Innehållsförteckning för June 2022 från Getaway

Those of us with the good fortune to write about travel for a living occasionally need to take stock. For us, going places is often deeply in-grained, virtually in the DNA. So much so that we take it for granted; we travel because we must – it’s what we do, how we earn our keep. But to what end? This is something I grappled with constantly during the pandemic’s pause on travel. Cornered into an existential tussle, I was forced to probe the meaning of it all, reexamine why I do what I do. That kind of thing will drive you crazy, make you question your existence. Sometimes, though, you need to get out of your head and get out there, connect with the world, and find your purpose. Which…

Travel time From very basic beginnings, like taking a train ride from Wynberg to Kalk Bay, walking to Wynberg Park or Kirstenbosch or simply hiking to Constantia Nek, wanderlust has always been in my blood. Where I went was always determined by my pocket and it was always coffee and sandwiches on day trips. Over the years, the way Iʼve travelled has fortunately changed. I graduated to travelling all across South Africa, even if my trips were somewhat limited by: a) Petrol constraints (waiting for the pumps to open in Laingsburg); b) Accommodation restrictions (only five-star for non-whites – out of our league); c) Funds (obviously short). Then, eventually, the odd trip out of South Africa – but still within Africa – to Swaziland and Lesotho. The cherry on top…

My life over the past 20 years has been as close as possible to my childhood fantasy of becoming Jacques Cousteau. National Geographic assignments have taken me to some of the wildest seas and most remote islands on Earth. Which is how I ended up shooting this rare selfie with a whale shark off the coast of Djibouti. I’ve had giant tortoises as roommates on Aldabra Atoll, which is where I photgraphed this 100-year-old female giant tortoise that regularly wanders on to the beach to eat washed-up seed pods. It’s not all images of glorious moments from idyllic nature. Sometimes, it’s horrific truth. In this picture taken in Sri Lanka in 2009, fishermen and traders wend their way through islands of dead fish. Manta and mobula are not ideal…

FINALIST Augrabies Rainbow We’d just arrived at Augrabies after a long drive from Durban and sauntered down to the Falls for a quick look before checking in. When this scene suddenly revealed itself, we found ourselves sprinting back to the car for our cameras. There was no time to set up a tripod, I had to shoot all the panels of this panorama hand-held… but I got lucky! By Geoff Tennant, Durban Canon EOS M6; Canon EF-M 22mm F/2 STM; ISO 100; f/11; various shutter speeds (HDR) FINALIST The Fight What an incredible sighting of a young martial eagle hunting and taking down a rock monitor lizard in the Madikwe Game Reserve. We watched the fight intently as the lizard struggled to survive the powerful grip of the deadly talons. By…

Multi-day slackpacking trails are great. Someone cooks for you. Often thereʼsa comfortable bed to sleep in every night. And – best of all – you donʼt have to lug around a heavy pack. Could there be a more idle way of traversing untamed lands? Turns out, there could. There we were, on the lovely Khotso Farm on the outskirts of KZNʼs Underberg in the foothills of the southern Drakensberg mountain range. There were bleating sheep and vociferous cockerels; the sound of logs being chopped, and machinery at work in the fields. Most of all, though, it was the snorting and neighing of the horses that held my attention. They seemed as excited and upbeat as my family. We were about to set off on a four-day outride – slackpacking in…

Melanie van Zyl HOME ON THE RANGE (P 86) Born, bred and based in Johannesburg, Mel never grew up on a typical farm, but both her grandfathers did. They knew the value of a cow and what it took to peddle tomatoes (her favourite childhood memory is drinking farm-fresh milk mixed with granadilla pulp and sweetened with sugar). After a move to the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands last year, Mel relished the rolling farmsteads of this country and felt a familial pull to till the land. Fortunately, a crop of fancy new farm stays has emerged to scratch that agricultural itch so she could reap the rewards without breaking a sweat (or the bank balance). Jay Caboz RAMBO’S REDFIN MISSION (P 47) As a photojournalist and landscape photographer, Jayʼs work has taken…

SIBYLLE BRODMANN @soul_of_wildlife_photography Mahale Mountains National Park, Tanzania DIETER PEY @dieterpey Lesotho ANDRIES STANDER @andries_stander Kruger National Park EON GROBLER @eongroblerphotography Cape Point Nature Reserve THEO KNOESEN @knoesen_avonture Beaufort West JOVAN DU PLESSIS @justvon09 Muizenberg GRAEME MITCHLEY @Mitch1699 Kruger National Park ERWIN KRUGER-HAYE @erwinkrugerhaye Zimanga Private Nature Reserve JAYDEN SCHOULTZ @local_jayden94 Addo Elephant National Park TIAAN VAN ZYL @tiaanvanzyl_za L'Agulhas MARTINE VILJOEN @martineviljoen Lamberts Bay THEO BUSSCHAU @bush_cow Swakopmund TAG US IN YOUR IMAGES ON INSTAGRAM @GetawayMagazine…

Thereʼs a narrow three-month window for hiking Mount Fuji, Japanʼs 3 776m-high extinct volcano, and my wife Catherine and I had timed our trip perfectly. We were determined to reach the summit. Weʼd had mere hours in Tokyo before boarding our bullet train but that time had opened our eyes to the fact that we were now in a place so different from anything weʼd seen before. Everything was just so… foreign. From orderly queues for the trains, to the green tea-flavoured Haagen Dazs. And, in one corner cafe – right next to the veggies – creatures swimming in brine that I could not even identify, let alone imagine eating. Weʼd read about climbing Fuji-San online and knew that the only way to do it “properly” was to hike up…

