An afternoon trip to Addo for an early evening meeting had me arrive in the area an hour or so early. Problem? Not at all. Doesn't matter where you are, if you have a passion for travel and is a Geocacher to boot, there will always be something to see, do or find. This day was no different. I decided to take a leisurely drive up the Zuurberg Pass to pick up a Geocache I hadn't done before plus it's…
I have a special connection with the Tsitsikamma forest. It is where I go to plug in my soul for a bit of a recharge. It doesn't even have to be an extended recharge. Just a couple of minutes sitting in the forest next to a stream taking in the forest with all my senses is enough. There are various ways to explore the forest with trails being the most effective way to leave everything behind. One of these "trails", the biggest…
When I grew up I wanted to be an archaeologist. Somebody like Indiana Jones who discover lost cities and artifacts, dig up dinosaurs and made remarkable finds that would wow the world. That dream kinda shattered when I found it it wasn't all quite as adventurous and glamorous. Instead I went into tourism although the interest for archaeology is still there. This interest truly got fed when I spent a night at Ganora Guestfarm out Nieu-Bethesda recently. In prehistoric times the Karoo…
At the end of August I took a road trip to Johannesburg and on my travels discovered two slightly unusual monuments. Discovered by the way, as there were Geocaches hidden close to both. The first one was a monument just outside of Middelburg in the Eastern Cape. The stone monument has a picture of a chair on it and the sign says "Stoel Monument" (Chair Monument). So what is the story behind the Stoel Monument? There's a long and a short so…
Beautiful scenery, rolling hills covered in fynbos, citrus orchids, farmlands, white frothing streams, mountains on the horizon, forested valleys, interesting back roads, friendly people and countryside hospitality. These are all things you will find in the Gamtoos Valley. The best way to explore and get to know the Gamtoos Valley is to spend a weekend and see for yourself what this valley on the eastern doorstep of the Baviaanskloof has to offer. One of the quick fire ways to do this…
The flat top koppies (mountains) of the Karoo is as part of this arid region of the country as windpompe, Angora goats, Karoo lamb, flowering aloes and big open skies. Two of the best known Karoo koppies are the Koffiebus and Teebus south of the town of Steynsburg. The word "Bus" means pot in old Dutch as the hills are said to look like the old teapots and coffee pots of the early Dutch Settlers. This means that if you had to translate, let's say,…
The Western Cape has it's various winelands where one can take daily tours to taste wines and learn more about how they are made. Port Elizabeth does have it's share of wine lovers, but the closest wines they can taste at source are in Plettenberg Bay so they usually end up having wine tasting events with Western Cape wines. But how about beer? Craft beer in particular. This is probably what Tony Neveling of Gecko Tours here in the Bay was thinking when he came…
The coastal Sunshine Coast town of Kenton-on-Sea is flanked by two tidal river, the Bushmans River and the Kariega River. Normally the area is a quite and peaceful area until the summer holiday arrive. That is when mostly inland holiday makers flock to the area with a lot of them bringing their boats to enjoy the river with. The Bushman's River, on the western side of Kenton, is the 2nd-longest navigable river in South Africa and offers a 22km stretch of…
Anybody blindfolded and flown around the country before being dropped off at the Jazzy Boozy Cheezy Affaire would have been excused if they guessed their destination to be somewhere in the Cape Winelands after seeing what was around them. They would have been very wrong though. The JBC wasn't taking place in the Cape Wineland. Far from it. It took place just outside Addo at Africanos Country Estate in the Sundays River Valley of the Eastern Cape.The JBC Affaire wasn't…
I enjoy taking selfies. It is something one has to do if you travel solo a lot (which I normally do when travelling for business) and want to at least be in a picture. Selfies are also a way to tell people "Look where I am and you're not" making it a great tourism marketing tool. Driving back to Port Elizabeth from Johannesburg I was on a quiet road between Steynsburg and Hofmeyr in the Karoo and stopped to stretch my legs. There…