By Roxanne Reid
‘Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.’ So said Scott Cameron, and I agree with him. The more I travel, the more places I discover that still have to be explored. Apart from a trip to the Norwegian fjords, which is outside Africa so doesn't count on this exclusively African travel blog, here are my 6 travel highlights of 2014, in random order.
‘Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.’ So said Scott Cameron, and I agree with him. The more I travel, the more places I discover that still have to be explored. Apart from a trip to the Norwegian fjords, which is outside Africa so doesn't count on this exclusively African travel blog, here are my 6 travel highlights of 2014, in random order.
1. Quirimbas Archipelago, Mozambique
Anantara Medjumbe Island Resort & Spa, Quirimbas Archipelago, Mozambique
This was a bucket list tick for me, even though I didn’t get to sail at least part of the way to Medjumbe Island on a traditional dhow. From creamy white beaches and turquoise seas (sorry, it sounds like a cliché, but they really are turquoise, not boring old green-blue or blue-green), wonderful food from lobster and prawns to pasteis de nata and the best pain au chocolat this side of Paris, it was a feast for the senses despite the sticky November heat. Best of all for me were the friendly people.
2. Mapungubwe National Park, Limpopo
2. Mapungubwe National Park, Limpopo
The Venda-style Leokwe camp, Mapungubwe National Park
On our second visit to this national park in Limpopo we discovered that time hadn’t dimmed the love affair we began a few years ago. Everything at this Unesco World Heritage Site still had us under its spell, from the enormous baobabs and gnarl-rooted fig trees clawing their way out of rock, to the red rock formations and cultural history. For anyone interested in cultural history, wildlife, hiking or 4x4 eco-routes, there’s a bunch of cool things to do there too.
3. Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Northern Cape
3. Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Northern Cape
Perched on a dune overlooking the dry riverbed is Auchterlonie museum, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park
If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you’ll know that the Kgalagadi is an ongoing addiction for me. I go every year at least once, I think about it, talk about it and write about it as if it were the centre of the universe. I just can’t get enough of its rippling red dunes, star-punctured skies and electrifying thunderstorms, its camelthorn trees, black-maned lions and meerkats digging for feasts of scorpions.
This year we revelled in mating lions so focused they didn’t give a fig who was watching, a visit to the tiny Auchterlonie museum to get an inkling of what life was like for the people who used to live there in the early 1900s (and why they were there in the middle of nowhere in the first place). We also got drawn in by the connection between a tightrope-walker over the Niagara Falls and the Lost City of the Kalahari. Read the story here and it’ll make you want to go off on a swashbuckling adventure to find treasures of your own.
4. Goukamma Nature Reserve, Garden Route
This year we revelled in mating lions so focused they didn’t give a fig who was watching, a visit to the tiny Auchterlonie museum to get an inkling of what life was like for the people who used to live there in the early 1900s (and why they were there in the middle of nowhere in the first place). We also got drawn in by the connection between a tightrope-walker over the Niagara Falls and the Lost City of the Kalahari. Read the story here and it’ll make you want to go off on a swashbuckling adventure to find treasures of your own.
4. Goukamma Nature Reserve, Garden Route
The start of the Galjoen trail at Goukamma Nature Reserve
Although we’ve had numerous holidays along the Garden Route in the past, this was our first time at the Goukamma Nature Reserve and Marine Protected Area between Buffalo Bay and Sedgefield. It’s a perfect kick-off point to explore the Garden Route but we barely left the reserve, busying ourselves with beach walks and forest walks and dune walks, a short stint in a hand-operated ferry across the river, and trying to identify some of the coastal fynbos and bird calls slicing through the forest. We were there out of season, when it was blissfully quiet and peaceful. Now, whenever I feel stressed, I imagine sitting on the deck at Otters Rest Lodge and staring out over the river towards the sea. Works every time.
5. The Overberg
5. The Overberg
Swellendam
Another Overberg gem we explored was Swellendam, just a few hundred metres off the N2 between Cape Town and the Garden Route. We got our fix of nature, shopping and eating, tasted the local honey, visited the museums and went on a memorable township tour with Meisie Bokwana. From Swellendam we drove through the historic little village of Suurbraak, with its bright buildings in a thin ribbon along the roadside, and up through a fynbos-covered ravine on the Tradouw Pass to Barrydale (which is so popular that both the Overberg district and the Klein Karoo claim it as their own – see below).
Another Overberg gem we explored was Swellendam, just a few hundred metres off the N2 between Cape Town and the Garden Route. We got our fix of nature, shopping and eating, tasted the local honey, visited the museums and went on a memorable township tour with Meisie Bokwana. From Swellendam we drove through the historic little village of Suurbraak, with its bright buildings in a thin ribbon along the roadside, and up through a fynbos-covered ravine on the Tradouw Pass to Barrydale (which is so popular that both the Overberg district and the Klein Karoo claim it as their own – see below).
