insider: Getaway’s Melanie van Zyl (sitting beside the tent above) has been visiting the Waterberg since she was eight. Both her grandfathers were born in the area: one on a farm in Naboomspruit (now Mookgopong), and the other under a tree on a cattle farm just outside Nylstroom (now Modimolle). To her, the real Waterberg lies somewhere in between.

A gorgeous and teeny, tiny Pygmy kingfisher perched on a branch in the Waterberg.

 
I could probably drive to Vaalwater in my sleep. I find myself anticipating every bend in the road and can give you the precise kilometre (240 from Joburg) where the tar road sweeps right and starts to climb. The speed-limit sign indicates I need to slow down to 70km/h, which coincidentally is just the right speed to sneak a glimpse left and catch the band of identically shaped mountains called the Seven Sisters standing guard at the entrance to the Waterberg plateau. The road becomes a hill, scrambling up and over this first set of mountains, cutting through the top so that red walls surround it at the peak, briefly terminating both radio and phone signal. This is when I know I’ve arrived in the bushveld – I can almost smell the biltong.

Buffalo at Lindani with the iconic Waterberg mountains behind them.

 
When I first started visiting Vaalwater, we used to buy meat and droëwors from the Baber’s Butchery, stop for supplies at the small Spar next to the Total garage, buy yellow mealie meal to have for breakfast from the formidable grain silos in the centre of town and visit the Agrimark behind them for lucerne, salt lick and other supplies for our small game farm. While Dad got the boring stuff, my mum, sister and I would peruse The Black Mamba, chewing biltong as we browsed. If I was lucky, I’d leave with a necklace, fold of printed fabric or a ring made from bone.

I still stop at the shop whenever I’m passing through – Vaalwater is also a gateway for travellers driving to Botswana. Despite visiting for so many years, I only met the shop owner recently, and I remember when it used to be in the old garage building, where the Spar once was too. Now it’s in a face-brick outdoor shopping complex which has become the hub of Waterberg safari life.

Find colourful and unusual crafts at The Black Mamba.

 
Hilda Mahlako is the shop assistant and has been there since it opened. She always asks after my mum and sister despite the fact that we sold the farm and haven’t visited regularly since 2010. ‘I knew you from when you were very young,’ she says when I’m about to leave. She makes that beautiful African hand signal, with her fingers on one hand pinched and pointed up (so as not to crush the child’s soul) and holds it beside her to show how tall I was back then. I walk out with a small mat made from Chappies wrappers and two red necklaces, made from lucky beans, for R15 each.

Vaalwater looks a little different today with its small mall, but there is still only one stop street and no traffic lights. I just love that. I can’t go back to the farm any more, but there are still two places in the Waterberg which make my heart beat in the same way: Lindani Lodges and Matamba Bush Campsite. In a bygone age the Waterberg was a land of swamps and giant lakes. I know the true Waterberg by looking at its colourful, lichen-covered rocks, where you can still see waves frozen in time. I can find these rocks, warm hospitality and great value at both these places.

An impala herd mills around at Lindani Lodge.

 
My grandparents used to take my sister and I to Lindani Lodges during school holidays. We’d cycle, collect dung beetles and porcupine quills, and feed the orphaned black rhino, Bwana, at conservationist Clive Walker’s place in the nearby Lapalala Wilderness Reserve. Lindani is also where I found a pile of nature magazines and begged my grandpa to subscribe me to EnviroKids, the Wildlife & Environment Society of South Africa’s magazine. I’d decided that when I grew up I would be a conservationist, and I fervently studied Clive’s books about spoor and dung, drew my own artworks of kudu and (embarrassingly) wrote wildlife poems. I never dreamt that one day I’d photograph my childhood conservation hero for Getaway and be privy to his newest project, the Waterberg Living Museum.

After catching up with Hilda at The Black Mamba, Clive shows me around the museum site where several buildings and a meandering path linking them will pay homage to the natural and human history of the Waterberg. He also plans to have a research centre and an outdoor coffee shop. I’m in no doubt that the project will be a success and can’t wait to visit again when the museum opens.

Clive Walker is a great watercolour artist and shows me some of the fossils he plans to display at the new Waterberg Living Museum.

 
Right now it’s Christmas time and my family and I are spending the festive season at Lindani. We’re staying in the three-bedroom Skebenga Lodge, close to the Palala River and the serene lily-filled dam we all love. It’s a nostalgic mix of longing and satisfaction at finding ourselves together again in the Waterberg, telling stories about the time when … back at the farm. We take full advantage of the deliciousness coming out of the Lindani kitchen; there are a variety of freshly prepared meals, such as stews and quiches, you can order and warm up. We’re rustling up our own potjies and braais, but it’s a real treat to have milk tart, apple crumble and delectable just-baked seed bread to accompany our meals.

Potjie time!

 
Matamba is a little different to Lindani, offering a sophisticated camping experience that immerses you in nature. Although it’s often used just as a stopover between Joburg and Botswana, Matamba deserves a full-weekend stay. All the sites are surrounded by indigenous woodland, home to relaxed sable and giraffes, and come with a generous pile of firewood for braaiing beneath the bright star canopy.

Infinite night skies and the dreamy outdoor bathrooms at Matamba Bush Camp.

 
Driving back to Johannesburg I recall a story by South African travel writer Dana Snyman, who went in search of the heart of the bushveld. He drove from Britz to Thabazimbi to Bela-Bela and then carried on to Lephalale to try and find it. There’s a line in his story that I read when I’m back home beside my bookshelf that strikes a resonating chord with me: ‘The Bushveld isn’t a place … the Bushveld is in your heart.’ I agree, and luckily there are a few pockets of pristine beauty in the Waterberg that I can visit in case I ever forget.

Where do the locals go?

Clive Walker, conservationist
‘Seringa Cafe is excellent. It’s really a super spot where most of the travel industry turn up (see eat here). There’s also La Fleur, a coffee shop with excellent food.’ 014-755-3975

Hilda Mahlako, shop assistant
‘Locals come to the Zeederberg Centre to shop and also the Kamatsogo NGO shop, where the ladies do embroidery and sewing.’

Sam van Coller, lodge owner
‘Our favourite is to attend the Sunday morning service at St John the Baptist Church at 24 Rivers, a Herbert Baker–designed church building.’

3 stops to include on the way

Waterval Padstal is best for buying local peaches (R35 a box in season). It’s roughly 22km from Modimolle on the R33 to Vaalwater. Keep an eye open along the roadside for other seasonal fruit on sale, such as watermelons and even golden marulas.

