Triple Play
Wild Magazine|Spring 2017

On a long weekend escape to Africa’s southernmost tip, stay in a heritage cottage to explore the fynbos and coastline. Three different trails, all within a 45-minute radius of your base at Rhenosterkop, beg to be hiked.

Peter Chadwick
Triple Play

A gap between the ancient and gnarled milkwood trees indicated the turnoff to the Rhenosterkop Cot-tages and the start to three days of exploration while also enjoying the peace and tranquillity away from all of the complexities of life. As we drove down the short sandy track, an inquisitive grey duiker with huge brown eyes watched us for a few moments before scampering away into the undergrowth.

Birds were seemingly everywhere, with bokmakieries, southern boubous, Cape bulbuls, speckled mousebirds, metallic green malachite sunbirds and Cape spurfowls providing a kaleidoscope of colour and activity. Alighting from our vehicle at the main four-bed cottage, we breathed deep the fresh air recently washed clean by a light rain. A slight breeze carried the mesmerising sound of waves crashing against a nearby coastline. This was indeed bliss.

After unpacking and with the shadows of afternoon lengthening, it was time for us to put in a quick exploration of our surroundings. A short five-kilometre drive took us down to the Brandfontein beach where ocean rollers smashed against a long stretch of wonderfully isolated sandy beach interspersed with rugged rocky outcrops. Suné and Xanté, my two daughters, are ever keen to keep fit for hockey and were soon striding out along the beachfront. Sonja, my wife, and I took the easier option of watching the African black oystercatcher pairs, white-fronted plovers and the kelp and Hartlaub’s gulls as they all fed among the stranded piles of kelp that lay on the beach. We were additionally spoilt with a sighting of a pod of bottlenose dolphins out to sea as they rode the waves and even further out a southern right whale showed itself briefly with a tail slap before disappearing back into the ocean depths.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der Spring 2017-Ausgabe von Wild Magazine.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der Spring 2017-Ausgabe von Wild Magazine.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

WEITERE ARTIKEL AUS WILD MAGAZINEAlle anzeigen
Wild Magazine

Seeds of success

A champion at the indigenous nursery at Skukuza, Meurel Baloyi is on a mission to make all the rest camp gardens in Kruger water-wise.

time-read
2 Minuten  |
Summer 2019 / 2020
Wild Magazine

Six of the best

|Ai-|Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park guarantees visitors a solid serving of adventure, often with a dash of adrenalin on the side. The rugged mountain desert now boasts even more outdoor activities.

time-read
5 Minuten  |
Summer 2019 / 2020
Marvellous  meerkats of Mata-Mata
Wild Magazine

Marvellous meerkats of Mata-Mata

Brace yourself to be welcomed suricate-style the next time you pitch camp at this ever-popular spot in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park.

time-read
3 Minuten  |
Summer 2019 / 2020
Wild Magazine

Who's who?

Even regular park-goers struggle to distinguish a rhebok from a reedbuck. The differences are subtle but significant.

time-read
3 Minuten  |
Summer 2019 / 2020
Friends of the fluffball
Wild Magazine

Friends of the fluffball

White-fronted plovers breed in summer – the same time many people take their seaside holiday. A significant decline in their numbers means life is hardly ‘a day at the beach’ for these birds

time-read
4 Minuten  |
Summer 2019 / 2020
Wild Magazine

Festive Karoo

On a Christmas holiday in the Karoo, a keen birder and his family soak up the heat in four Wild Card parks. Their reward included special sightings, endless views and a wilderness feeling.

time-read
5 Minuten  |
Summer 2019 / 2020
Love struck
Wild Magazine

Love struck

A leopard mating ritual is a rare and thrilling sight. Even more extraordinary to witness an amorous affair involving three members of this elusive Big Five species in Kruger.

time-read
3 Minuten  |
Summer 2019 / 2020
Challenge the clock
Wild Magazine

Challenge the clock

For centuries Table Mountain National Park has inspired exploration, from hardcore climbing to gentle walks. Now runners and hikers can set a record or push boundaries for a personal best on an epic adventure to the top of 13 peaks.

time-read
4 Minuten  |
Summer 2019 / 2020
Loud and clear
Wild Magazine

Loud and clear

Woodland kingfishers are common in most rest camps in the Kruger National Park. Enjoy their evocative call during the summer months.

time-read
1 min  |
Summer 2019 / 2020
Wild Magazine

BEACH MODELS

Rocky shores and sandy beaches are where you’ll find the African black oystercatcher. Summer is breeding season, so look out for nest scrapes close to rocks and kelp.

time-read
2 Minuten  |
Summer 2019 / 2020