Travel
Calamity Jane Rides Again - Wild Camping While A Storm Brews
It is safe to say that life never runs as smoothly as we expect it should. While storm clouds were brewing, we went blissfully on our way, entirely unaware of our troubles simmering away. We left the leafy confines of Ngepi and made our way to a wild camping spot in the Mudumo National...
Island Style At Ngepi River Camp - Namibia
The marvellous advantage of writing or diarising is that Butch and I continually relive our adventures. Many of our conversations are rehashing and reimagining our trips which of course, inspire us to investigate future trips. I’ve just returned from an invigorating 27km bike ride, and I...
Casually Cruising The Khaudom National Park - North Eastern Namibia
Once again, we set off as early as possible. We had a big day ahead and knew the going wasn’t going to be easy. By all accounts, we were breaking all the rules. It’s suggested that one does the Khaudom in a convoy of at least two vehicles, preferably three. We have a Honey Badger, a Butch, and...
Namibian Bank Holi-YAY And A Flat Battery
You may well ask, “how the Dickens do you two do it?” We don’t know, and honestly, we try our best to avoid misadventures. But, as I remind Butch, nobody is interested in a boring story, and everyone loves a liberal sprinkling of drama and tension. Our excitement intensified as...
Beating The Odds - Navigating Namibia Naturally
Thanks to Boris Johnson, who tried to win Browny points, South Africa was again back on the red list, banning all travel to and from our country. By the stroke of a pen, millions of travellers could unpack their suitcases, lock up their passports and go out and buy a Christmas tree they were...
Ba-Ba Banff
Our vision is always 20/20 in retrospect. When Boris closed the borders on us last week, I realised I had just made it to Canada and back in the nick of time. Window periods both ways. The way the world works now, we must grab opportunities when they present themselves without dithering....
Searching For The Perfect Brew(ery) - A Road Trip To Calgary
All work and no play is not a hard and fast rule with this crew. They’re inclined to lean towards the sentiment that it makes Joe dull and kills innovation, invention and inspiration, or to be boringly predictable, which is an anomaly coming from an accountant, especially one who’s co-parenting...
Lekkerwater Beach Lodge - Go With The Flow. Naturally.
In October, three things happened simultaneously; one was a belated birthday celebratory weekend away, and the other two were unexpected events I never dreamed possible. Like most surprises, my life turned topsy turvy overnight. I had three days to prepare for a weekend away, a cooking class,...
Being Gobsmacked By Beauty - Nieuwoudtville And Biedouw Valley
In the grand scheme of things, three OMG’s in one day aren’t that bad, but, you see, I’m not that sorta gal. But then again, I’m known to have a mouth on me. My expletives were utterly spontaneous, what my eyes saw my mouth exclaimed before my brain had caught up. My most vivid memory of...
Exploring Van Rhynsdorp and Garies - Unlocking The Door To Spring -
Maskam Guest Farm and Klipkraal Campsite. Day two of our blooming bonanza road trip started bright and breezy. But, we needed to get off the N7, the busy main artery from Cape Town to Namibia. Blooms, still closed made splashes of colour, like a Jackson Pollock canvas, on the verges...
Flower Power - Camping Around Namaqualand
TOP OF PIEKENIERSKLOOF - KARDOESIE CAMPSITE AND ON TO CLANWILLIAM My best memories of childhood holidays were waking up reluctantly at 4h00 on the morning of our departure. Then we could get away with travelling the first bit in our PJ’s and being squashed up against my brothers, who...
Spring Shenanigans and Daisies with Honeyed Hearts
TIPS AND TRICKS FOR SUCCESSFUL FLOWERING IN NAMAQUALAND. Within a matter of hours, we had the Honey Badger packed, our bikes strapped on, our picnic basket brimming with delicious goodies, the fridge stocked, and meat in the deep freezer for six braais. My tummy clenched and unclenched like...
Clickety Clack Closer To Home
Camping in Rawsonville - Goudyn - Stillewater on the Smalblaar River You might think it’s ridiculous to go away for the weekend, and all you do is go off to the next hamlet. As soon as I step into our Honey Badger to spring clean and spruce it up, make my bed and pack my goodies into the...
