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The Kruger National Park’s healthy elephant population makes it one of the best places in the world to watch elephants in their natural environment. Along with its many breeding herds, the park is also home to some big tuskers, like Masthulele, whose tusks are estimated to weigh around 100 pounds each!  I encountered this bull driving between Phalaborwa Gate and Letaba Camp.  Big as he is, this bull wouldn’t even be called an emerging tusker...  in fact, to qualify as an emerging tusker, the ivory on a young male elephant must protrude at least 1.5m. If you’re going to Letaba, you might want to visit the Elephant Hall. It houses the ivory and skulls of some of Kruger’s largest-ever tuskers, like the Magnificent 7.

  - Dianne Tipping-Woods

 

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Looking for a place to rejuvenate on your travels along the Cape Coast? The Harold Porter National Botanical Gardens in Betty’s Bay is a breathtakingly scenic spot to unwind with a picnic and a coffee from their coffee shop. Framed between mountainside and coastline this garden, established in 1938, is full of colourful flora, birds, baboons and sometimes leopard. If you’re feeling adventurous there are several walking trails and three waterfalls to enjoy.

To top off the convenience, the Disa Kloof waterfalls are a quick hike away, and Leopard's Kloof a long hike, so you can suit your schedule.  If you are heading to Leopard's Kloof, just be wary of the baboons that roam the mountainside (as we found out).

Entry is R15 for adults and R5 for children and dogs are allowed. (028 2829311).

 

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This stunning scene is from Cosmogenesis, which has been taking place from the 12th (until 23rd) December. The first festival of its kind held in South Africa, this ten day event welcomes people of all backgrounds to join into a community of universal upliftment. 

The focus of Cosmogenesis is on the Mayan Calendar ending on 21 December 2012. This is seen, not as a point of destruction, but rather a point of rebirth - the start of a new and enlightened age. That’s not to say that if you go you will find enlightenment, but it will certainly aid in the pursuit of self-awareness! 

Held in the “Valley of the Stars" in the Eastern Free State of South Africa, the venue has running water, ablution facilities, limited preset tented camps, swimming dams, hiking trails, caves and waterfalls. Live music, workshops, speakers and artists will be present throughout the event to inform and entertain. Being a not for profit event, all ticket sales go to the event partners and organisers to set up and create the experience of a lifetime.

For more information visit cosmogenesis2012.com or email [email protected]

Basil Scordilis is attending the event so look out for a full write up of the happenings and experiences.

 

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Congratulations to Luke Dale-Roberts, owner of The Test Kitchen, awarded Best Restaurant of the Year at the 2012 Eat Out Dstv Food Network Restaurant Awards. Having just returned from Swiss ski resort Verbier where he has been busy with a seasonal pop up version of his second venture, The Pot Luck Club & Gallery, Luke was arrived back in time to receive his award at the gala dinner held recently at The Westin Cape Town, which pitted the country’s finest chefs and restaurants against each other for the accolade of best of the best in South Africa.

Not surprisingly The Test Kitchen has been full since opening its doors in late 2010, but not one to rest on his laurels, Luke opened The Pot Luck Club & Gallery next door achieving similar success with his innovative Asian-influenced menu of shared tapas style dishes.

In a recent move, Luke decided to shift things around, incorporating this space into The Test Kitchen and moving The Pot Luck Club & Gallery to larger premises within The Old Biscuit Mill which will open in January 2013. 

www.thetestkitchen.co.za

 

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We left the Northern Cape thinking we'd seen as much splendour and natural wonder as we could take in a week, and that nothing would surprise us... and boy! were we wrong?!  We came across these gorgeous but bedraggled little creatures on a road in the middle of nowhere in the Northern Cape (halfway between Pofadder and Kliprand, to be precise) after a sudden and severe rainstorm. The ground was permeated, and water was streaming through the fields, so more than likely their burrow was flooded (the adults were also running around but stayed much further from the car). 

These guys looked seriously unimpressed at being cold and wet, but the rainstorm moved over relatively quickly, so we are hopeful that by nightfall they would have found a new home! 

For more photos, http://nightjar.travel/BatFox

 

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We dragged Nightjar Junior along on our Northern Cape road trip; mostly for his luggage-bearing capabilities but also partly for his sense of humour. Eventually, we asked him what he had to say for himself…

Awake at 7 again? This is not how I wanted to start every day of my holiday. On the other hand, wrestling with gnarly rapids and fighting to keep the current at bay? That I would not mind. I guess one has to accept the bad with the good, a splash of a day on the white waters of the Orange River is definitely worth lugging a few life jackets, paddles and boats across sand and rocks. 

On the flats, between swimming back to my boat and shoving others off theirs, there was hardly enough time to appreciate the splendor floating past. We used Kalahari Outventures who operate out of the Augrabies Falls National Park and they were excellent.

www.kalahari-adventures.co.za

 

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Things that go bump in the night – a walk with guide Richart Jesslitz after nightfall is a must if you are ever in Witsand Nature Reserve. We walked into the dunes to the accompaniment of a chorus of Bubbling Kassinas. These diminutive frogs are desert specialists. After rains they crawl up the sand dunes where they bury themselves for the day. When they come out in the evenings, their skins are parched dry, and super sensitive to moisture, helping them navigate to the next pool. 

Next on our sighting list was a sand frog, followed by a dancing spider and a plethora of other insects. But the big daddies of the night were the scorpions. Watching the veld light up under Richard’s ultra violet light was amazing. Pound for pound, scorpions are some one of the most poisonous animals on earth. To crown the night out, we were lucky enough to see one of these little creatures stop a flying beetle in his tracks in less than two seconds with one of his powerful stings. What an experience!