Innehållsförteckning för March 2017 från Getaway

If there’s one thing I can do, it’s swat flies. At least, that’s what I told myself as we bobbed on a warm, muggy afternoon on Chesapeake Bay. Somewhere on the salty horizon was the coast of Virginia, and somewhere on the other horizon was Maryland with its crab cakes and cold beer. I was on a boat with my friend Jacques and his father Jacques, and with each passing hour I was becoming more and more aware that I’m not a sailor. It’s not just the seasickness. I can live with seasickness. Many fellows who’ve spent a good deal of their lives at sea have been seasick – Charles Darwin, Captain Cook, Admiral Nelson, Mr Smee from Peter Pan – but all of them managed some basic level of…

1 ‘It is as important to grow rhino births as it is to address losses due to poaching,’ says Jo Shaw of WWF-SA’s Rhino Programme. With this in mind, the KZN-based Black Rhino Range Expansion Project (BRREP) has been focusing on increasing the population of black rhino in South Africa. Since 2003, more than 70 calves have been born on newly established project sites – offspring of the 163 rhinos that have been translocated to new protected homes, moved in groups of 15 to 20 to create new populations. In the process, BRREP has pioneered the airlifting of rhinos out of thick, bushy terrain to a place where they can be loaded into vehicles to be driven to their new homes. The 11th translocation is planned for this year. wwf.org.za/rhinos…

A reliable tripod is an important investment if you want to take better photos: it’s essential for great landscapes and long exposures. You need one that is light and compact enough to fit into a backpack, but still sturdy enough to get good shots. Our budget was less than R2›000 so this ruled out carbon-fibre options (a popular lightweight material used by professionals) – they come with a hefty price tag. Instead, we focused on the slightly heavier aluminium tripods. We found the best option in our price range (well, actually, R95 over budget) is the Sirui (pronounced su-ray) T-005X 5-Section Tripod with C-10X Ball Head. It has a packed length of 30cm (a ruler), weighs 1kg, is made from quality material and has a one-year warranty. It extends to…

Owner of Out Of This World ‘My mother-in-law, Paula, was one of the first people to sell authentic tribal art and furniture in South Africa in the 70s.’ The legacy continued after a South American holiday turned into a gathering of exotic artefacts for Sue and her husband Peter, and today their warehouse also stocks items from India and Oceana. ‘Green Point has such an upbeat energy. There are always people out and about, from all walks of life – there is something for everyone here. It’s innovative and the creativity here is inspiring.’ 1 Braemar Road, 021-434-3540. outofthisworld.co.za THE LOCAL CUISINE ‘We’ve had some exciting evenings at El Burro, a fantastic Mexican restaurant with a warm, welcoming atmosphere.’ (It’s also renowned for having one of the biggest tequila collections…

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…

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…

1 Enamel Roaster Pot This classic white 2L enamel pot is handy for marinating your food or using as a serving container to keep the steaks warm while the potatoes finish off in the coals. It may chip with rough use but I reckon this only adds character – use wooden utensils when scraping or stirring to prevent this, and give it a light coating of oil before use for easier cleaning. It comes in a bigger size but this 20cm one (small) is perfect for keeping four chops and a roll of wors warm. R240, woolworths.co.za 2 Camp Cover Braai Grid Cover Large Most grids can stand a knock but it’s better to protect yours with a canvas bag (it also keeps food grit from dirtying other items). This…

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…

VALLEY OF 1 000 HILLS Photographer Teagan Cunniffe exquisitely records this culture-rich and mountainous area (page 64). DAWDLING IN THE DOLOMITES After reading this story, the Dolomites in Italy’s Alps is on my wish list. Just turn to page 98 and tell me you can’t see yourself hiking those exquisite views. PAELLA IS THE NEW POTJIE You can pack just one pan and have your weekend cooking sorted – these three recipes will take you through breakfast, lunch and dinner (page 47). KEEP INFORMED The SA Eco Film Festival has a host of great movies (page 17). Also, follow these sites: hsi.org, wildaid.org, conservationaction.co.za, environment.co.za. THE GOOD-VALUE STAR Each Getaway issue holds a wealth of good-value accommodation, places to stay in for under R550 pp (some for less) and that…

WINNING LETTER A good case for the simples There is so much to be said about spending a weekend camping in the Porterville area. So I’ll begin with the German word fernweh, which can be defined as ‘an ache for distant places’. This recent camping trip has reignited that flame within me. I needed a weekend getaway, without having to worry about the future, finances, drama, stress or keeping up with the fast pace of living – and that’s exactly what I got. The pure bliss of simplicity and being surrounded by mountains was just what I needed to feel alive again. After a rainy evening drive with mist covering the view, my arrival at Beaverlac felt like heaven. We set up my new tent in about four minutes, opened…

