By Nqobani Khumalo

Last year for my birthday I jumped off the Orlando Towers in Johannesburg’s most famous township, Soweto.  My birthday happened to fall very conveniently on a Saturday so I got a good friend of mine to accompany me. She had brought along a French colleague whom she was tasked with entertaining for the duration of his stay and he was over the moon that he was going to drive in an actual township! In Soweto, of all the famous townships in South Africa!
a
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By Florence Modikwe

I know I am late, but I also need to say this: HAPPY SPRING everyone!! (more…)

Jacqui Thompson

It was only lack of time that stopped us from waffling home via Karoo towns with intriguing names like Hondefontein, Tontelbos, Commissioner’s Pan, Pampoenpoort and Vlieëkraal. We were en route, or rather off route, from Cape Town to Johannesburg on our two motorbikes, and avoiding the madness of the N1.

We left tiny Fraserburg and set off into the vast space of the Great Karoo. Massive farms demarcated only by skinny barbed-wire fences and the occasional plaas name boards were home to dusty sheep nibbling on the sweet-scented Karoo bushes.

Again the semi desert vistas were spectacular and traveling the slow winding 181kms between Fraserburg and Loxton to the north east we passed only two vehicles. Both bakkies of course. The Karoo is not for sissies, but for real cars and real people.

One final sweep and we were off the dirt road and into a town so green by comparison after all the beiges and tans of the desert that our eyes hurt. Loxton is a cool oasis and a rarity for a Karoo town – it has substantial trees. The streets are lined with trees generous with their shade, and at the heart of the town forming the most unique large traffic circle, is Loxton’s beautiful stone Dutch Reformed Church (with the prerequisite loving ivy clinging to its walls).  In Spring many of the trees are dazzling in their shiny white pear blossoms. These were  planted by far-sighted town folk over 100 years ago.

The town’s original leiwater canals guide life-giving water through the town and many houses are skirted with beautiful gardens. It’s a town that encourages travelers to stop and breathe in the cool, blossom-scented air.  So taking a hint from the aptly named nearby Uitspanberg mountains, we decided to do just that -  outspan – stop and refresh ourselves. Riding along leisurely, avoiding the telephone poles that run down the centre of most of the roads, we kept an eye out for accommodation. We found a pretty recently refurbished (Loxton is undergoing a revival – take note property investors) B&B and made plans to visit the nearby Corbelled houses.

These stone houses, shaped like beehives were built in the early 1800s by the Voortrekkers. They had to use what materials were available as trees ‘aint common in the Karoo! However rocks and stones are, so by carefully packing the stones in such a way that they gradually met at the top they were able to construct shelters with roofs but without any timber. Ingenious and oh-so eco-friendly!

But first we took a stroll to stretch our legs through the town’s quiet streets, admiring the classic Karoo architecture; tin roofs, glittering lead-paned and shuttered windows and wide stoeps shading only mildly-curious locals.  One of them  told us about a Dutch castle and windmill. We had to see that! It didn’t disappoint. Three storey’s high, with pointed roofs and crenulated walls it looked like a Disney mirage in the Karoo desert. I could easily imagine a princess wandering the upper parapet. She’d be wearing khaki of course. Nearby was a Dutch-inspired windmill. I felt like I should be wearing wooden clogs, clutching tulips and eating cheese!

Ah, how much creativity is inspired by space and solitude!? Clearly a lot. At dinner our hosts told us of a circle of life-sized sculptures depicting dancing San Bushmen by the renowned South African artist Marcella de Boom. Apparently it’s on a hiking trail popular with birders who take the trail to go and see nesting Black Eagles. Sadly no hiking boots were in our panniers and we had to file that curiosity under Future Plans.

Before turning in we took an evening’s constitutional and walked the quiet streets again. The heat of the day was gone and the night was thick with stars, even from the centre of the sleepy town. It felt good to amble after dark in a velvety night safe in the arms of this secret Karoo gem.

