Getaway May 2017

In 1912, an area just southwest of the Lebombo Mountains was declared the Mkhuze Game Reserve. It was recognised by the authorities at the time that the area’s game needed protection from the butchery that was taking place. As an indication of how extreme it was, an extract from the diary of ‘great white hunter’ William Baldwin states that he met up with another such man in the area who’d had a ‘splendid hunt’, he wrote, killing 150 hippos and 91 elephants. It’s fortunate for us that someone stopped this free-for-all, because those conservationists and the ones who came after have helped preserve a decent percentage of South Africa’s wildlife and ecosystems. As someone who values the natural world as much as you, our readers, do I’m personally grateful for…

WHAT’S FOR FREE? Boy, don’t we need free fare now that our leaders have disrespected our rand? On page 78, you’ll find some things to do this winter in Jozi, Port Elizabeth, Durban and CT for nothing, gratis, mahala. WISH-LIST TRAVEL Turn to page 84 and look at those pictures of South Luangwa National Park in Zambia. Then read that first paragraph and tell me it doesn’t put travel-lust in your heart. Also read Sam Reinders’ story on Kathmandu, which she’s visited 15 times (page 94). ONE DAMN FINE CHICKEN Since we changed our food pages, Food Editor Nikki Werner’s voice has followed us into our kitchens at home and on the road. This lesson on chicken makes three meals of one humanely dispatched bird (page 44). LOOK OUT FOR…

Samantha Reinders Kathmandu, page 94 Samantha is a photojournalist based in Cape Town. She likes that her job allows her to shoot presidents and pimps, penguins and potjiekos. Her love of all things different, and the yin and yang, is the only way she can explain why she loves the Karoo as much as Kathmandu in Nepal. She’s flown on Air Force One and has a tattoo she’s never seen. Ondela Mlandu Road trip: Swaziland, page 49 Before joining the Getaway team in 2016, Ondela spent a year exploring Europe. This is where she learnt the secret to packing smartly and living out of a suitcase. Eventually she decided to switch the Amsterdam canals for South Africa’s seasides and landscapes and came home. When…

I was in Zimbabwe with a girlfriend, visiting her parents, and it wasn’t going well. I didn’t know them and they didn’t know me, and I was shy and hid in the room and read books and they thought I was being stuck-up and superior, and they had long conversations among themselves about how books are for people who don’t know how to do useful things, which is obviously true but didn’t make me feel good. They were all going on some sort of family excursion, and I told them I’d visit my aunt and uncle in Banket. ‘Make sure you’re back by sundown,’ said her father. ‘You don’t want to be on that road after dark.’ I narrowed my eyes and clenched my jaw. How useless do they think…

WINNING LETTER Is this the lost generation? A few months ago my fiancé and I decided to tick an item off our bucket list and travel through the Kruger National Park from top to bottom, staying at SANParks accommodation along the way. Our journey started when we entered the gate at Punda Maria and then travelled south, staying at Satara, Letaba and Skukuza. It was the most amazing trip, with beautiful vegetation that slowly changed as we ventured through the park, encountering the Big Five along the way. We found the SANParks accommodation clean, well kept and the staff friendly and professional. What we found interesting, and a sad reflection of the current state of our culture, was that we rarely saw other young couples exploring the park. Most commonly…

No one single favourite. Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Mozart, Verdi ... anything classical played allegro vivace helps to while away the trip, and keep me awake. – Patricia Anne Greening ‘Rock the Casbah’ by The Clash and ‘Another Universe’ by Arno Carstens. – Claire Everatt Anything 60s, 70s and 80s turns any trip into an instant karaoke bar in the car! – Adele Rhodes ‘Don’t Stop Believin’ ‘ by Journey. – Landie Fourie Bob Marley’s Exodus album! – Srrbs Olivia Jeremy Loops and Matthew Mole. – Delyse Fell Any Cesária Évora album... – Heimari Lombaard…