Shell We Go West?
Exploring the West Coast National Park and Groenrivier. With the sun on our backs in the morning, we set off from Upington to Springbok. All along the Orange River aqua systems through vineyards, date palm plantations, water mills and the legendary Pink Padstal where stocking up on books,...
We're On The Bus Gus
We had to fetch the Honey Badger in Upington. Our immediate thought was a rental car, but the logistics would be a nightmare. Flying was out of the question, too expensive. Driving up in our car was not an option either; two vehicles on the road would be ridiculous, which left us with no...
Ewe Herd We Explored The Kgalagadi?
We shrew did and Veareax eagle to meet you! I Gnu we’d have a fabulous time. I haven’t felt the sun on my skin for days and feel cheetah'rd. That’s the sort of thing I do when I’m cold. With this thought, I decided to cheer myself up and click through some of my photographs of our recent trip...
The Chase – Homeward Bound
There comes a time on every trip that one’s nose turns homeward bound. In Afrikaans, one likens it to a spirited horse stopping in his tracks, cocking his head and galloping back to his stables. Nothing can stop him when his head’s down. Indomitable they are then. Our heads turned when...
Wellies Or Winter Warmers - A Trip To Lake Jozini
I’m sitting here freezing, wondering how anyone can say, “I love winter!” I do get the crackling fire in the huge grate, which we don’t have, the red wine, which I don’t drink and the comfort food, which has settled around my waistline and will not budge. At night Butch and I wrestle to...
Head In The Clouds - At The Frame House
Bosmans’ Wine and Protea Farm – Hemel en Aarde Valley. Sami-Joan suggested we take ourselves off to the Bosman Farm in the Hemel and Aarde valley for a Tapas lunch and wine tasting. She’s a foodie and loves her wine; I knew I could take her word for it. We phoned immediately and were...
Fab Four Ride Again - Kraalskloof Campsite - Slanghoek
Glamping in the mountains My sister-in-law Sue needs no introduction, albeit to say she’s one tough cookie and doesn’t take no for an answer. Trouble came in the form of an email from the proprietress of a campsite she’d reserved for the weekend, situated on the banks of the Breede River. ...
Chicken Soup
For the soul on a moody Monday as autumn bombards us in earnest. Monday’s are quiet days in our house. The usual chores bring me down to earth, especially after an eventful weekend. I enjoy the slow rumble of the old washing machine and the warmth emitted while our linens spin in the...
Death And Mourning In Times Of The Corona Virus
Maybe it’s just me who dwells on death today as a photograph pops up on my screen, taken three years ago, before the unthinkable. One of my very best friends passed away and will never feature in another photograph. Technology and Social Media is our new memory keeper. ---oOo--- With...
A One Night Stand - Cremorne Holiday Resort - Port St John's - Fabulously Flamboyant
Tick list travel or dashing from one place to the next; doing over-nighters doesn’t do it for me; although, I do get it. Sometimes there’s no option. For me, travel is about exploring. My curiosity about a place, its people, history, art, architecture needs in-depth investigation. Before...
Wonderously Wild – Mdumbi Backpackers
ROADTRIPPING THE TRANSKEI is one of a few places that make me feel as if I’m in another country. The people are cool, the weather’s divine, the landscape so different from ours, even the history’s different. Due to various reasons and circumstances, many people find themselves...
Tranquil Transkei - Mazeppa Bay Revisited
Promises made have to be kept. That’s a golden rule. Melissa, our niece, took up a position as a Dietician at a rural hospital in the Transkei. We applauded her for her decision to spread her wings, step out of her comfort zone and make a lifetime of memories. At Christmas time in 2019,...
Searching For Magic Mushrooms - Hogsback - Eastern Cape Province
My Grandmama told me about the Hogsback. In the early 1930’s she’d haul my aunt, my Dad, a French nanny and a German wet nurse, by train from Cape Town and steam off during the hot summer months to sojourn in the cool, misty Eastern Cape Amatole mountains. In tow, her best friend, Margie...
Hoo-Ray It's holi-Yay!
There were a few weeks to go, before the summer holidays would break the monotony of 8 months under house arrest, while we continued enduring the lockdown. Like a bolt of lightning on a summer’s day, a nephew and niece took up our holiday home for three weeks. They were determined to make...