Loxton is off the beaten path and all the more better for it.
Go there to:

- escape from the rat race
- count satellites
- trace San Bushmen paintings in the nearby hills
- ride a bicycle along accommodating quiet, flat streets

and for
- spectacular sudden desert sunsets
- Sunday service in a very unique church

By Kathryn Fourie

You know how in my previous blog I was talking about how awesome public transport is in Korea? Well, I did kind of forget to mention how utterly terrifying it is to travel by bus. I mean, I know we all talk about Joburg vs. Cape Town vs. Durban (actually Durban drivers are so chilled you barely know they’re driving), mad taxi drivers and what not…but Koreans are on another level. (more…)

By Kathryn Fourie

I have been in Korea for 32 days now. I can’t believe a month has whizzed by in flurry of lectures, accents, people, nations, bizarre and delicious food, so-so beer and extremely limited sleep. It all feels like a bit of a dream really. Korea is an incredible place, and coming here with no expectations (not for lack of trying, it’s just really hard to find out much about what its really like here!) was the best thing I could have possibly done, because I’ve allowed myself to be swept along with every new experience by the seat of my unwashed jean pant. (more…)

Back in the 1960s, film maker Bruce Brown was searching the world for the perfect wave. He found it at St Francis Bay, and named the waves “Bruce’s Beauties”.

It is said that Bruce Brown’s classic surf cult movie, The Endless Summer, launched many thousands of surfboards. The classic 1964 surf sensation opened up a whole new realm of surfing experience, and put surfing at St Francis on the map.

Situated midway between Port Elizabeth and Knysna, the picturesque holiday village of St Francis Bay lies nestled among green clad dunes that line the beautiful Bay of St Francis. Dolphins and whales play along the shoreline while the sounds of gulls echo lazily overhead. (more…)

Abseiling next to the 60m Elands Falls at Waterval Boven, Mpumalanga (Image: Roc n Rope Adventures)

It’s only recently that abseiling has become an activity in its own right. Really it’s just the method climbers use to get off mountains - or special services forces use to descend deserted buildings into enemy territory in adventure movies - but it’s fun, and so it’s become available as an activity in its own right.

You can hang out high over Cape Town abseiling from Table Mountain. The “long drop” is 112m high - and about a kilometre above the city - making it the world’s highest commercial abseil.

There are three abseil routes on the spectacular western head at Knysna, further up the Cape east coast - including a really high, very exposed site hanging right out over the crashing waves.

Not far from Knysna, and also with fantastic views, you can do a combination abseiling and kloofing (canyoning) trip down the Storms River Gorge, which involves a 100m abseil into the gorge, a tubing trip down the river, a short walk out of the gorge and then a cycle back to the village.

You can abseil down buildings in Durban and Johannesburg, or even rapp jump if you like. Rapp jumping is abseiling with the ropes attached to your back instead of your front, so you go down facing the ground - and at a run, if you’re in a hurry.

To find out more about the above abseils, and a whole lot of others around the country, check out our list of abseil operators - most of whom offer plenty of adventure activities besides. (more…)

You’re in adventure heaven now. Whatever your preference, there’s bound to be an adventure to keep the adrenalin pumping.

South Africa has some of the best climbing in the world, with Cape Town particularly well endowed. There are literally hundreds of bolted and natural routes on superb quality Cape granite or Table Mountain sandstone within the city limits. There are also climbing schools and mountain guides in all the main centres, and route guides are available from climbing shops. (more…)

Ever since the German climbing magazine Rotpunkt published an article about Waterval Boven in 1993, foreign visitors have been flocking to this Mpumalanga town for some of the best sport climbing in the universe. The Restaurant (officially known as “The Restaurant at the end of the Universe crags”) offers more than 500 routes, and there are still numerous untouched rock faces in the area. (more…)

OK, not many places don’t have sky, but South Africa has lots of it - and very good quality it is, too …

In the hot interior we see thermals like you wouldn’t believe, and many paraglider and hang glider pilots have made record-breaking distance flights, particularly in the Northern Cape. (more…)