Lifestyle
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A river runs through it
Some of the most desirable - and correspondingly expensive - real estate in the world is located beside rivers, and South Africa is no exception. Alan Duggan went looking for people with an affinity for flowing water... and came away with a plan for the rest of his life.
10+ min |
Spring 2022
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Kameel... Where is that, exactly?
There are many small towns and villages in South Africa that you've probably never visited but their names will ring a bell. Then there's a hamlet like Kameel, with 49 silos and 27 residents...
6 min |
Spring 2022
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Sisters of the soil
Two years ago, nine small-scale flower farmers across the country found one other on Instagram and created a support network called Hort Couture Flower Collective. Who would have thought a flourishing new venture would sprout and bloom from the hardship of the hard lockdown?
10+ min |
Spring 2022
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Get away from it all in Vanderkloof
Lying among koppies on the shore of South Africa's second-largest dam is Vanderkloof, an oasis in the Upper Karoo. There seems to be consensus that you won't find a town anywhere else in the country as peaceful and safe as this one.
7 min |
Spring 2022
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To the mountains
Enveloped by the Swartberg on the farm where her son was getting married, Juliana Coetzer realised how mountains and their healing energy have supported her throughout her life.
6 min |
Winter 2022
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Koperfontein - The winds of change are blowing.
It's little more than a siding and a stop on the railway line to Saldanha, but Koperfontein is getting a new lease of life thanks to a wind farm and a new coffee shop and venue.
10+ min |
Winter 2022
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In the shadow of glants
Eucalyptuses the colossi of our landscapeare spread out over a large part of South Africa and offer respite to man and beast and bee. Still, it's become the done thing to simply get rid of these "aliens". Please think twice about doing so, pleads Dave Pepler.
10+ min |
Winter 2022
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Valley of plenty
The place where the Wilge River cuts through the mountains about 40 km north-east of Bronkhorstspruit is known as Wilgepoort, Trichardtspoort, Zusterstroom... or simply "the valley". This river is the lifeblood of the people who live and farm here.
10+ min |
Winter 2022
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Backwaters of the Molopo
If you look at a map of North West, where the northern border curves into Botswana, that's where you'll find Piet Plessis, Tosca, Bray, and Vorstershoop. Willem van der Berg drove many kilometres on dirt roads and met people who still have time for stories.
10+ min |
Winter 2022
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Make a kokedama
A kokedama, or a Japanese moss ball, is a lovely way to display an ornamental plant like a living work of art in your home. We show you how to make your own.
4 min |
Winter 2022
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Thunderbirds get a second chance
The southern ground-hornbill - an iconic species of the savannah biome that breeds only once every six years - is critically endangered. Sarie Marais-Nell visited the Mabula Ground Hornbill Project near Bela-Bela, where they are working hard to slow the decline in their numbers.
8 min |
Winter 2022
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GENADENDAL Barefoot on hallowed ground
Genadendal, a village in the Overberg region, is steeped in the slower pace of an earlier era. The bricks, stones, woodwork, thatch, and even the trees, tell the fascinating story of the first mission station in South Africa - and of many other firsts.
10+ min |
Winter 2022
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A weekend in Prince Albert
Prince Albert, which turns 260 this year, has evolved from a quiet Afrikaans farming hamlet to a modern, bustling oasis that draws visitors from all over the world. Yet this town at the foot of the Swartberg has lost none of its charm. Walk with us.
7 min |
Winter 2022
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Healing, endless greatness
Empty, vast landscapes – deserts, arid pans, the Karoo, the Free State plains, green valleys, the sea – change people. Your worries don’t vanish, but you gain a better perspective on them, says Annelise Erasmus.
6 min |
Summer 2021/2022
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Enchanted by water
Alan Hobson and his family were living the good life in Johannesburg, but the fishing waters of the Eastern Cape lured him back. Since he and his wife Annabelle moved to Somerset East, their main aim has been to establish fly-fishing as a tourist attraction in the Karoo.