Geluksfontein Cheese Farm is 11km further on from the Padstal. It’s a fun farm stop for kids as they can feed the animals, and the restaurant has the most affordable toasted sarmies around, or grab an old-school jaffle for just R20. Don’t leave without buying some of the goat’s cheese.

Mapita Farm Stall is on the right-hand side about 4km before Vaalwater, and is worth stopping at for lemonade cordial and marmalade made by locals. There are also unusual jams such as pear and watermelon. From R45 a bottle.

Plan your trip

Getting there

From Johannesburg drive north on the N1 highway. At the Kranskop Toll Plaza (about 160km) take the left exit to Modimolle and follow the R33 through the town centre. From there it’s a 60km drive to Vaalwater, which is the last stop for ice, fuel and food.

Do this

Dirt roads and mighty mountains at Marakele National Park.

Mountain bike or hike along one of Lindani’s many accredited trails. Day visitors are welcome (R100 pp) but arrange it two days in advance. 083-631-5579

Shop for unusual crafts made all over Africa and sold at The Black Mamba. It also has a range of books about the area and good nature guidebooks. 073-152-2082

Get a culture fix at the Waterberg Living Museum, a collection of six mini museums covering local, natural and ancient history, accessed along a 1,2km botanical route. Entry from R50 pp (tea garden free).

See the Big Five at Marakele National Park, half an hour from Vaalwater. The Waterberg range stretches all the way to the park and it’s one of the best places to gaze up at the cliffs, also home to a Cape vulture colony. It’s also one of the only places in the area that day visitors (R44 pp) can self-drive in Big Five territory. 014-777-6928

Stargaze with expert and Waterberg local Philip Calcott who runs night-sky safaris. He will come to you. Read his tips for stargazing here. 083-552-2119

Eat here

Set in a lovely outdoor courtyard, Seringa Cafe makes a mean omelette

Seringa Cafe is the most popular spot in town for locals and tourists (khaki clothing seems to be the fashion here). Fresh juices are blended on site depending on what’s in season (it was watermelon with ginger when I was there, R25) and generous helpings of reasonably priced, tasty food are served. 014-161-0643

Mike’s Meat Market at 361 Voortrekker Street (on the left as you drive into Vaalwater) sells delicious, perfectly dried biltong for about R255/kg. 082-550-1831

Stay here

Accommodation in the trees at Bushwa. It’s rustic from the outside but offers luxe comfort within.

Bushwa Private Game Lodges offers a more unusual stay in an amazing tree house overlooking a waterhole,. From R1 500 pp sharing including all meals and game drives.

Matamba Bush Campsite is upmarket camping: Tau Camp is spread over four hectares and has four sites roughly 200m apart, with shared ablutions, a thatched kitchen area and a small pool. From R245 pp. Exclusive-use Mara’s Camp is hidden in the middle of the farm. It has uniquely decorated ablutions built around the trees. From R270 pp.

Lindani Lodges has nine self-catering options, from the eight-bed Molope tented camp, great for a weekend away with friends (from R250 pp) to the 18-sleeper, four-house Motseng Lodge complex (from R370 pp).

I mean, if you didn’t already.

Photo from Patagonia 8K, by Martin Heck.

 
Sometimes I think that videography is a dark art that should be approached with great caution. A good videographer could shoot anything – say, a group of rats picking through rubbish at sunrise – and with a Sigur Ros soundtrack and some sweeping timelapses, you’d be looking at your friends saying ‘wow, I wish I could be there.’

 
This video uses every single one of the dark arts, and when the snow-topped mountains and ice-blue lakes of Patagonia are combined with an epic orchestral soundtrack – well, mere mortals are powerless to escape its charms.

Watch it here, and turn your video quality all the way up:

PATAGONIA 8K from Martin Heck | Timestorm Films on Vimeo.

 
Want more desktop travel? Check out our other awesome videos here:

• A beautiful timelapse from all over the world
• Three weeks in Morocco
• A timelapse of Iceland’s midnight sun
• Stars and baobabs: dreaming of Zambia

Chris Davies discovered one of life’s most pleasurable experiences – fly fishing. Plus there’s no more beautiful place to not catch a fish than in the Eastern Cape Highlands.

Prospecting a shallow pool along our own stretch of the Bokspruit.

The chilly water climbs past my knees as I inch carefully out into the stream. It moves slowly here, through a long, shallow pool, and the barest of eddies drifts gently behind as I glance down to check my footing. It’s early spring in the Eastern Cape Highlands and cotton-wool clouds hang bright and fluffy over 2500-metre peaks. The Bokspruit is running pure with snowmelt and my waterlogged boots are clearly visible on the stream bed below.

I pause, unfamiliar rod in hand, trying to recall the morning’s torrent of instruction. From the nearby bank my guide and persevering teacher, Fred Steynberg, sees my hesitation and calls out encouragement: Keep your elbow in, don’t throw. Wrist straight. Aim beyond that ‘V’ of moving water.

I cast – an inexpert waft – and line and fly zip by perilously close to my ear. Surprisingly I land more or less on target and remember to lower the rod tip quickly, then slowly take in the slack. My eyes fix on the tiny white fly as it floats on the current towards me. Wait, was that a…

Newborn lambs explore the fields below Naude’s Nek.

‘Strike!’ shouts Fred, and I pull – left hand down, right hand up as he’s taught me – but I’m too slow. The fly jerks but there’s no resistance. The hook is empty as I once again reel my fishless line back in.

I hadn’t known what to expect when I arrived in Rhodes the day before. Dead winter grass covered the mountainsides and pockets of snow still clung to the shadowed heights. Spring had, so far, reached only the rivers, their twisting banks bedecked in bright green ryegrass, weeping willows and newborn lambs.

This is arguably the finest rainbow-trout fishing destination in Southern Africa, for both the fishing and the scenery, but I’d last held a (toy) rod when I was maybe five years old, and in my entire life I’ve never actually caught a fish.

‘It’s a first for me too,’ said Fred when we’d met for the first time that evening. ‘I’ve never guided anyone who’s not even held a fly rod before.’

The paraphernalia of fly tying includes both natural and synthetic materials.

‘Think I’ll catch anything?’ I asked. ‘We call it fishing, not catching,’ he’d replied with a smile. ‘Look, it’s early in the season, and the drought has been tough on the fish population. All we can do is get out there and see.’

