go!の Dec/Jan 2023 の目次

ED'S LETTER Isn't it great that our festive holiday coincides with the end of a long and often exhausting year – when it's summer! When I lived in the northern hemisphere for a few years, I struggled to adapt to having a big holiday in June and July, and then hardly coming up for air between Christmas and New Year. A big holiday at the end of the year is what I'm used to, and it's what I look forward to, but other people might feel differently. The same way summer means different things to different people. Just look at the origin of the word in various languages and cultures and you'll see what I mean. The English “summer”, German “Sommer” and Afrikaans “somer” are all related, stretching back more…

Pale and pretty LEONORA FERREIRA from L'Agulhas writes: We saw this leucistic southern boubou in our garden in May 2020. Other birds fled whenever it tried to get near, but it looked healthy and we saw it often. How common is leucism among this species? Bird expert LUKAS NIEMAND says: There is a strong possibility that this is a leucistic southern boubou. Leucism is a condition where an animal or bird has a lack of melanin due to a genetic mutation. How common is it? Good question, but more individuals with leucism are reported these days because of how easy it is to share photos and because the number of birders in South Africa is growing. It's not easy to confirm that the leucistic bird is being rejected by members…

TAKE YOUR PIC WINNING PHOTO MARLENE BERNHARDT Canon EOS 650D Canon 15 – 85mm lens MARLENE WRITES: Bowkerskop is a hill near Mopani rest camp in the Kruger Park, with a beautiful baobab on its side. I was there in June 2022 and I wanted to get a pic of it. When I looked closer, I saw the giraffe! How special to see these two species together? For centuries, both have fascinated us by their strangeness: the long neck of the one; the upside-down roots of the other. I used these settings: shutter speed 1/640 second, aperture f5.6 and ISO 250. TOAST SAYS: It's not that unusual to see a giraffe and a baobab in the same photo, but the koppie makes Marlene's photo a winner. Bowkerskop has the outline…

FOOD Smoked gammon with cherries Serves 8 with leftovers Preparation time 40 minutes Cooking time 2 hours 30 minutes You need For the glaze cup cherry jam 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard about Va cup liquid from the gammonpot 2 tablespoons castor sugar ½ cup glace cherries (optional) Here's how 1 Put the gammon, vegetables and bay leaf in a pot and add the ginger beer. The gammon should fit snugly in the pot. Add water until the gammon is submerged. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer with a lid on for 2 hours. 2 Remove the meat from the liquid and let it rest on a chopping board for 20 minutes (or until it's cool enough to handle). Preheat the oven…

SERENDIPITY BEACH COTTAGE, CEBE Cebe is a blip on the Wild Coast radar between Mazeppa Bay and Wavecrest – a jumble of holiday cottages on a hill with kilometres of empty beaches on both sides. One of those cottages is called Serendipity, and when owner Jeanne Bonello opens her jangly gate and welcomes you inside, layer upon layer of wonders unfold. Dogs bustle past as she leads you through the bright dining room and past the kitchen, where something delicious is cooking, through the lounge full of soft couches and shelves of books, and out into her garden, which seems to overflow with life. You walk into a wall of noise and it takes a few seconds to realise it's the ocean – crashing, booming and sighing relentlessly. The air…

Oribi WEIGHT 14-20 kg SHOULDER HEIGHT 60 cm The oribi is the tallest of the small antelopes found locally. It's a beautiful Orange-brown antelope with a white stomach and black hairs at the tip of its tail. The rams have straight, ridged horns. The oribi is mostly found in nature reserves in KZN and Mpumalanga. It has a big, black gland under each ear, which it rubs against blades of grass to mark its territory with its scent. When it's being chased, the oribi will hide in tall grass by lying down. • The ears have black stripes inside. • There are white hairs around the snout and also a white line above each eye. • You can't miss this long neck! Steenbok WEIGHT 9-13 kg SHOULDER HEIGHT 50 cm…

