Getaway -julkaisun May/June 2020 -irtonumeron sisällysluettelo

Ole Naeku was every bit the proud Maasai warrior – tall and lean, intricate beadwork offsetting his traditional red shuka. Just the kind of young buck I could picture killing a lion with his bare hands as part of the ceremony to become a full-blown maroni (warrior), practised in the past when lions were more plentiful than Maasai. There was a dagger in his belt; in one hand he carried a spear and from the fold of his robes he plucked a Samsung Galaxy S10. I was clearly in good hands. Ole was to be my guide for a first-ever day trip into the Masai Mara, Kenya’s oldest reserve and the world’s original benchmark for the African safari. Its popularity has somewhat detracted from the ‘wildness’ of the Maasai homeland,…

Welcome to Cape Town. Take a dip in our ocean. It’s a little nippy, but don’t let that worry you. However, the sheer volume of human waste and chemicals might stop you in your tracks. What many residents don’t realise is that when you flush a toilet in Camps Bay it comes out in the sea you might be swimming in minutes later, along with everything that’s flushed down every toilet and drain from Camps Bay to Green Point, the City Bowl to Hout Bay – faeces, urine, blood, semen, cooking oil, pain killers, narcotics and pharmaceuticals. It’s a constant flow, 24/7, 365 days a year. The City of Cape Town operates marine outfalls in Camps Bay, Green Point and Hout Bay. Because of the location and urban density of…

By converting petrol and diesel vehicles, Electric Safari Vehicles, based in Nelspruit, is providing the solution lodges need to go off-grid and become independent from fossil fuels. Owner Steve Blatherwick believes green is the only way to go. ‘You really feel at one with nature when driving these vehicles. Not only is battery power better for the bush, but they’re much easier to drive and you can’t stall the vehicle!’ he says. Steve’s company converted the first operating vehicle, a Land Rover, for Makanyi Lodge in the Timbavati. ‘The technology is available, and environmentally sensitive areas like Timbavati and Sabi Sands should all have these vehicles,’ he concludes. Steve lists the benefits of using an electric vehicle below. In a year, you can cut down on 3,5 tons of CO2…

FINALIST THE MOONLIGHT BATTLE While I was photographing at the Umgodi overnight hide at Zimanga Private Game Reserve, a rhino and her calf were disturbed from their late evening drink by a small herd of buffalo. One buffalo took great exception to the rhino being nearby, and we witnessed ‘a battle of the giants’ as they fought for a space at the waterhole under the light of a full moon. By SEYMS BRUGGER, JOHANNESBURG Canon 5D MkIV, Sigma 24-35 f/2, ISO 2000, f/2, 1/160sec FINALIST A GIANT’S DETAIL While we were relaxing on the patio at the Kwa Maritane Bush Lodge in the Pilanesberg National Park, two elephants came to drink at the waterhole next to the lodge. They were playful, splashing water and entertaining us with their mock fighting.…

GETTING THERE Malelane Gate is 405km (an easy five hours) from Joburg via Nelspruit on the N4. WHEN TO GO Kruger is popular year-round but the dry winter months, from April to the end of October, are the best for seeing game. Travel between January and March to avoid crowds. NEED TO KNOW  Game viewing Always check the sightings boards in camp and at entrance gates. Plan each drive around what you’d like to see and where to stop for breakfast or lunch. There’s a detailed map available at all rest camps and gates. Health Kruger is a low-risk malaria area but consider prophylaxis in summer; insect repellent is essential. There’s a doctor at Skukuza (013-735-5638). Gate times You must be in camp before the gates close. Times vary seasonally,…

I’m one of those Kruger devotees who believes that Manyeleti Nature Reserve is the holy grail of Greater Kruger (they share a fenceless boundary), mainly because it offers as good a wildlife experience as you’ll get in the park, on passable, dirt roads with virtually no traffic. In the local context, this is a relative game-viewing paradise, ‘relative’ because not all of us can access Chief’s Island in the Okavango Delta, or Tanzania’s Katavi National Park, but at less than seven hours’ drive from Joburg, Manyeleti is a fine alternative. The real kicker is that at a time when South Africa is chomping hard on the economic bullet, a stay at Manyeleti main camp costs around half the price of Kruger’s public camps. So when the opportunity arose to return…

THE VAN DEN BERGS Kruger routes, page 57 Heinrich is a renowned wildlife photographer and the founder of HPH Publishing, a boutique publishing company specialising in books such as Kruger Self-Drive , which he co-authored with his parents, Philip and Ingrid. ‘If you ever need advice on how to visit any park in your own vehicle, just phone them,’ Heinrich says. ‘Although you might find it hard to reach them as they’re on their next self-drive adventure, this time in Addo.’ Drawing on the insider knowledge of countless Kruger trips, they’ve compiled their 10 favourite drives in the iconic park for this issue. GREG PENFOLD Poland, page 98 Champion of all things sustainable, editor and language buff, Greg polished his Polish and made for pierogi (dumplings) central. He suspects that…