10+ min |
Summer 2021/2022
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Guard dogs your eyes, your ears, your friends
Having a guard dog is a good option to keep you safe in your home, but a dog cannot be a replacement for a security system. You have more responsibility for your own safety than your pet does.
10+ min |
Summer 2021/2022
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One wet summer
During a good rainy season, few sights (or sounds!) on earth beat the Orange River in flood crashing into the gorge at Augrabies Falls, says Sue Hewitt from Bethulie. – Augrabies Falls, Northern Cape
1 min |
Summer 2021/2022
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KAMPERSRUS The goodplace in the mountains
In the 1930s, Broer Maré bought a farm named Bedford at the foot of the northern Drakensberg and renamed it Kampersrus, meaning camper’s rest – a resting place for travellers. We got to meet some of the people who decided to settle in this picturesque place in Limpopo.
10+ min |
Summer 2021/2022
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Pella Oasis in the wilderness
Pella sounds like a faraway place, and it is far away – all the way up north in Bushmanland, just inside the South African border. The people of Pella believe the Lord watches over them and their special settlement, which became established around a mission station more than 200 years ago.
7 min |
Summer 2021/2022
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Small is beautiful
Downsizing has become a buzzword among South Africans who want to hop off the consumer treadmill, flee Covid-19 restrictions and embrace the smaller, more important things in life. For many of them, a tiny home in the countryside seems the perfect solution.
10+ min |
Summer 2021/2022
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Willemsrivier will put your soul back in your ribcage
Whether it’s the wildflower season or not, if you spend the night on the Kotzé family’s sheep and guest farm Willemsrivier 4 km from Nieuwoudtville, 1795 will seem like yesterday.
6 min |
Summer 2021/2022
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Life In The Past Lane
“It’s terrible, terrible to grow old and, Meneer, if you live long enough your time will come,” Afrikaans literary master Karel Schoeman once warned Herman Lategan. But now that he’s become a nostalgic old fool, Herman finds reminiscing about rural life in towns like Trompsburg strangely comforting.
6 min |
Spring 2021
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In A Land Far, Far Away
Deep in the Tsitsikamma, safely ensconced in a lush, green, lively forest, wordsmith and visual artist Carina Stander lets her talents shine. Here, between the mountains and the sea, she and her family don’t give a thought to the bustle of the city.
8 min |
Spring 2021
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Plant Your Own ‘Smarties'
To fully appreciate the flavour of fresh peas at their absolute peak, there is no better way but to grow them yourself. You’ll have to wait for next winter, though, to try it.
4 min |
Spring 2021
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Where The Wildflowers Bloom
It’s that time of year again: over the past month Mother Nature has staged breathtaking displays of wildflowers in Namaqualand. Marie Labuschagne from Alberton recalls a previous flower tour.
1 min |
Spring 2021
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Where Ghosts Linger
The vast Karoo landscape is not only hauntingly beautiful, but it is seemingly also haunted by a great many spirits. Madeleine Barnard went on a ghost hunt.
10+ min |
Winter 2021
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A Splash Of England At The Klip
At the turn of the previous century, a delightful fragment of rural England rooted itself among the willows on the banks of the Klip River, south of Johannesburg. Welcome to Henley on Klip, where you can expect a few pleasant surprises.
10+ min |
Winter 2021
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A Snake In The Sugar Cane
You hear the best stories in the bar of a small town or golf club – useful to know if you’re a young reporter. Anna Kemp recalls an evening of endless and terrifying tales about snakes.
5 min |
Winter 2021
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Garlic Galore The Pungent Smell Of Success
Three months after lockdown was implemented last year, dealing a nasty blow to her business, Santie Marais from Laingsburg took her chances and bought a successful small enterprise that elevates Karoo garlic to salivating new heights.
6 min |
Winter 2021
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What Can You Do For The Karoo?
When you’ve had enough of life in the city, what do you do? Some people pack their bags and move to the platteland, where a completely different – but also at times challenging – lifestyle awaits. Artist Cobus van Bosch and journalist Madeleine Barnard can attest to that.
8 min |