AFRICA Part 5 TRAVEL JOURNAL The mechanic told me it was a broken suspension coil — the broken Section was removed and with no spares to be found, I was simply told to “drive carefully”. According to my overlander sources, a border official dubbed “Mr Glasses” would make the crossing from Cameroon into Gabon a challenge. Legend foretold that he would insist I had accommodation booked in Gabon before entry was granted. He would even check by calling the establishment. But booking confirmations don't work for overlanders, who sleep in their vehicles. I armed myself with my best attitude and crossed the bridge over the Ntem River. It was the middle of May in 2019. I was close to the equator and it was hot and humid. To cope with…

‘It's not just a shop, it's home, it's family, it's hunting!!!” —CHARL OSMERS (Zander Osmers Safaris) “Always good service and friendly salesmen at Safari Outdoor in Lynnwood.” — JAMES KANE BURMAN (Friend of Safari, Pretoria) “Ek reis ontsettend bale wereldwyd en ek het ‘n baie avontuur-gevulde buitelewe lewenstyl Nêrens kon ek ‘n ander kleinhandel winkel vind wat ‘n beter ervaring as Safari hied nie. Grootste reeks pradukte, goeie pryse en by verre die beste diens!” — MARCO VAN NIEKERK (Hoof Uitvoerende Beampte, Outdoor Investment Holdings)…

Best Columnist: Sophia van Taak (“Packing up memories”, go! #167) Best Cover: go! Kruger 2021 Best Brand Extension: go! Kruger 2021 Best Feature in English: “Cape Town's Under Wonder” (Helen Walne, go!#169) Journalist of the Year: Sophia van Taak Esma Marnewick, editor of go! Kruger, says: “The guide sells itself, really. You'd be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn't like the Kruger! Every five years or so, my family and I get to scour the park to find the best routes and activities to share with our readers. “We had many great cover options and the editorial team had a long debate about which image would work best. We tried wild dogs, zebras and a giraffe because we've had lions on many of our covers over the years, but in…

Burchell's African Odyssey: Revealing the return journey 1812-1815 by Roger Stewart & Marion Whitehead, Struik Nature R400 in bookstores The English naturalist William Burchell only spent five years in South Africa about two centuries ago, but many animal, bird and plant species still carry his name. During his visit, he set off on an epic expedition through the largely unexplored interior of South Africa – heading towards the Kalahari from Cape Town – to collect, document and illustrate thousands of specimens of fauna and flora. He detailed this leg of his trek in his famous book, Travels in the Interior of Southern Africa. However, little is known about his three-year return journey, which took him to the Great Fish River Mouth in the Eastern Cape and back to Cape Town…

WHY? We publish a selection of reader pictures in every issue. Don't be shy, haul out those shots you've been hoarding on your computer and send them to us! We like just about anything: wildlife, landscapes, portraits, holiday snaps or bugs in your garden. HOW? Send your photos to takeyourpic@gomag.co.za Submit only your three best shots each month. Don't send files bigger than 4 MB — if we need a bigger version, we'll ask for it Give the name, surname, home town and contact number of the photographer. Also include info about where and how the shot was taken, and what equipment was used. If you manipulated your photo in any way, tell us what you did. THE FINE PRINT We reserve the right to use your photos elsewhere in…

WHEELS The new Mahindra Scorpio – dubbed the S11 – replaced the previous model in 2021. The 4x4 Adventure model features steel bumpers instead of plastic ones, with recovery hooks front and rear, a tow bar, and a mount for a winch in the front, all of which make it much more suited to off-road exploring. The rest of the vehicle is basically the same as the normal S11: Ground clearance remains at 165 mm, with a six-speed gearbox and a 2.2-litre diesel engine. I recently drove the Scorpio up the N7 and through the Richtersveld, where driving conditions were challenging at times. I had joined a tour group and the roads varied from rocky, steep mountain passes to sandy riverbeds. I drove in 4x4 high range for long stretches…

