Happy voices mingle with clinking beer bottles and music on the stoep at Sabie Brewing Company. In the street outside, a motorcycle revs behind a fully loaded logging truck. Yup, this is forestry country and from the brewery you can see how the northern Drakensberg wraps around the town - every hill is covered in green plantations or indigenous forests.
Earlier this morning I visited the Forestry Museum and read that plantations are only established in areas where the annual rainfall is higher than 800 mm - so mostly on the upper reaches of catchment areas where there are also lots of rivers. Lots of rivers at high-ish altitudes mean trout, and almost every restaurant in town has it on the menu: smoked, fried, rolled...
But first, more about the beer. I take a sip of Glynn's Gold Ale, named after Henry Thomas Glynn who bought one of the first farms in the district. According to legend, a stray bullet hit a gold reef during a hunting expedition led by Glynn in 1871. A new mining settlement followed, which led to demand for firewood and building poles. A man called Joseph Brook Shires saw an opportunity and started the first plantation here in 1876.
But long before Glynn and Shires came along, the Shangaan people called the Sabie River ulusaba, which means "fearful", possibly in reference to the hippos and crocodiles that once thrived in the river.
These days, mining activities have largely ceased and Sabie is surrounded by one of the biggest manmade forests in the country. And the river, filled with rapids and waterfalls, is a source of great fun.
On the first weekend in February, more than a thousand people float down on inner tubes as part of the Sabie Tube Race. "The race is 48 years old - I've been here for 37 of them," says Joy Comley. The Comley family owns Merry Pebbles Holiday Resort, where the race ends.
この記事は go! - South Africa の February/March 2024 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、8,500 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は go! - South Africa の February/March 2024 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、8,500 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
The wilder shore
The final leg of a 30-day trek across East Africa sees lan Tyrer and the Africa - Wild & Untamed crew explore both shores of Lake Malawi. Get ready for an overloaded ferry, a croc attack and being surrounded by elephants...
A river runs through it
Sabie is onthe Drakensberg escaromentialongMpumalanga’s famous Panorama Route. Want a weekend away surrounded by forests and waterfalls? Here's wnat you need to know.
TAKE A HIKE
Harkerville's mini Otter
Sweet & juicy!
This issue's recipes all include lush seasonal fruit like nectarines, plums and apricots. Enjoy!
Big mountain magic
On a clear day, as you approach the Cathedral Peak Hotel, it happens involuntarily: You start to grin. You'll be standing up there soon, gazing over this valley, and the scuttling of ground-level life will seem irrelevant. Join us on a five-day adventure into the heart of the high Drakensberg
Your next weekend away
A self-catering house in the Tankwa, a campsite next to the Orange River, a guest farm near the Drakensberg... Toast Coetzer travelled a lot last year: Here are six of his favourite places to stay if you're planning a road trip or weekend escape.
A life through binoculars
If the name Hugh Chittenden sounds familiar, it's probably because you see it every time you use your Roberts Bird Guide he's one of the co-authors. He lives in Mtunzini on the KZN coast and birding is as much part of his day as a cup of coffee.
Wanderlust in the park
All great cities have great parks, writes Dara Kell: spaces where you can exhale and slough off the stress and grime of urban life.
The Kalahari remembers
The Kalahari is a place of magic and heartache, where drought is an ever-present threat. Drive a loop from Upington to the Kuruman River and discover soulful landscapes, brilliant skies and resilient people who never give up.
Take a Hike
Hug a baobab in the Bushveld