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Wild Meerkat Tours

One of the most charming things you can to in Oudtshoorn is to go on a tour of a colony of wild, habituated meerkats. The choice of words may sound a little strange, but these meerkats are indeed wild. They  are never fed or handled by humans. Its just that they have become used to having the odd human in the vicinity. Tours commence at sunrise, but only once it is clear that the weather is going to be fine. On cold and rainy days, these little creatures do what any sensible person should do - they lie in! Meerkats are part of the so-called Shy 5 which also includes the bat-eared fox, the aardvark, porcupine and aardwolf. The meerkat tours last between 2-3 hours and booking is essential...

(GPS coordinates:  -33.59644, 22.181009)

Read more at www.nightjartravel.com/animals-nature/wild-meerkat-tours

 

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Twigs With Beans: Harfield Village, Cape Town

On my first visit to the corner café I couldn’t order a coffee. They were in full motion of setting up for some big gig that they were hosting that evening – I wasn’t even disappointed, only impressed that this small café held gigs. The second visit was more successful on a coffee-front and, armoured with free Wi-Fi, I pretended to work while playing with another customer’s bored dog. Dogs are allowed inside – it’s different like that. Even more different is their obsession with plants, which decorate the place inside and out. They hang from the walls, sit in coloured pots, cling to wire structures and are even sold from the back. It’s not like sitting in a café – it feels more like a small city-park that vends coffee and cakes.

- Brad Harris

 

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Noordhoek Beach SS Kakapo Shipwreck Trail

This walk, which leads along a beautiful stretch of white sand to the SS Kakapo shipwreck, will take you about 40 minutes each way. From the parking lot on the Chapman’s Peak side of the beach, simply follow theboardwalk down to the sand and turn left before your feet get wet. This stretch, also known as ‘Long Beach’, links the toes of Chapman’s Peak to Kommetjie in the distance. Towards the Kommetjie side of the beach you’ll find the shipwreck lying high and dry. This colossal steamship was on her way to Sydney when she ran ashore on 25 May 1900...

(GPS coordinates: -34.098288, 18.357747)

Read more at www.nightjartravel.com/hiking/noordhoek-beach-ss-kakapo-shipwreck-trail

 

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Nelspruit Golf Club

Consistently ranked within the top 100 courses in the country, Nelspruit Golf Club is one of Mpumalanga’s premier golfing locations and provides a high class but affordable experience with a distinctly Bushveld twist. Devised by renowned South African golf course designer Bob Grimsdell in 1939, the course has since 1998 played host to the Jock of The Bushveld Festival of Golf, the biggest amateur tournament in the country...

(GPS coordinates: -25.481164, 31.001625)

Read more at www.nightjartravel.com/activities/nelspruit-golf-club

 

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Devil's Peak via Mowbray Ridge Trail

This long, exciting route has a bit of everything: stunning views over the whole Peninsula, some airy scrambles and wonderful fynbos. If you look up towards the mountain from Rhodes Memorial you will see a blockhouse on the ridge. Take the path from top of the car park until you reach the gravel road, then walk 50 metres or so left along this before heading up the slopes again in the direction of the blockhouse. The hike up to the summit beacons should take about three hours and the easiest way down is to continue over the peak and down towards the saddle between Devil’s Peak and Table Mountain...

(GPS coordinates: -33.952402, 18.459041)

Read more at www.nightjartravel.com/hiking/devil’s-peak-mowbray-ridge-trail

 

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Karoo Acacia, Trout and a Favourite Stream

I had just returned from a road trip for a family celebration in Port Elizabeth. On the return journey I managed to use up some accumulated brownie points and sneak in a little flyfishing among the Karoo Acacia. It is my belief that a road trip or any trip for that matter, isn’t complete unless it involves flyfishing at some stage – not that difficult because if it’s wet there is almost always something to tempt with a fly.

Alan and Annabelle Hobson were our welcoming, friendly hosts at their comfortable and quaint Angler and Antelope Guest House, (www.anglerandantelope.co.za) a deconsecrated church and ancillary buildings converted into a guesthouse. 

What made our fleeting stop and afternoons fishing so fascinating was that it defied all logic, or certainly my understanding of suitable habitat for trout in clear, cold mountain streams. Who would have thought that there was quality flyfishing for trout in the hot, dry, dusty Karoo environment? It was my first eye-opening visit and it definitely won’t be my last. 

Guest blog by Peter Brigg 
callofthestream.wordpress.com

 

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Orange River Rafting: Namibia Border

The entire trip was frightening, but so superb. I’d never been white-river rafting before, and neither had my paddling companion, but we committed to a four day expedition and launched in the early morning. If it had been any later, I might have reconsidered that launch. By midday the rapids had become monstrous, and my arms were begging for rest. We were propelled over boulders by frothing horses, and brought under low canopies by the currents. At one point we were even rotating relentlessly, stuck in a hidden eddy. But, the guides are like river gods in their knowledge and expertise, and by the end of it I found myself wanting to return to that early morning and re-launch. Adrenaline. Excitement. Sun… Laughs. It is entirely worth the long drive up-country.

- Brad Harris