My kind of holiday is somewhere quiet and remote, where we can self-cater. I love it especially when you can get your ingredients from the area. We often return to Lake Naverone in the Underberg (wonderful chalets on the water), Sungubala Eco Camp near Bergville, and an amazing converted church called St Andrew’s Retreat in the Midlands. Everyone should go to the Kosi Bay river mouth. It’s absolutely beautiful. Spend a day on one of the tiny islets there exploring and snorkelling. I was about 13 when I first had oysters in Knysna. At first I couldn’t believe that anyone would eat them on purpose, but I developed a love for them pretty quickly! On our last trip we found the most wonderful restaurant at Fynboshoek cheese farm in the…

You don’t see all that many gigs advertised for honeymoon photographers. Weddings, sure. Birthdays, yeah. Corporate events, all the time. But for life’s more personal moments, most of us would prefer not having a photographer pop out from some nearby shrubbery, take aim and snap the latest addition to their much-anticipated Deer in the Headlights: Couples Edition portfolio. Nowhere, aside from gossip rags, do those lines cross more than in travel photography. Public spaces contain people (mind-blowing, I know) and while we’ll always ask for permission to take someone’s portrait, getting a release from everyone between your lens and the Taj Mahal is a little trickier. Adjunct to that, our quest to bring you unique perspectives and uncover ‘secret’ spots sometimes collides with others’ quest to find a place as…

GRAND PRIZE A Pangolin Photo Safari in Botswana for two worth R100 000* + one of the three gear hampers below worth up to R29 790 each WILDLIFE PRIZE worth R28 385 The prize includes: • a Lowepro ProTactic 450 AW backpack; • a Manfrotto MMXPROA3 monopod; • a Tamron SP 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 Lens. LANDSCAPE PRIZE worth R29›790 The prize includes: • a Parrot Bebop 2 FPV kit with Parrot Bebop 2 drone, FPV glasses, controller; • a Tamron SP 15-30mm f/2.8 Di VC USD lens. CULTURE PRIZE worth R27›785 The prize includes: • a Lowepro Flipside Trek BP 450 AW backpack; • a Manfrotto MK055XPRO3-3W tripod kit with a three-way head; • a Tamron SP 85mm f/1.8 Di VC USD lens. HOW TO ENTER Email…

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.…

MY BUTCHERS BLOCK SMOKING PLANKS Of the four options available (cherry, oak, cedar and maple), the maple plank had the strongest flavour. That said, the taste wasn’t showstopping when I braaied chicken breast. However, when I used one (pre-soaked in water) to cook large mushrooms with garlic and butter, it worked a treat – the shrooms were beautifully steamed. R149 for two, mybutchersblock.co.za OUTSET CEDAR GRILLING PAPERS Of all the items tested here, I found these papers added the most flavour and also retained more moisture because the thin sheets wrap around each piece of meat (I used chicken). Not very cost effective, though, at R48 a sheet. R289 for six, yuppiechef.co.za TRAIL REUSABLE BRAAI MAT I was surprised by this mat. It conducted…

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, 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,…

GETTING THERE From Graaff-Reinet take the N9 towards Middelburg. Turn left at the second gravel road to Nieu Bethesda (47km from Graaff-Reinet). Pass the old station houses and then turn right at the Sneeuberg sign. From Johannesburg it’s about seven hours, travelling via Middelburg and then the R389 to Richmond. WHEN TO GO Visit in winter to see why these mountains are called Sneeuberg. It’s also a great summer destination – every accommodation option has access to a pool. NEED TO KNOW The gravel roads are safest travelled in a high-clearance vehicle and I’d recommend either a 4x4 after heavy rain or taking the alternative route via Richmond. There is no reception soon after the gravel turn off and no Wi-Fi at Karoo Cottage, the Poplars or Kliphuis – ideal…

It has opened my eyes. There is more to life than work and home. All the different cultures, different places, have made me realise there is so much more to explore and experience, and it’s so much better doing it with someone you love. – Tanya Swanepoel The more I travel, the more I want to! Both locally and internationally – the world is a beautiful, interesting and inspiring place. – Joan Stow Travelling has changed my perspective by teaching me to be a better person. I appreciate the small things in life. It has also made me want to see more and more so that I can continue to learn new things. – Patrice Belmonte I am a lot more accepting of different cultures and ways of thinking. –…