Now, back on the riverbank, Fred is striding upstream. That failed attempt has spooked the fish and they won’t go for anything in this pool for a while. I finish reeling in, secure my line and wade back to the bank. With bungling like this I may never land a catch but, although I know Fred very much wants me to, right now it hardly matters.

White pear blossoms dance in the breeze and from behind us a fish eagle calls. It’s a beautiful day in the southern Drakensberg and it seems to me that the trout are just an excuse to be here. With squelching boots and a smile on my face, I set out after Fred, who’s already begun scouting the pool up ahead.

They say fishing is easy to teach and hard to learn, but that undersells what can be imparted by a skilled tutor. Fly fishing in particular is an arcane art, a world of ‘white Wulff wings’ and ‘peacock woolly buggers’ (just two common fly patterns used in the area), and with ever-changing conditions and fish that seem to learn and spurn flies with disconcerting regularity, any edge you can get is an advantage.

My first-ever cast caught on camera (don’t judge).

The basics of cast and strike are not hard to grasp, but mastering the nuances takes patience and skill. It’s one thing to land your fly on a particular piece of water, quite another to know which of the hundreds of flies, nymphs and worm imitations the fish might go for. Fly fishing is in large part trial and error, but if you want to catch, and not just fish, joining someone who’s erred before will certainly maximise your chances.

Fred can’t remember exactly when he started fishing, but thinks it would have been shortly after he arrived in Rhodes in 1980; a 14-year-old moving with his family who for a time ran the village’s only hotel, general store and two-pump fuel station. Becoming a full-time guide in 1993, Fred now takes clients on fresh- and salt-water fly-fishing trips from Cuba to the Seychelles.

I was lucky to catch him in what is still his home town, between back-to-back tours into nearby Lesotho. Having fished all over, he has no doubt that the area around Rhodes is one of the top fly-fishing regions in the world.

‘If you come fishing here for three months I’ll get you on a new stretch of water every day,’ he tells me as we make our way to another promising pool. Yet again, I’d had no luck (or skill) at the last. ‘This is true mountain-stream fishing. It’s as much about being in the environment as it is about the fish.’

I nod in agreement. I may be new to fly fishing but it’s obvious there’s an element of meditation to this piscine obsession:a recognition of the joy in anticipation, of patience and practice, of painstaking repetition and indefinite response. And on these hundreds of kilometres of stream, each fishing permit gives sole access to a specific stretch of water. This section of the Bokspruit was ours for the day – for uninterrupted contemplation on the prospect of fish.

Peach blossoms between Barkly East and Rhodes bring a splash of spring colour to the still-wintery highlands.

Prospecting, however, has no guarantees, and I’m still fishless as the sun starts to dip and we climb up out of the now-steep valley for the long hike back to the car. Back in town we grab a beer and pizza at Walkerbouts Pub, where owner Dave Walker, chairman of the Wild Trout Association is deep in a game of dominoes at the bar.

He and Fred are two of the village’s 25 permanent residents, and the pub is so small you’d struggle to get all 25 in. Fishing caps line the walls and a plaque above Dave’s head proclaims: ‘We are too small to have a village drunk so we take it in turns.’ It’s cosy inside – the kind of place you could spend hours spinning yarns and bemoaning the one that got away.

We bid our farewells and I leave Rhodes the next day, heading east over Naudé’s Nek. At Fred’s suggestion, I’m making one last fishing stop before leaving the Eastern Cape and, after a spectacular two-hour drive, I pull into Vrederus where Donie and Juan-Marie Naudé rear sheep and host fly fishers on their working holiday farm. Their large, shallow dam holds trout, and the surrounding hills gurgle with fishable streams.

Greg Carstens is ensconced in one of the Naudé’s cottages, tying flies when I arrive. Unabashed, I knock, and with what I’m starting to feel is the characteristic hospitality of fishermen, he’s more than happy to invite me fishing the next day.

I rise bright and early and follow Greg along bumpy dirt roads to his chosen morning beat, Bradgate-se-loop, a small mountain stream 45 minutes from the farm. We park, shoulder our packs and set out upstream. A light breeze rustles the willows as his line zips back and forth. There’s not much chat, just cast, pause and move on. Vultures wheel above us and cool, clear water swirls around our feet. I look around, drinking in the scenery, and wait for a strike that never comes.

Cute lambs posing for the camera; Flowers adding colour and texture to the wintery landscape.

What it costs

Full-day permits: R150 per person, half-day R80

For beginners: Professional guide Fred Steynberg charges from R1780 per person for a day excursion, including local transport, flies and rods, permits and lunch. He also sells flies (from R8) and rents out rods (R15) from his fly shop in town. linecasters.co.za

Lessons: R480 per person for the one-day Linecasters Beginners Academy on 16 December 2017. R2350 per person for the three-day Advanced Fly Fishing Academy, 14 – 15 September 2017.

Getting there: Rhodes is seven hours from PE and Durban and eight hours from Joburg. The R396 is a dirt road but sedan-friendly from Barkly East; Naude’s Nek requires high-clearance vehicles. Rhodes has no petrol stations.

When to go: September to mid-May is good for rainbow and (occasional) brown trout, with migrating smallmouth yellowfish in October and November. March and April are the locals’ favourites, when the trout are plentiful and world is resplendent in autumn colours. While droughts are known to reduce fish numbers, they tend to increase individuals’ size – so now’s the time to try for a trophy fish (45 – 60cm long). Early 2017 is showing signs of recovery due to heavy snowfall and good spring rains in 2016.

Need to know: The Eastern Cape Highlands has 300km of streams, strictly fly fishing only, and supports catch and release. Each multi-kilometre ‘beat’ is booked as sole access. Get permits and rods from Linecasters Fly Shop, Walkerbouts (see Stay Here) and Rhodes Info Centre. The climate ranges from -15°C to 35°C and conditions can be extreme any time of year. The nearest doctor is in Barkly East, an hour from Rhodes (0459710285). Get detailed maps and fishing info from the Wild Trout Association.

What to pack:  You’ll need waders or wading boots and quick- dry trousers, polarised sunglasses, flies, a net, 2 to5 wt rods and floating lines. Also pack a hat, water bottle, sunblock, rain jacket and a warm top for your fishing outings. Fishing guide Fred can equip up to five people (see box on page 95).

Do this: 

Go hiking or riding. Hikers and mountain- bikers can utilise the fly-fishing beat system to access stream paths, and the quiet dirt roads are ideal for both.