go! Namibia is on shelf now. Or buy your copy at media24shop.com The best way to experience the world-famous dunes at Sossusvlei in Namibia is to feel the desert sand under your feet. There are several humongous dunes that you can climb, including Big Daddy, Big Mamma and this one, Dune 45. Go early in the morning when it's cooler and when the soft light gives texture to the dunes. Once you've seen the Namib from the ground, take to the air to truly appreciate the seemingly never-ending sea of sand in all directions. Most lodges in the area offer balloon flights and helicopter flips. It's not cheap but the view will be etched into your memory forever.…

WINNING LETTER Strike a pose! My husband Scott and I have taken our two sons (5 and 7) to the Kruger Park four times in the past two years. Our most recent trip was in June 2022 – we travelled from south to north and back again over two weeks. One morning, we left Maroela satellite camp when the gate opened and drove south-east along the secondary roads. Shortly after turning onto the main H1-3 road to Satara, we came to an abrupt stop as our five-year-old shouted, “What's that?” A leopard ran straight towards our vehicle and darted back into the long grass again. We spent a long time watching her pacing between the bushes. When she appeared right beneath a leadwood tree next to the road, the real…

CAMPS BAY SUMMER To play real cricket… When I was at high school in the Eastern Cape during the early 1990s, cricket was an integral part of every Saturday in summer. It smelled like sweaty cricket pads, leather balls shiny with age, sunscreen and dry grass. That's if there was any grass at all because there was also an ongoing drought in those years… The outfield was often hard and littered with duwweltjies. Usually the only spectators were a parent or two relaxing in the shade of a pine tree. The thwack of the ball against the bat and an overenthusiastic “Howzat!” every now and then were the only sounds you heard. It was a sport I could enjoy with my best friends Jaco, Asterix, Marius, the Du Toit brothers,…

SOPHIA VAN TAAK Wicker Baskets A basket is handy to store those things that are always lying around, like blankets, magazines, shoes and toys. Plus, it's beautiful to look at and durable. The Marais family has been producing wicker products in Paarl for three generations. They sell several products like traditional bushel baskets (R370-R790), placemats, picnic baskets, laundry baskets, dog baskets, big baskets for firewood, small baskets for your car keys, baskets for pot plants… Buy everyone in your life a basket this Christmas! paarlbasket.com Wooden Bug Box Teach your kids to be interested in the natural world with this wooden bug box. It turns any backyard, dune or patch of veld into a treasure hunt. The box has a carry handle, a door on one side, and mesh all…

During World War II, radar stations were built on the slopes of Hangklip – a mountain behind Pringle Bay. Walk the Hangklip Trail to understand why. “Look, there's the ocean!” someone calls out after only 2 km on the trail. Wait, that's not possible, I think to myself. We're only supposed to see the ocean when we're at the top of Hangklip, right? But I look and there it is: a stretch of blue to the south-east… It's Silversands Beach near Betty's Bay, around the corner from Pringle Bay. As we climb higher and higher, the geography starts to make sense. And I realise that I'll see much more than I'd thought from this 454 mhigh peak. We started our hike on the back slope of Hangklip, on the southern…

“Safari Outdoor is ‘n familiewinkel, ‘n winkel waar die verkoopspersone jou verwelkom soos familie, ‘n plek waar jy elke dag wil teruggaan en presies dieselfde diens ontvang. Hulle is mense wat jou belang ter harte neem en vir jou die beste ervaring gee wat uniek is.” — DANIE THEUNISSEN (Kliënt van Safari, Cradlestone) “Trots om Safari Outdoor op my voorstoep te hê. Voel soos wat dit seker in die ou dae moes wees om ‘n regte koöperasie te hê. Waar almal jou op die voornaam wil ken (van die voordeur tot by die koffiekroeg) en altyd met ‘n glimlag sal bystaan” — CHRISTO ELS (Kliënt van Safari, Rivonia)…