Grootvadersbosch Cabins NEAR SWELLENDAM Until now, one of the Cape’s most beautiful forest reserves had only a single cottage and a small campsite available to overnight visitors. After two years of fraught construction, delayed by fires and dramatic flooding, 11 brand-new self-catering cottages provide unprecedented access. At just 250 hectares, Grootvadersbosch is dinky but it packs a wonderful diversity into such a small space. More than 200 species of birds have been recorded, although from the chorus that greets the sunrise you’ll think there are far more. A network of sun-dappled trails starts just metres from your doorstep, twisting beneath giant redwoods – some almost 60 metres high – and up onto the fynbos-covered foothills of the Langeberg. You’ll almost certainly spot a bushbuck bounding off between the trees. Each…

‘Gangster gardeners’ in South LA transforming a community (in Can You Dig This ), and seed keepers protecting a 12 000-year-old food legacy (in Seed ). A British engineer’s attempts to use sea water to green the deserts of Qatar (think Matt Damon in The Martian ). Learn the shocking true cost of our beloved tech gadgets (in Death by Design ) and our sweetest addiction (in The Chocolate Case ). See what climate change has done already – on all five continents and the Arctic – in Leonardo DiCaprio’s Before the Flood (free screening). Consider the ‘weight of humanity’s footprint’ in a film that looks at population explosion and over-consumption.…

The Meade Infinity 90mm Altazimuth Refractor telescope will help anyone start stargazing. The 95x magnification offers detailed views of familiar objects such as Saturn’s rings and Jupiter’s tiny moons, but the training software also displays more than 10 000 celestial objects including galaxies and nebulas. To further simplify night-sky observation, the mount has an altitude lock and slow-motion controls that track the objects as the Earth moves (it’s quicker than you think!), and the prism corrects images so you can also use the scope to check out birds and other life back on land. R4 495, ormsdirect.co.za WIN! See page 104 to win this telescope and find other camping upgrades.…

HOW 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 longlist of 29 to inspect. The following made the cut. WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR? • Affordable luxury pg 42 • An Arniston original pg 42 • A hotel stay (no cooking!) pg 43 • A modern beach house pg 43 • A farm-style getaway pg 44 • Space and sea views pg 44 • Something for…

THE TANKWA KAROO IS FULL OF SURPRISES. On every visit, I discover something new. Most recently, with some time to test drive Toyota’s new 2.8 GD-6 4x4 Automatic, I headed for the hills on a day loop from Ceres to Die Mond campsite to drive two lesser-known gravel passes that have been on my radar for years. Ouberg Pass A short drive up the R46 from Ceres got me onto the long gravel R355 north, notorious in this part of the Karoo for its pitiless appetite for tyres. I’d been lucky in the past. This time, just outside Tankwa Padstal, my luck ran out. But, plugged and pumped with the help of padstal owner Hein Lange, I was back on the undulating gravel, bounding north and then north-west at the…

1 Copperlake Brewing Co. The perfect first stop for a beer-tasting tray (R30 for eight) and pub lunch (burgers from R78). Opens 12pm on Fridays. 011-036-6028 2 Gilroy Brewery. Good lunch alternative (huge burger for R95) and excellent off-licence prices (from R59 for a four-pack). Opens 11am on Fridays. 011-796-3020 3 Brauhaus am Damm. Try the pretzel and bockwurst (R68) – it’s as authentic as it comes, as are the German beers (R40 a pint). 014-004-0382 4 Thirsty Falls Guest Farm. The three self-catering studios have a patio, braai and beautiful views. From R800 (sleeps two). Its self-catering houses are more secluded but must be booked for two nights over weekends. From R450 pp sharing (sleeps up to six). 082-464-7376 5 White Dog Taproom. Informal, friendly, with excellent, reasonably priced…

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…

GETTING THERE We flew with Emirates to Milan (R8 500 return) for our food adventure, which took us on a road trip to Bologna, and then we tacked on six nights in South Tyrol for a bit of R&R. To get there, we hired a car from Sunny Cars for about R500 per day and drove to Barbiano (3.5 hours). emirates.com, sunnycars.com WHEN TO GO The autumn months of September and October when the skies are mostly clear and the air is cool. NEED TO KNOW South Africans need a Schengen visa to enter Italy (R915 for adults, R534 for minors). A working knowledge of German or Italian is advisable. Having our own transport made it easier – we could lock our excess luggage in the boot when we had to…

THE INSIDER Getaway's Melanie van Zyl 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. Here she is aged nine. 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…

3... That’s how many chickens you can expect to find strutting about in the open-plan kitchen of this beautiful farm cottage in the Overberg. You could shoo them out and roll down the large blinds to deter them, of course, but having a curious chook for company is all part of the charm of staying on a working farm, surrounded by wheat fields and salt-of-the-earth people. It’s just one of 12 farmstays across the country that we’ve chosen to visit for our April issue – the kinds of places where your fancy phone is no good, where wholesome country meals are the standard and where home-made is the best made. Look out for it on shelves next month.…