Try mountain boarding or grass skiing (R150 per person) out of season at SA’s only ski resort, Tiffindell, 20km from Rhodes. There’s also hiking, off-road motorbiking and MTB trails. No day visitor fee in summer (in winter it’s R65). Skiing season runs from June to August. tiffindell.co.za 

Try the local craft beer at Bernie’s Brewery in Rhodes, from R29 a bottle. Open 10am to 3pm (closed on Sundays out of season). Find it on Facebook.

This story first appeared in the March 2017 issue of Getaway magazine.

Get this issue →

Our March issue features a self-catering trip to the Seychelles that you can afford, a karoo secret retreat, learning to fly-fish in Rhodes and a joburg road trip for beer lovers. 

There are pros and cons to exploring Croatia’s coastline in the shoulder season – as in most of Europe, you’ll find lower prices and less crowded landmarks off-peak, but you also run the risk of missing out on the island experience entirely. I decided to take the chance anyway.

This was my second trip to Croatia – I’d been to the country a few years prior, but it hadn’t gone as I’d expected. I’d only made it as far as a dimly lit basement-level hostel in Zagreb, far from the beautiful coast that I’d heard so much about. Rather than sunning myself on a white-stoned beach, I spent a week under grey skies wandering the fruit and veg markets, returning to a secret spot adjacent to the cathedral to pilfer free Wi-Fi, and moping around the Museum of Broken Relationships. After a week of trying to fit a quick jaunt down to the coastline into my schedule, I admitted defeat and retreated back to my original itinerary. Next time I’d do it right, I promised myself.

A quiet square in Split, Croatia. Photo by Andrew Thompson.

Fast forward two years and I found myself on the Slovenian coastline a few kilometres north of Croatia. But my cursory research and bad planning revealed a problem. The peak summer season was a thing of the past; I was mid-way into the ominously termed “shoulder season”. Croatia’s idyllic coast was days away from shutting up shop.

“This is the longest shoulder season in years,” a toothless driver told me when I asked him why the bus seat I’d booked online turned out to be a front seat alongside him in a comfortable minivan. “Mainly thanks to the problems in France, Greece and Turkey.”

Many of Croatia’s ferries take a sabbatical over winter, making water crossings difficult. Photo by Andrew Thompson.

Still, as opportunistic as the relatively stable Croatia may be, it’s the weather that ultimately dictates when her tourism lives and dies. The blue skies were giving way to heavy clouds, ocean temperatures were dipping, the tourists numbers were dwindling, and as a result, the typically convenient ferries, sea planes, internal flights and hourly busses were rapidly dropping off the schedule. Even Sail Croatia, the company that ferries thousands of hungover Australians between overpriced Dalmatian Island bars, was making its last rounds.

But with a bit of determination, some luck, and a few unconventional transport choices, I propelled myself down the coastline from north to south, just days before bars, restaurants, hotels and, in some cases, whole islands, prepared to raise their “Closed for the winter” signs.

Rovinj

“Are you hungry?” the German AirBnb host asked, even before I had an opportunity to drop my bag in the lavender-themed room. She didn’t wait for an answer, and presented me with a slice of coconut cake. “It’s traditional to Croatia,” she said.

In the small Old Town Rovinj kitchen, Maja told me how she moved to this idyllic Istrian town several years ago. For the food, sunshine and laid-back way of life, she said, and she’s never looked back. Maja then set about circling the town’s best restaurants and attractions on a large tourist map.

Rovinj is set at water level, with the church bell tower offering the perfect perspective over the old town. Photo by Andrew Thompson.

“You like truffles? Go here, they’ll put it in your pasta. Seafood? Nowhere better than this spot. Have the sardines. It’s good to rent a bicycle, and ride over there,” she said, drawing thin pen lines along the coast. “This is the best beach in town for swimming. This one’s good for no clothes… Oh, and sunset?” she said, almost as an afterthought. “This is the best place to watch the sunset.”

The view of the harbour from the Rovinj bell tower. Photo by Andrew Thompson.

 
Shortly after she left I wound my way through the narrow cobbled streets towards the water’s edge. I found a church and ascended a narrow staircase to the top of the bell tower, where I stood for close to an hour watching circling boats and marvelling at the tiled rooftops.

When the sun started to dip towards the ocean I made my way back down the steep staircase and followed the map to Maja’s recommended viewing point which, I was pleased to discover, presented me with one of the best sunsets I’ve been lucky enough to witness.

A fisherman pauses to take in the epic sunset in Rovinj. Photo by Andrew Thompson.

Pula

After a few days of eating sardines, cycling along the coastline, and swimming in Rovinj’s crystal clear waters, I realised it was time to move on. I found a bus headed to a town called Pula, where courtesy of the off season I’d booked an entire “stately penthouse” for less than my previous night’s dinner.

Pula was underwhelming. Aside from an ancient arena and some Roman ruins that uniformed school kids were using for illicit smoke breaks, there wasn’t much to it. But I was only really there for its airport, which I headed to early the next morning. I’d found a seat on an tiny charter airline between Pula and Split. It circumvented a few hours’ inland bus ride at a bargain price of just a few Euros.

Despite the windows having a strange blue tint, the view over the Dalmatian Coast was remarkable. Photo by Andrew Thompson.

 
The Pula airport was alarmingly deserted. Aside from a woman wiping down the counter at the coffee shop there wasn’t another person in the cavernous departures hall. The check-in counters still displayed the previous day’s flights, and so I ordered a cappuccino and took a seat. Eventually a handful of people arrived for their flights, and a woman shuffled over to the check in counter.

“It’s my first time flying,” a Croatian man said to me as we watched staff load our bags into what looked like a toy plane on the runway outside.
“Talk about going all-in on your first flight,” I replied.

He didn’t really understand, and instead cracked a joke about carrying a bomb. I chuckled nervously, hoping it was an ill-considered wisecrack rather than preflight confessional.

The terminal doors eventually opened and we walked out to 15-seater plane. The Dutch pilots pivoted in their seats to welcome us on board, laughed at a private joke, and then flicked a few switches. The air hostess pulled the door closed, mumbled through an in-flight safety briefing, and then we bobbed along the tarmac and whirred up into the air. For the next 30 minutes, as we floated in the skies above the Croatian coastline, my eyes darted between the stunning views outside, the chatty pilots still visible in the front, and the bomb joker sitting a metre away from them.

Hvar

From Split I headed straight to Hvar Island. I found a room in Luka’s Lodge, which promised an engaging owner, good location, and vibrant atmosphere. The overview was correct about the first two features — Luka was kind and hospitable, and the lodge was a 5 minute walk from the harbour. But the time of year had all but put pay to the likelihood of fulfilling the atmosphere criteria.