Glamping in the Kgalagadi Trans Frontier Park
Butch and I have never camped in a SANParks campsite. We prefer to stay off the grid or do wild camping as one does in Botswana and Zimbabwe. Without a doubt, our favourite camps being Polentswa and Rooiputs on the Botswana side. This time we were putting SANParks to the test. The...
A Saffa Safari - A Road Trip To The Kgalagadi Trans Frontier Park
Do yourself a favour. Make a reservation, pack your tent and raid the pantry. Dust off the ammo boxes. When you've done all that grab a few T's, a pair of shorts and your favourite flip flops. Don't forget last year's stretched and perished bather. It will do. Believe me. Now, head off to...
Why Fly - Gifberg Holiday Farm
I jolted, something wet was slowly snaking its way across my belly, gathering momentum as it slipped around to my back. We'd just returned, unpacked, and put the washing machine on heavy load, after a longish weekend, at the very remote GIFBERG HOLIDAY FARM near Van Rhyn'sdorp. I’d...
My Namaqualand Journal - Madeliefie, Pietsnotjie, Katstertjie -
Every year at about this time a wayward uncle would stop over in his rusty, vintage Kombi, to stock up on fresh supplies, before setting off on his annual pilgrimage into the Namaqualand to paint. My father-in-law would beckon him into his flat, stepping back from the front door, frowning...
Wandering Closer To Home - Slanghoek - Kraalkloof Camp
Butch and his colleagues meet up in their library every morning for coffee. He says “sometimes we talk law, but, mostly, we just catch up and chat.” Everyone knows our story by now, and often good trip ideas are shared. Last week he was tipped-off about a camping spot on a farm in the...
Beauty Is All Around Us - Overberg Daytrip
“Let’s pack up our troubles and go day trippin’,” said good lookin’. Every week has its minor challenges, and last week didn’t disappoint. I have had wheels under my bum since I turned 18. Ten days without a car is something to get your head around. Not that I minded. We’ve managed to empty...
Around The World With A Wooden Spoon And Spatula
Pfft, to armchair travel we might think. For the foreseeable future, it’s a new reality whichever way we look at it. The thought of not travelling is like telling a ladybird she may not save her children burning in their house. Dreadful. Unthinkable. Depressing. Every morning I throw back...
Still Wandering - Gatsrivier Guest Farm
With dust billowing in our wake, we made our way from the Tankwa farmstall back onto the main road (a 70km detour, I was told) to continue our meanderings in search of peace. The road north became quieter, and farmsteads became fewer. In the Karoo, sustainable farming can only be on vast tracts...
Wandering into the future – Matroosberg Nature Reserve
It's no use crying over spilt milk. We’ve had our chips, and now we must suck it up and move on, without the help or approval of the government, closed borders or the WHO. Our lives are still in our hands. What we do with the situation takes some creative thinking and a will to do something...
Honey Badgers Don't Hibernate
I stopped laughing. My one redeeming attribute is that I enjoy a good laugh, some start deep in my belly, others I try to suppress as they tickle my spirit, but, on the whole Butch and I enjoy a good old fashioned chortle. When did merriment leave us? Sometime, I can’t pinpoint, probably...
Breakfast Inspiration - BIRCHER
Sometimes we all need a little inspiration. I find we slip into a routine very quickly especially when it’s just Butch and I. Every meal is just a repetition of the day before as we’re both busy and meals at home just serve their nutritional purpose. Keeping us sustained and hopefully healthy....
Gifting Memories - La Colombe and Kleinbosch Kloof
A few years ago we decided to invite a grand-daughter on a camping weekend to Prince Albert. It was an opportunity to get to know her better and for her to experience some of the things we enjoy. As luck would have it, it was the very weekend of the Olive Festival so we had much to explore...
Weekend Meander to MIDDELPOS
Pompelompie Hartklop (Heartbeat) Festival. The heart of the Karoo beats in its people. They are a hardened community, resilient and steadfast in their faith and in the land. Here every person is worthy. So, one fine day Butch comes along and suggests we go on a road trip to Middelpos. I’d...