The eclectic 'wedding cake' church in Swellendam
Stanford
Just a few hours’ drive from Cape Town is the wonderful world of the Overberg (which means ‘over the mountain’). We discovered lots of things to do in Stanford, from beer or cheese tasting to whale watching. And we learnt through much dedicated eating that the little village is a mecca of delicious restaurants and wineries.
Just a few hours’ drive from Cape Town is the wonderful world of the Overberg (which means ‘over the mountain’). We discovered lots of things to do in Stanford, from beer or cheese tasting to whale watching. And we learnt through much dedicated eating that the little village is a mecca of delicious restaurants and wineries.
Old buildings with a story on the self-guided historical route, Stanford
De Hoop Nature Reserve
But the greatest highlight of the Overberg for us was a visit to the beautiful De Hoop Nature Reserve near Bredasdorp, where we could hike, swim, mountain bike, quadbike and go bird watching or game viewing. Tthe knowledgeable Pinkey Ngewu took top honours for all the magic she showed us on a beach walk to explore the rocky pools.
But the greatest highlight of the Overberg for us was a visit to the beautiful De Hoop Nature Reserve near Bredasdorp, where we could hike, swim, mountain bike, quadbike and go bird watching or game viewing. Tthe knowledgeable Pinkey Ngewu took top honours for all the magic she showed us on a beach walk to explore the rocky pools.
Guide Pinkey Ngewu with some of the sights and creatures we saw on our marine walk at De Hoop
6. The Karoo
Barrydale
We enjoyed a caper at the wacky Barrydale Karoo Hotel, explored other things to do in this offbeat village on the R62, and had a Jack Kerouac look into the past at a vintage diner with milkshakes that knocked our socks off. If you enjoy eccentricity and quirkiness and you’ve never been to Barrydale, put it on your to-do list for 2015.
Barrydale
We enjoyed a caper at the wacky Barrydale Karoo Hotel, explored other things to do in this offbeat village on the R62, and had a Jack Kerouac look into the past at a vintage diner with milkshakes that knocked our socks off. If you enjoy eccentricity and quirkiness and you’ve never been to Barrydale, put it on your to-do list for 2015.
Diesel & Creme vintage diner, Barrydale, Karoo
Prince Albert & Swartberg Pass
Take a road trip through the wide open spaces and big skies of the Karoo heartland, as we love to do, and you’ll find that some strange things happen here, where people have the confidence to be quirky in ways no one would dare to in the Big City. On this year’s Karoo wanderings we met the ghosts of Prince Albert, discovered a dustbin art gallery along the village’s main street, and drove the Swartberg Pass, Thomas Bain’s masterpiece of engineering, with its nooks and crannies called Blikstasie, Skelmdraai or Stalletjie (which has its own ghost story).
Take a road trip through the wide open spaces and big skies of the Karoo heartland, as we love to do, and you’ll find that some strange things happen here, where people have the confidence to be quirky in ways no one would dare to in the Big City. On this year’s Karoo wanderings we met the ghosts of Prince Albert, discovered a dustbin art gallery along the village’s main street, and drove the Swartberg Pass, Thomas Bain’s masterpiece of engineering, with its nooks and crannies called Blikstasie, Skelmdraai or Stalletjie (which has its own ghost story).
Swartberg Pass, Karoo
Anysberg Nature Reserve
But our most rewarding Karoo experience was a visit to Cape Nature’s Anysberg Nature Reserve, somewhere between Laingsburg, Ladismith and Montagu. The cottages are simple and basic, the environment huge and beautiful, a place where there were no distractions and we could adjust to nature’s rhythm. If you love the outdoors, mountain biking, horse riding and hiking, star gazing or simply watching a sunset as it crayons the sky, then this is the place for you. We’ll definitely be back.
But our most rewarding Karoo experience was a visit to Cape Nature’s Anysberg Nature Reserve, somewhere between Laingsburg, Ladismith and Montagu. The cottages are simple and basic, the environment huge and beautiful, a place where there were no distractions and we could adjust to nature’s rhythm. If you love the outdoors, mountain biking, horse riding and hiking, star gazing or simply watching a sunset as it crayons the sky, then this is the place for you. We’ll definitely be back.
Seps cottage, Anysberg Nature Reserve, Karoo
What were your travel highlights in 2014? Share them in the comments below.
Copyright © Roxanne Reid - No words or photographs on this site may be used without permission from roxannereid.co.za
Copyright © Roxanne Reid - No words or photographs on this site may be used without permission from roxannereid.co.za