The ferries to Croatia’s islands run less regularly during winter months. Photo by Andrew Thompson.

 
Hvar is supposed to be one of the country’s primary party islands. Instead, the lodge was pretty much empty, save for a jaded UK-based South African couple in a near permanent state of argument and a handful of other stragglers.

“I’m supposed to be closed,” Luca told me midway into my stay. “But I forgot to limit my availability online, and now I have to honour all your bookings,” he said, seemingly annoyed at having to work an extended season.

Choosing a dumpster for your end of season party is a questionable decision at the best of time, and particularly depressing three weeks after the fact. Photo by Andrew Thompson.

 
Most bars on the small island had already had their end of season parties. Only one remained open, and on the second night there were just three of us there keeping the staff at work. There appeared to be just a single restaurant on the island still open.

An idyllic resort abandoned for the winter season on the far side of the island. Photo by Andrew Thompson.

 
Early one morning I took a serene walk across the island’s interior hills and stumbled across a deserted resort on the other side. A ticket book lay open on plastic table at the entrance, moored and abandoned boats bobbed on the clear waters, and the restaurant and dozens of uniform holiday houses were locked. Had it not been for the constant reminders elsewhere on the island that this was the off season, I’d have mistaken the scene for a post-nuclear fallout in paradise.

The Hvar graveyard at sunset. Photo by Andrew Thompson.

 
There’s a strange beauty to a party island devoid of its usual hedonism, and I wouldn’t have chosen to experience Hvar in any other way.

Split

Commentary around Split is often fairly scathing, most of it detailing the degree to which the city set in the ruins of an ancient palace is overly touristy. It would hardly be a surprising revelation. As a result, I returned via ferry to the coastal city sceptical and prepared not to like it, but willing to investigate for myself. But I instantly fell in love with the labyrinthine streets, the tactile nature of the city’s crumbling bricks, the laundry fluttering in the coastal breeze, and the overflowing bougainvillea hiding around the most unlikely corners.

The Cathedral of Saint Domnius bell tower peering through the Vestibule. Photo by Andrew Thompson.

 
More than once I found myself retracing my steps, or ending up in the same familiar dead-end alleyway, or somehow ending up back outside my apartment door without intending to, and yet none of that mattered. Walking the narrow streets of Split feels like walking a live movie set, and soaking up the details over three days was all I wanted to do.

The labyrinthine streets of Split. Photo by Andrew Thompson.

 
On my final evening, the bells from the Cathedral of Saint Domnius chimed from the tower above my apartment, as they had done regularly throughout my stay. I paid the small entrance fee and walked to the top to reflect on the remarkable city from above, satisfied in the knowledge that there are more cynical travellers than I.

Dubrovnik

Most travellers move from Split to Dubrovnik by bus, but I’d stumbled across more tickets from the budget charter airline that’d flown me a few days earlier. They were going for a song, the exhilarating flight costing just more than the bus and taking considerably less time.

Streets of Dubrovnik. Photo by Andrew Thompson.

When I checked into my accommodation in Dubrovnik the receptionist, making small talk, asked how I’d arrived. “By plane from Split,” I said proudly. She looked confused. “With a company called Trade Air,” I explained.

She looked incredulous and then sniggered. “Trade Air? I’m pretty sure they were grounded last year for being… unsafe.” I thought back to the hairline cracks in the windows, the goofy pilots, and the way the small aircraft bounced around in the air high above the ocean and could only muster a “Uh, really?” in response.

Dubrovnik rooftops are pleasingly uniform. Photo by Andrew Thompson.

I dropped my bags and pulled up a seat on the terrace above the old town to take it all in. The location on the high upper edge of town provided a perfect vantage point over the uniform roofs and nearby ocean. Thanks to its Game of Thrones cameos this iconic walled city may never be the same. Even in late October, the crowds flowed through the main thoroughfare and up and down the steep staircases on either side. And though it’s a smaller, more polished, perfected and pricier version of Split, the quiet backroads and paths still held infinite amounts of charm and appeal.

The view from Dubrovnik’s famous town walls. Photo by Andrew Thompson.

I woke up early on my only full day in Dubrovnik, and last in Croatia, in order to beat the crowds who arrive by cruise ship shortly after breakfast. I’d seen them swarming the lower reaches of the town the afternoon before. I coughed up R300 for a ticket to the town’s walls and commenced the two-kilometre circular route almost unhindered.

There’s a beauty and tranquility to the country’s coast that’s hard not to love, and walking the circumference of the defensive Dubrovnik walls was the perfect way to appreciate this whirlwind tour down the incredible Croatian coastline.

Need a holiday for two? These out-of-the-way cottages might be just what you’re looking for. Whether tucked between the tree tops or perched high on a cliff, expect great views, wonderful nature and above all, buckets of peace and quiet. From R212 per person sharing, this is our pick of the cosiest couples’ accommodation in South Africa.

 
Also read: Your top 12 off-the-grid destinations across South Africa

1. Witkruis Cottage, Buitenstekloof (Overberg)

Location: -33.720772, 19.765179

Witkruis Cottage, Buitenstekloof.

Cost: From R640 for two (sleeps up to four on a sleeper couch)
Contact: buitenstekloof.co.za

2. Eagle Chalet, Cederberg Chalets (Cederberg)

Location: -32.376000, 19.411067

Eagle Chalet, Cederberg Chalets.

Cost: R975 for the cottage (sleeps up to four on two extra twins)
Contact: cederbergchalets.co.za

3. Fly Me To The Moon, Moon Shine on Whiskey Creek (Garden Route)

Location: -33.9675888,23.442211

Fly Me To The Moon, Moon Shine on Whiskey Creek.

Cost: From R850 for two (sleeps two in a double bed)
Contact: whiskeycreek.co.za

4. Hluleka Nature Reserve Chalets (Wild Coast)

Location: -31.824978, 29.301990

Hluleka Nature Reserve Chalets.

Cost: From R424 for two (sleeps up to four on two extra twins)
Contact: visiteasterncape.co.za

5. Over-the-edge, The Edge Mountain Retreat (Hogsback)

Location: -32.601703, 26.917509

Self-catering cottages, The Edge Mountain Retreat.

Cost: R1050 for Over-the-edge, garden cottages from R600 (sleeps two)
Contact: theedge-hogsback.co.za

6. Boatman’s Cottage, Vrederus (Eastern Cape Highlands)

Location: -30.782000, 28.276300

Boatmans Cottage, Vrederus.