ʻYou canʼt fall in love with something you donʼt know exists.ʼ Itʼs with this notion in mind that Thomas Peschak sets out to capture images capable of shifting attitudes towards life on Earth. ʻAs a photographer, I am a matchmaker. I introduce people to wildlife that lies hidden beneath the oceansʼ surface,ʼ he says. ʻAt the end of the day, the camera is just a tool to tell the story. Research and science underpin everything I do. Except, instead of writing scientific papers that reach a few hundred people, I tell those stories through photographs and I reach a couple of hundred million people. I always try to show people something theyʼve never seen before. So I tend to document incredibly remote – as near as impossible to get to…

Khotso Horse Trails A typical three-day fully catered Khotso Lesotho expedition ride currently costs R9 300. Additional outride circuit days from Thamathu village can also be arranged. Khotso Farm runs multi-day horse treks into Lesotho and has a plethora of accommodation options. There are also numerous day trails and hikes on and around the property. Prices range from R280 pp for a bunk in a backpacker hostel to R600 pps for a self-catering rondavel. You don’t have to be a horse rider to stay at Thamatu Lodge, a converted Basotho family compound in Thamathu village. Its facilities are also available to hikers and 4×4 groups by prearrangement through Khotso. 082 412 5540, khotso.co.za Amathole Horse Trails Shane Eades, creator of Hogsback’s eco-backpackers lodge Terra-Khaya, offers a variety of outrides into…

Zandam Cheese in Durbanville was established in the 1960s and is one of the oldest cheeseries in the country. It’s not open to visitors but the cheese can be found throughout the country. zandamcheese.co.za Fairview is a working farm near Wellington dating back to 1693 and produces more than 50 cow’s milk and goat’s milk artisanal cheeses, including white mould, blue mould, feta and cream cheese styles. R25 for a tasting of six cheeses, R100 for a master tasting with wine. fairview.co.za Foxenburg goats nibble on fynbos and indigenous flora in the Wellington mountains, giving their cheese a unique flavour. Their Shepherd cheese is particularly good. A small shop and serene views await visitors. foxenburg.co.za Forest Hill at Anura Vineyards near Klapmuts began production of cheeses such as Camembert and…

On 24 June, the Sun God takes centre stage in Peru’s most vital Incan celebration. Established in 1430 by the empire builder Pachacútec, Inti Raymi historically honoured the god Inti during the winter solstice as he rose between the mountains after the year’s longest night. In 1572, Spain’s viceroy banned it as pagan but today some 700 costumed actors, dancers and musicians put on an immense theatrical evocation of those ancient proceedings. In the Andean city of Cusco, once the Incan capital, daylong festivities culminate at Sacsayhuamán fortress, where the king and his retinue pay respect to the Sun. There’s a prayer in Quechua and a simulated sacrifice enabling a shaman to foretell of a prosperous year ahead.…

In Ghana, Krobo girls undergo a two-day “dipo” ceremony when young virgins are ritually bathed, eat sugar cane, drink a cocktail and have their feet “washed” with goat blood. Then they’re confined for a week while they are taught to cook, keep house and be “good wives”. In Ethiopia’s Omo Valley, Hamar boys aged 12–16 must ritually run over the backs of up to 10 bulls in order to marry. Before leaping, the boy – naked, head partially shaved – is rubbed with sand to remove sins and bad luck, and smeared with dung to bestow strength. If he completes the task four times without falling, he may marry a woman selected by his father. In the US, the Amish rite of passage known as RUMSPRINGA is when 16-year-olds leave their communities to…

From when I was 10 years old, I wanted to be a marine biologist. Everything I did was focused on accomplishing that goal. I was that teen learning the Latin fish names. I came to SA in the late 1990s to do my PhD in marine biology at UCT. My research looked at kelp forests and the impact of abalone poaching. I spent time with anti-poaching teams, documenting abalone loss during the so-called Abalone Wars. What was clear is that while my scientific data predicting abysmal abalone numbers fell on deaf ears, the rudimentary photographs I took to illustrate my science did grab attention. When my pictures ended up in international newspapers and were used by the BBC, those organisations that had ignored my reports were suddenly galvanised into action.…

Just 50km from the buzz of Johannesburg sits a soft sanctuary. A place where fiery-necked nightjars sing their “Good-Lord-deliverus” tune and the yelps of black-backed jackals pierce the grassland at night. Where a glorious garden is under way. Where soils are prepped and lovingly laid to bed, covered in hay, ripe and ready for healthy farming. Once upon a time it was a dairy farm. Now, Farmhouse 58 operates as the hospitality wing of the Nirox Foundation. Sleek, simple, understated, yet warm and enriching, itʼs within 180ha of mostly undeveloped land and forms part of the Cradle of Humankind Unesco World Heritage Site. Everything about it is inspired by the earth, right down to the soil-toned interiors. After just a one-night stay – which included a honey-highveld sunset overlooking fossil-rich…

CELEBRATE THREE DECADES OF CONSERVATION SUCCESS AT SHAMWARI Over the past 30 years, the Shamwari team has turned back the clock, re-introducing indigenous fauna and flora into what was once the richest wild-life area in southern Africa. Today, the 250km2 Shamwari Private Game Reserve is hailed as an internationally respected conservation success story. To mark its 30th anniversary, Shamwari is offering a lucky Getaway reader a two-night stay for two people at Long Lee Manor, one of the exquisite lodges on the reserve. Now extensively refurbished, the hub of Long Lee Manor is the original homestead, surrounded by wonderful gardens, terraces and a pool deck – with panoramas across the enfolding plains, wildlife frequently in sight. Perched on a koppie, Long Lee Manor offers unobstructed views of the nearby waterhole…