As Getaway readers emerge bleary-eyed from coronavirus self-isolation, many will be looking to break the shackles of city lockdown and head for the freedom of the hills and a healing dose of nature (while still keeping your distance from crowds). The wild, rugged, beautiful Baviaanskloof of the Eastern Cape is the perfect place. This little cottage at Cedar Falls Base Camp is called Just-for-Two. It’s the quaintest hideaway with paraffin lanterns, simple furniture and an outdoor bathtub. Take a good book, luxuriate in the silence or go rambling in the surrounding hills. You might choose the short, 10-minute walk to a nearby labyrinth for meditative contemplation or a day hike further up the kloof to a spectacular waterfall, reached by swimming through rockpools. gobaviaans.co.za…

MDLULI SAFARI LODGE Kruger Park, Mpumalanga As my husband and I drove to Numbi Gate, I wondered about Mdluli’s story – the who, what and when. Where, I already knew. At Numbi, we turned right onto a six-kilometre dirt road. It wasn’t long before we saw a game-drive vehicle stopped on the verge. I pulled up alongside. ‘Leopard,’ the guide whispered. ‘There, at the termite mound.’ His guests had an enviable view, but in my low car we only got a glimpse of the big cat’s tail. I counted it as half a sighting and moved on. At Mdluli we were greeted with warm smiles, hot hand towels and iced tea – welcome reprieves from the Lowveld’s sticky air. Behind the reception, at the lodge’s central meeting space, someone else…

WHAT Mossel Bay Zipline WHERE The Point, Mossel Bay WHO Elise Kirsten Mossel Bay’s newest attraction runs from the cliffs above the Point to the deck on top of the Shark Lab aquarium. I parked right next to the ticket office at the Point where I was weighed and signed the indemnity form. As I stood on a platform waiting to kit up, I could just make out the start of the zipline, more than a kilometre away and 90 metres above the sea. The drop from the top of the cliff edge looked daunting and my eyes strained to make out a zipliner, who came into view once he’d advanced a few hundred metres. After donning a helmet, strapping into a harness, putting on a pair of padded leather…

FIELD GUIDE TO BUTTERFLIES OF SOUTH AFRICA Steve Woodhall Following 15 years after the first edition, this fully revised field guide includes all 671 of South Africa’s wondrous butterfly species. All species accounts and distribution maps have been updated and expanded to cover butterfly identification, habits, flight periods, broods, habitats and larval food sources. The entry of each species also details its distribution across the provinces, including nature reserves where they may be found. For ease of use, each section is colour-coded and there’s a quick A–Z reference for the 138 different butterfly groups on the book’s inside front cover. More than 70 per cent of the full-colour photographs featured are new, depicting these delicate creatures from various angles, detailing the upper and undersides of their wings where possible, and…

TAKE IT YOURSELF EQUIPMENT You can photograph star trails using any camera that allows you to shoot on manual mode. Ideally you want a wide-angle lens with an aperture of f/4 or wider to let in as much light as possible, and to capture the enormity of the sky. Don’t use filters. A sturdy tripod is essential. Choose a tall one so that you don’t have to extend the centre column to get up high. Extending the centre-column increases the chance of camera shake. Jon uses a Gitzo Traveller which is fairly light to carry, yet sturdy. Make sure your battery is fully charged. WHEN TO SHOOT For astral photography you want minimal to no cloud cover. Winter nights generally give the best crisp, clear skies (depending on where you…

There are many kinds of self-drive tourists in Kruger. Birders are identified by the stickers on their windows; others are tree-spotters ticking off species on their checklist, while some simply meander along enjoying the journey. There are the photographers who act as if they have right of way, and those who race between lion sightings like maniacs, hanging out of windows with selfie sticks. Others do their best to avoid lion sightings because they don’t want to get stuck in traffic looking at people watching sleeping lions. Wildlife is not evenly distributed in the park, despite the rich diversity of species, and roads that usually offer good sightings don’t always deliver on expectations. This unpredictability is what makes game drives so exciting – you just never know what you could…

OUR PICKS Getaway’s good-value star, indicates the accommodation is under R600 pp. BLESFONTEIN GUEST FARM Marina and Nicol van der Merwe are natural hosts with a generosity of spirit as wide as the open space that gives Blesfontein its appeal. The couple have transformed many of the outbuildings once used by livestock to accommodate visitors. Nine units with names such as The Cowshed, The Milkshed and The Hay Stable are all self-catering. Should you want a break from cooking, you can have a sit-down breakfast and dinner at the farmhouse. At night, Nicol will take you stargazing in his amateur observatory with a 30-centimetre refractor telescope, and at the same time entertain you with his wit. Blesfontein is a great place for families as Marina cares for a plethora of…