Cost: R500 for two (sleeps up to four on extra bunk beds)
Contact: vrederus.co.za

7. The Bothy, Rhodes Cottages (Eastern Cape Highlands)

Location: -30.795906, 27.965920

The Bothy, Rhodes Cottages.

Cost: R720 for two (sleeps up to four on two extra twins)
Contact: linecasters.co.za

8. Garden Cottage, St Fort Country House (Clarens)

Location: -28.560534, 28.412555

Garden Cottage, St Fort Country House.

Cost: From R884 for the cottage (sleeps two)
Contact: stfort.co.za

9. Protea Cottage, Thirsty Falls Guest Farm (Magaliesberg)

Location: -25.861661, 27.364849

Protea Cottage, Thirsty Falls Guest Farm.

Cost: R900 for two (sleeps up to three on a sleeper couch)
Contact: thirstyfalls.co.za

10. Igababa Cabin, Zvakanaka (Soutpansberg)

Location: -22.977892, 29.952538

Igababa Cabin, Zvakanaka.

Cost: R850 for the cottage (sleeps two)
Contact: zka.co.za

Have we left your favourite spot off the list? Share your recommendations in the comments!

In a place where the Umgeni River meets the Msunduzi River, thousands live in quiet tradition amidst seldom-explored mountains spreading as far as the eye can see. The Valley of 1000 Hills is most frequently associated with Inanda Dam, the Dusi Canoe Marathon and the Comrades Marathon. On a recent portfolio story for Getaway, I wanted to showcase what else you can do in this area, and just how beautiful this valley is.

For Durbanites, the unexpected panoramas and river crossings make it well worth a Sunday drive. You can find more route information on Durban Green Corridor’s website.

Here are some of the images from the portfolio, published in the March 2017 issue of Getaway magazine.

Sound carries far here. Sitting on the edge of the steep Monteseel cliffs, you’re removed from – yet oddly a part of – the KwaNyuswa community as the clamour of roosters, cars, dogs and people reaches your ears.

Rock climbing happens along certain parts of these cliffs and a footpath winds its way along the lip of the gorge at Monteseel.

Traditional healers have a strong influence within the community. I met Gugu Ndlovu at her home, where she shared the story of her journey to becoming a healer. Many visit her, mainly on the weekends, for guidance from the amadlozi (ancestral spirits).

The Umgeni River is an integral part of daily life, as well as the annual water-churning frenzy of the Dusi Canoe Marathon. Rapids pool to stillness here in this section of Inanda Dam, before picking up again on its journey towards the sea.

Officially starting from Cato Ridge, the valley undulates its way down towards Kloof, ending in the Krantzkloof Nature Reserve (pictured here) where numerous day-trails lead to viewpoints, swimming holes and waterfalls.

The dirt road runs adjacent to the river, sometimes crossing it and sometimes peering down from cliffs at its winding snake far below. Just carry on following the dirt road – it only gets more beautiful.

LEFT: Overlooking the gorge at Krantzview. RIGHT: High up on the mountain following the dirt road that runs past mountains tipped with granite heads.

LEFT: The Light Providers is a community education initiative run by Vuk’Afrika Tours, who took me on a tour through the KwaNyuswa section of the valley. RIGHT: Up in Hillcrest, you’ll find the Woza Moya Craft shop, which aims to uplift those suffering from AIDS in the community.

Every year in April these aloes flower in a shower of orange. They overlook the valley below, commonly shrouded in early-morning mist. Thanks to landscape photographer Carl Smorenburg for the location tip.

The valley wakes as the sun warms up the air, sluggishly pushing off its blanket of mist. The changing pressure speeds the eager wind on as it rushes up the cliffs.

More from our March issue:

• A route to see the best of the Waterberg
• Searching for the best beer on a roadtrip from Joburg to the North West
• How to visit the Seychelles on a budget

This story first appeared in the March 2017 issue of Getaway magazine.

Get this issue →

Our March issue features a self-catering trip to the Seychelles that you can afford, a karoo secret retreat, learning to fly-fish in Rhodes and a joburg road trip for beer lovers. 

Feed a crowd from breakfast to supper with one pan plus these three recipes. Instead of lugging around with a heavy potjie pot, make paella instead. Our new paella recipe can feed just as many people in less than half the time and the pan to do it is thin and light, offering quick heat-transfer!

This hearty feast of chicken, chorizo and red peppers will be ready in an hour and costs about R44 per head.

The pan

Whether enamel or polished steel, a paella pan is super-thin so heat transfer is quick and effective, with a big surface area for cooking sizeable quantities. Once it comes off the braai, just plonk it in the middle of the table and serve. At Takealot.com, a 36cm enamelled mild-steel paella pan costs R360, while a 42cm traditional polished steel pan is R329.

The peppers

Peppers are hardy veg that don’t need refrigeration, and roasting them makes use of a braai fire when it’s still too hot to cook. Just before breaking down the coals (the wood has almost completely burnt down but there is still some flame), place the whole peppers on the grid. Turn periodically until the skin is blistered and charred. Be bold! They should resemble the Sith Lord, Darth Maul. Place the peppers in a container, seal tightly and leave to cool. Peel off the skin and pull out the seeds, saving all the juices, and add to your paella or turn into a salad.

Roasted-red-pepper salad

Feeds 4
• 3 peppers, roasted, peeled and seeded (retain the juices)
• extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• red wine vinegar
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• capers, drained (optional)

Tear the peppers into strips and toss with olive oil and garlic. Season with a little red wine vinegar, salt and pepper. Scatter with capers (if using) and serve with bread to mop up the juices for a light lunch.

Eggs in a spicy tomato sauce

Feeds 8 – 10

This is an easy tomato sauce built on garlic instead of onion.

• ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil • 6 large garlic cloves, very finely chopped
• 2 x 390g boxes crushed tomatoes (from Woolies; lighter than tins and easier to pack)
• 2 cups water (used to rinse out any remaining tomato from the cartons)
• 1 dried red chilli, crumbled
• sea salt and black pepper
• 10 eggs
• sweet kitke rolls

1. Allow the coals to cool to a medium heat.

2. Add the oil and garlic to a cold pan (this prevents the garlic burning quickly). Place the pan on the fire and cook the garlic for a minute or two, stirring constantly.

3. As soon as it starts turning pale golden, add the tomatoes, water, chilli and a teaspoon of salt. Stir to mix through.

4. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring regularly until it is thickened and saucy.

5. Break the eggs into the tomato sauce and season the yolks with salt and pepper.

6. Cook until the eggs are done to your liking. (You can cover the whole pan with heavy foil to cook the exposed whites and keep the yolks runny.)

7. Serve immediately with kitke rolls for mopping up the sauce.

Paella-esque rice

Feeds 8 – 10

This recipe takes full advantage of the fire at every stage. Paella purists might balk at the chorizo but it’s robust enough for travel, acts as a shortcut to flavour and lends colour if your budget can’t stretch to saffron.

• 3 red peppers
• 500g skinless, boneless chicken thighs (plus kebab skewers)
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 litres chicken stock (we used tetrapak boxes of organic stock from Woolworths)
• 1 sachet saffron, optional (available at Woolies)
• 225g (1 sausage) chorizo, thinly sliced
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2T extra-virgin olive oil
• 1½T smoked sweet paprika
• 390g box crushed tomatoes
• 4 cups risotto or arborio rice
• 2 bay leaves
• parsley, finely chopped
• lemon wedges

The marinade (optional)
• 2T extra-virgin olive oil
• zest of 1 lemon
• 2 sprigs rosemary, leaves picked

1. If marinating the chicken, do so overnight or a few hours ahead. Toss the chicken with the marinade ingredients and refrigerate in a sealed container.

2. Roast the peppers just before breaking down the coals. Cook and prep them as described in the salad recipe.

3. Once you have a bed of coals that are still hot, thread the chicken thighs onto skewers, season well with salt and pepper, and grill for a few minutes a side until nicely browned. (This develops colour and flavour – they’ll finish cooking in the paella.)

4. Allow the coals to cool. You’re aiming for an even, medium-high heat for 30 to 40 minutes. Heat the stock in a pot and add the saffron, if using. Keep it hot.

5. Add the chorizo slices to a cold paella pan, place on the grid and cook, stirring now and then, until the orange oil has rendered and the discs are crisp.

6. Add the onions and a teaspoon of salt and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring, until the onions are softened, reduced in size and starting to caramelise. They should be cooking at a brisk bubble.

7. Add the garlic, olive oil and paprika to the pan and cook, stirring, for a minute or so, then add the tomatoes and some water (from rinsing out the carton) and cook for a few minutes until the tomatoes are reduced and thickened.

8. Add the rice, bay leaves and roasted peppers and stir to distribute everything well. Pour in the hot stock and do not stir again. From the moment it comes back to a boil, cook for 15 minutes.

9. Slip the chicken off the skewers and place throughout the rice. Cook for another 10 minutes.

10. Remove the paella from the fire, cover with a clean dishcloth and rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Think ahead…

• Once the process starts, there’s no stopping. As with stir-fry, have every ingredient prepped and ready to go.
• Check the grid is level so the liquid stays in the pan.
• Avoid hot spots by spreading the bed of coals wide enough to cover the entire diameter of the pan.
• Start with fewer coals underneath the pan and add more if necessary to keep the right temperature.
• The pan and handles get crazy hot. Use braai gloves.

What wine?

To pronounce Rioja properly, pretend you have a furball in your throat when you get to the ‘j’. It is Spain’s most famous wine region, where Tempranillo grapes reign supreme with Garnacha (or what the French and the rest of us call Grenache) at their feet. Although the former is popping up as far afield as Argentina and Australia and the latter has been widely planted worldwide for ages (it’s the main ingredient in France’s famed Châteauneuf-du-Pape), both are as native to Spain as flamenco skirts and afternoon naps. And since we’re eating paella that’s fiery in colour and robust in flavour, you might as well be adventurous and try some vine juice that traces its roots back to the banks of the Ebro River in northern España.

What label?

The expert choice Yes, Riversdale is 300 kilometres away from the Cape Winelands and no, you’re not mad for thinking that this is an odd place for our first really competitive Tempranillo to be born. But it was and it is, and the savoury, spicy, meat-friendly Baleia Bay Tempranillo 2015 has more gold medals on its beautifully designed chest than Usain Bolt.
PS: Best served slightly chilled. R120, cybercellar.com

The crowd-pleaser South Africa’s retailers have embraced affordable imported wine, and the Tempranillo and Garnacha grapes for Woolworths’ El Toro Spanish Red (R70) were grown in the region of Cariñena. So the party starts when everyone tries to say that properly! I get spice and cherries, you might only get a deliciously smooth red – either way, it comes in a one-litre bottle so everyone’s a winner.

The green option For most of its life in Africa, Grenache was relegated to the ‘blending’ barrel, but single varietal offerings increase every year. For an excellent, easy-drinking, 100 per cent Earth-friendly version, you can’t go wrong with Waverley Hills Grenache Noir 2015 (R115) from Tulbagh’s original organic champion.

Read more from this story in the March 2017 issue of Getaway magazine.

This story first appeared in the March 2017 issue of Getaway magazine.

Get this issue →

Our March issue features a self-catering trip to the Seychelles that you can afford, a karoo secret retreat, learning to fly-fish in Rhodes and a joburg road trip for beer lovers. 

Everyone loves a good road trip – and with a country as beautiful as South Africa, it’s easy to see why. So here we’ve collected some of our favourite road trip stories from Getaway’s years of travelling, and now it’s your turn. From barrelling across the North West province in search of the perfect beer to a pet-friendly wander down the Garden Route, what’s next on your list?

Ed’s note: some of these stories were published a year or two ago, so make sure to check the details before you hit the road!

Driving not your thing? Have a look at our ultimate South African hiking bucketlist

1. The Waterberg

A chilled evening at Matamba Bush Campsite.

Just three hours from Johannesburg is a place that will make any wildlife enthusiast rejoice. Melanie van Zyl returns to her childhood stomping ground.

Read the story: A road trip through the Waterberg

2. The Panorama Route

A view of the hut-shaped Three Rondavels in the distance. Photo by Teagan Cunniffe.

If the name hasn’t got you packing a suitcase already, then the rest of Ishay Govender-Ypma‘s story will. The sights were comparable to paradise and the imminent lowveld clouds added to the sought-after feelings of peace and isolation.

Read the story: Head in the clouds: road tripping the Panorama Route

3. Joburg to North West (Beer Route)

One of my favouritea of the trip – Lazy Lizard’s American Pale Ale.

Chris Davies was determined to find a local beer that any Belgian would approve of. His trip took him through Gauteng where he tested nine microbreweries. You can bet he found a winner.

