Quiet, forgotten backroads in the middle of nowhere often yield some of the most fantastic opportunities for holidaymakers in South Africa.
They began life as Overvaal Resorts – government-owned and – run family holiday camps dotted across the country, aimed at providing affordable vacations for Mr and Mrs Average and their children.
It’s one of the jewels of South Africa’s Garden Route, it offers a multitude of activities and is famous for its oysters… There’s no doubting Knysna’s list of accomplishments.
Winter is just around the corner and, with it, the school holidays most families dread because they struggle to find somewhere to go to make up for the cold – or even a place to escape it.
Al Gore rang the alarm bells with <i>An Inconvenient Truth</i>, Leonardo DiCaprio issued the warning with <i>The 11th Hour</i> and now the United Nations has heeded their calls to take the plight of our planet seriously.
Rats enjoy being tickled, sheep prefer people to smile and birds are mean music critics. If you have your doubts, just ask Dr Jonathan Balcombe.The Canadian-Brit is animal behaviour research scientist for the physicians committee for responsible medicine in Washington, DC and author of a book that has been taking the world of science by storm: <i>Pleasurable Kingdom</i>.
You are four times more likely to be killed by lightning in South Africa than anywhere else in the world — and that’s official. According to the South African Weather Service (Saws), South Africa’s number of lightning-related deaths is quadruple the global average, making the country a literal lightning hot spot.
Minister of Science and Technology Mosibudi Mangena looks the studious type. And with a masters degree in applied mathematics he would be the first to admit that his passion for science, which started while he was still a schoolboy in Limpopo about 40 years ago, would render him a geek by today’s standards.
Since its declaration as a World Heritage Site in 1999, the Cradle of Humankind has developed into one of South Africa’s top tourism attractions.
It’s madness. School’s out and the kids are hanging around the house. You can’t afford a proper holiday, but you can’t handle another day of couch potatoes laying in front of the telly.
No image available
/ 10 February 2008
When it comes to finding affordable vacation destinations, South African holidaymakers are experiencing less joy than ever before.
No image available
/ 10 January 2008
I’ve often bemoaned the lack of interesting, affordable, off-the-beaten-track local places to visit for short breaks and weekends. But now I have found one – Lesheba Wilderness – and to my shame it has been around for 14 years, hidden at the top of the magnificent Soutpansberg mountains, a short hop from Louis Trichardt.
For most South Africans school holidays mean increased stress levels – on the mind, body and wallet.
Paediatric trauma and child abuse by Sebastian van As and Sudeshni Naidoo
There are a few special places that, no matter how many times you visit them, always stir the senses, refresh the soul and banish the stresses and strains of everyday life. For me, Mpumalanga’s Blyde River Canyon is one of these places.
Assessing the impact of developments such as the Coega harbour project in Port Elizabeth is something the public can become more easily involved in, thanks to a new electronic toolkit. The right to a healthy environment is enshrined in the South African Constitution’s Bill of Rights.
"Would you like to go and have a look at a rather large African rock python?" game ranger Werner Miller politely asks the guests relaxing around the swimming pool at Thandeka Lodge. Simultaneous cries of "Yes!" give him his answer and in minutes his Land Rover is laden with passengers readying their cameras for the shot of the century.
When Mark Shuttleworth donned his space suit and ventured into the "final frontier" of outer space, he took with him the aspirations of the nation and stirred our Âcollective consciousness. So it came as no surprise when Cabinet last year approved the establishment of South Africa’s first space agency, tasked with coordinating research into space technology.
Making science popular to the masses has always had its problems. The image of the geek — an overly studious science boffin with no fashion sense or friends — has not exactly helped. Thankfully, the dawn of the digital age has changed the way the public regards science and technology.
The science of forensics, popularised by TV programmes like <i>CSI</i>, is nowhere near as glamourous as Hollywood would have us believe. Especially when it comes to exhuming mass graves and recovering and identifying the victims of genocide. This is a task all too familiar to forensic anthropologist Clea Koff, one of 16 scientists chosen by the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal to go to Rwanda to unearth evidence of genocide and crimes against humanity.
African elephants are the most studied big mammal species in Africa. But in spite of all we know about them, there is still a lot that we don’t know. A project being conducted by the Wildlife Environmental Physiology team at the University of the Witwatersrand’s school of physiology is exploring how the elephant’s body functions in the heat of the savannah.
Gina Ziervogel isn’t your average harbinger of doom. In fact, she has a whole new take on that most inconvenient of truths: global warming. Johannesburg-born Ziervogel, a fellow at Sweden’s Stockholm Environment Institute’s Oxford office, researches how climate change is affecting societies across Southern Africa.
It’s hard to imagine extreme cold, sub-zero temperatures, howling winds and a woarld cloaked in snow and ice when you’re sitting in 30°C-plus by a sparkling swimming pool bathed in South Africa’s trademark sunshine. But for an elite group of South African scientists ice is nice, and, more to the point, it is home.
As I sit and watch the kingfishers hunting at the edge of the Marico River, it’s hard to remind myself that four short hours ago I was in the heart of the urban jungle, full of stress after a long week at work. A few hours of driving has transported me to the beautiful Madikwe Game Reserve in the North West.
No image available
/ 7 February 2007
Fishing. Even the word smacks of something men do, like golf, to ensure a few precious hours away from wives and girlfriends, or provide an excuse for a weekend away with the lads. It isn’t something immediately attractive to those who haven’t tried it.
No image available
/ 7 November 2006
There’s something to be said for a 4×4. Before I had one, I was one of those people who pooh-poohed the whole “Camel” macho off-roading, sleep-on-the-ground, mud-spattered wheel arch mentality. And I despised the hordes who flocked to our beautiful beaches, zooming up and down, throwing sand in the faces of sedan drivers.
The road sign says it all. "Sand!" I suppress a giggle, looking at the dunes to the left and right of the main road. "No kidding," I mutter, as we continue bumping our way north, in the middle of a desert, far removed from the comforts of home and surrounded by, well, lots of sand.
There have been few times in my life when sheer excitement has rendered me speechless. And even fewer when that excitement has caused my mouth to hang open in a zombie-like gawp.
"There’s too much space. I put the last piece of luggage in and even though there’s five of us, there are vast areas of nothing just waiting to be filled. Something’s missing. It has to be. Then it hits me. There’s no cooler box, no Weber, no bedding, pillows, no trolley-loads of food, no kitchen sink …," writes Sharon van Wyk.
No image available
/ 5 September 2005
The Singita Group’s social responsibility and community development programmes are carried out quietly and without any fuss. In a similar fashion, when the private game reserve and its collection of award-winning luxury lodges applied for Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa certification, there was no trumpet-blowing.
Making a difference is something Djuma Game Reserve in Limpopo has given fresh meaning to, and in particular, what’s different about Djuma is its people. People such as Solly Sithole, who is only too happy to go spider-hunting instead of Big Five spotting. "I love my job," he says proudly. "And I love that what I do helps to support my community. Tourism is very important to us all."
Charlene Mfundisi grins from ear to ear as she puts the plate on the table, obviously expecting the response that comes next. "My God, that’s amazing. I’ll never eat all that!" It’s something she’s heard more than once, but her smile is testament to the fact that she’s not tired of hearing it.