THE TRUE SPIRIT OF AFRICA In September my wife and I went road-tripping around Namibia – one of our favourite countries. We also spent a wonderful week in Etosha National Park, but the morning we left, my Toyota Fortuner’s brakes failed just outside Otjiwarongo. Much to our delight, at the first traffic light entering town was the Indongo Toyota dealer. The left rear brake pipe was worn and had leaked brake fluid. They didn’t have the replacement part but successfully fitted an equivalent part made by local engineers. The Toyota computer system was down and they couldn’t issue an invoice for the repair. I offered to EFT the amount at a later stage and, with no fuss, the garage manager provided the service without any charge, staying behind with the…

There’s one crucial thing that endears me to the new KrugerExplorer app: it’s not a social networking tool for finding the latest wildlife sightings. I lament the previously released Latest Sightings app which is popular with visitors to Kruger National Park because it offers a live stream of wildlife sightings shared by its users. Their app-store pitch reads: ‘You never have to drive around the whole day seeing nothing, you can now see the magnificent Big Five, such as the lion and leopard, everyday on your safari.’ By inference, Latest Sightings regards driving in a landscape of riverine forest, for example, as ‘nothing’ if it doesn’t offer a member of the Big Five. Yet that forest contains boundless life: dozens of bird species, innumerable insects, reptiles, flowers, plants and mammals.…

HOW I GOT THE SHOTS When I was a fledgling Getaway photojournalist, I travelled regularly to Mozambique. Each time an assignment to our eastern neighbour presented itself, I was first to put up my hand. Over a 12-year period, I travelled there as many times, producing two books on Mozambique (one of them a coffee-table book) and I’m busy tinkering with a third. My principal objectives were photographic. I love shooting in Mozambique. Driving down the escarpment off South Africa’s bleak highveld in winter, I’m always struck by the rich, saturated colours. The light has a luminescence and the intense hues of capulanas (sarongs), brightly painted dhows, markets filled with tropical fruit and garish Chinese goods heighten the colour overload. I’m drawn to shooting architecture, seascapes and the sociable bustle…

After rolling into Kruger through Phalaborwa Gate one sweltering February afternoon, we pulled off the road every now and then, turned off the engine of our Avis hire car, and tuned in to the wild sounds that tugged at our ancient DNA. My wife, Sarah, and I were here to enjoy the rainy season. People often say it’s best to see wildlife in the dry winter months, but we wanted to challenge that notion, for the rains would surely bring new life to this part of Kruger. With a week to get to Pafuri, Kruger’s Garden of Eden 225 kilometres to the north, we were in no rush. The park’s camps are roughly 70 kilometres apart, and that can be a long journey filled with wonder and pathos. We crept…

GETTING THERE Take the N1 from Cape Town, turning left onto the R354 to Sutherland. It’s about 350km and takes around four hours to drive. WHEN TO GO If you want to get the best out of stargazing and night photography, don’t visit when it’s full moon, or when cloud conditions are predicted. Temperatures can drop below zero in winter, and there’s a chance of snow. NEED TO KNOW It’s worth stopping for biltong and the most delicious craft beer at Verlatenkloof Guest Farm on the Verlatenkloof Pass, about 30 kilometres south-west of Sutherland. DO THIS Don’t miss the Full-Dome Experience at Sutherland Planetarium, where you’ll feel as if you’re floating in space (R80 per adult, kids R50 pp). Also offered is night-time stargazing (R130 per adult, R80 for kids,…

“Big fluffy balls of cotton hung heavily in the sky” I’d been roped into Swakopmund’s most absurd morning ritual. Admittedly, it was my idea, but fellow journalist Charleen Clarke, or Charlie, wasn’t letting me back out of it. ‘Come on man, if those grannies can do it, then so can we,’ she said as she stripped down to her cozzie, an emerald beacon in the fog. Shivering, I quickly followed suit and soon we were both sprinting down the beach towards the icy ocean. Our small media group had been told about the famous ‘grannies’ almost as soon as we’d arrived in Swakopmund. Every morning, with thermometers around their necks, four elderly women swim to a buoy in the ocean in front of the Strand Hotel. On return they drape…

If lost in Warsaw, look out for the Palace of Culture and Science. Visible from everywhere in the city, this Socialist-realist skyscraper will remind you where you are, not only in space but also in time. That’s because Warsaw’s tallest building (237 metres) is possibly the least Polish in character. Built in 1955 as a ‘gift of the Soviet people for the Poles’, it symbolises everything Poland would like to forget. Nevertheless, it’s part of history. Many frequent its theatres, cinema, museums and pubs; an observation deck at 114 metres provides an impressive panorama of the city. The boulevards around the Palace of Culture are broad and lined with fashionable boutiques. Leaves swirl in spaces between old apartment blocks, where grandmothers tend children in communal gardens. Small shops and eateries…