Read the story: The ultimate Beer Route from Joburg to North West

4. Clarens

Snow in the Golden Gate National Park.

Winter is the perfect reason to stay indoors: unless you’re Getaway’s Melanie van Zyl. She decided to break the ice and make snow the subject of her roadtrip to Clarens.

Read the story: Find snow this weekend: follow the cold to Clarens

5. The ultimate Kruger roadtrip

The ramp leading up the hide that overlooks Sable Dam.

If you’ve been dreaming of a lengthy stay at Africa’s largest game reserve, you’ll want to read about how Madeleine van Heerden pulled off 18 days at eight Kruger campsites, from north to south. There are some really useful tips and recommendations for an unforgettable visit.

Read more: The best Kruger campsites, north to south

6. Or a week-long Kruger trip

Kruger experts, Villiers Steyn and Tabby Mittins, devoted seven days of travelling from the south to the north of the national park on an atypical path. Moving in the opposite direction proved to be rewarding.

Giraffes are especially fond of knob-thorn trees, which are very common in southern Kruger, especially in the vicinity of Crocodile Bridge. Photo by Villiers Steyn.

Read more: See the best of the Kruger National Park in a 7-day road trip

7. Howick

When viewed from directly in front, the cluster of columns set at different depths align to create a perfect portrait of Nelson Mandela.

After reading this you’ll want to do more than just pass by. Paul Maughan-Brown  befriended a few of the locals to find out if there was more to the often overlooked town of Howick.

Read the story: Life just off the road: a guide to Howick

8. Midlands Meander

Cappuccino and cheesecake is a must at Blueberry Cafe.

It seems there is a story at every turn along the Midlands Meander. Getaway photographer, Teagan Cunniffe discovered this when she spoke with a few of the locals who guided her around the place they know best.

Read the story:  A local’s guide to the Midlands Meander

9. Karoo to Durban in a campervan

We loved having a home on wheels and never having to unpack.

It sounds like the plot to a family comedy but for the Rogers clan, it turned out to be a convenient way to travel. There was plenty of room to explore as they made their way from the Western Cape to KwaZulu-Natal in their hired camper van. What better way to travel than with a house on wheels?

Read more: Why camper vans make for the best family road trips

10. The Karoo

Compassberg. Image by Karoopark

Helen Walne offers insightful advice on how to travel with your pet from Cape Town to Cradock. With plenty of highs came hilarious lows thanks to her dog, Lily. Find out how they took on the Karoo.

Read the story: Discover the Karoo on a pet-friendly road trip

11. The Garden Route

Finding places to travel with your pets is not always easy, especially during the holiday exodus. A little bit of planning can make the journey so much more rewarding when you get to take them along for the ride.

Megan King  and her dog set out to find pet-friendly and affordable accommodation on a meander down the Garden Route and through the Eastern Cape. Their finds were well worth the trip, not to mention the picturesque surrounds of the Garden Route.

Read the story: A pet-friendly road trip through South Africa

12. Karoo and the Garden Route on a motorcycle

Parked beside the Nelsrivier Dam, Calitzdorp.

Tyson Jopson discovers what it is about the Karoo that sees him returning time and again. This time it’s on a classic motorcycle with two of his favourite people revving beside him. He found out why the magic of the Karoo never wears off.

Read the story: The Karoo on wheels: a magic route for repeat for offenders

13. The ‘other’ Route 62

Uniondale Poort.

Getaway’s Associate Editor, Caroline Webb resisted the urge to head to the coast from Port Elizabeth and meandered along the path overshadowed by its more famous counterpart, Route 62. These backroads took her through the Langkloof where she found many rural delights.

Read the story: The other Route 62

14. Lesser-known wine routes near Cape Town

If you can’t get enough of wine but have exhausted the popular wine farms, try these new routes. This extensive list by Rachel Robinson tells you all that you need to know about from Elgin to Breedekloof.

Read the story: 10 wine routes near Cape Town you don’t already know about

15. Surf the West Coast

Surfers emerge from a playful session at Sunset Beach, just north of Cape Town. Photo by Justin Fox.

Justin Fox  relives his days as a student and hits the waves of the West Coast – Blouberg, Melkbos and Langebaan to name a few spots. His road trip also goes beyond the surf and into the other exciting stops that you must take along the R27.

Read the story: The great escape: take a surf safari up the West Coast

16. Overberg motorbike route

Just south of the N2, the quiet, well-graded gravel roads are perfect for biking.

Tyson Jopson and Chris Davies tackled the gravel roads of the Overberg, trying to get as far from the highway as possible. Their goal to find the best route was challenging and unpredictable but they wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Read the story: The ultimate Overberg motorbike route: Cape Town to Mossel Bay

17. SANParks off the N2

Each of the 19 family chalets at Mountain Zebra National Park has a wide stoep, braai place and great views. Photo by Chris Davies.

What’s the best way to experience wildlife? A SANParks-themed road trip of course! Chris, Tyson and Scott Ramsay spent a week off the N2 from PE to Cape Town and stopped at our best national parks along the way.

Read the story: Off the N2: the best route for a wild road trip

Outside of South Africa

18. Namibia

The road between Hobas and Ai-Ais. Photo by Teagan Cunniffe.

An opportunity to travel off-the-beaten track is irresistible but Chris Davies chose to stick to what he knew best when it came to the Fish River Canyon. It’s a road he’s very familiar with, but his sense of wonder was renewed as he took in the Namibian landscapes. He started his action-packed adventure from another southern African delight, the Orange River.

Read the story: A road well travelled: Orange River to the Fish River Canyon

19. The best of Botswana in ten days

The Mokoro trips into the delta are a great way of getting to grips with the channels and spotting wildlife hiding in the papyrus. Photo by Melanie van Zyl.

A 10-day self-drive through Botswana is just as adventurous as it sounds. Pore over Melanie van Zyl’s  itinerary to see how she pulled it off and why she can’t wait to do it again.

Read the story: How to see the best of Botswana in 10 days

19.A baobab roadtrip

All that you need to know about a road trip to Nxai Pan National Park if you want to get out there to see the iconic baobabs.

Read the story: An intriguing case of mowana mania

21. Mozambique

Here’s how you can horseback ride from bush to beach, kayak across Nhambavale Lake and eat as many prawns as you possibly can. Inhambane is the Mozambican town that South Africans love and Evan Haussmann made it his destination on a 12-hour road excursion.

Read the story: Road tripping from Joburg to Mozambique’s cowboy town