Sprawled in a canvas chair at our private lapa, glass of wine in hand, I watched a spotted eagle owl perch on a rocky koppie where it was silhouetted against the darkening sky. We were at Fossil Ridge eco-lodge in the Gamkaberg Nature Reserve near Oudtshoorn and the heat of the day was fading at last.
By Roxanne Reid
Sprawled in a canvas chair at our private lapa, glass of wine in hand, I watched a spotted eagle owl perch on a rocky koppie where it was silhouetted against the darkening sky. We were at Fossil Ridge eco-lodge in the Gamkaberg Nature Reserve near Oudtshoorn and the heat of the day was fading at last.
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By Roxanne Reid The Tankwa Karoo National Park protects a stark but beautiful swathe of countryside and is well worth visiting for many reasons. Although the peaceful paradise that is the Elandsberg wilderness camp makes it hard to want to get up and leave, here are 7 things well worth doing during your visit. By Roxanne Reid 2012 has been a fabulous year of travel, and I count myself truly lucky. But across the six African countries we visited, some experiences stood out as highlights. Here are seven of them; follow the links to find out why they were so special. By Roxanne Reid Life just couldn’t have been better. The heat had begun to seep from the day and we were sitting on our cottage stoep watching the Roggeveld mountains turn pink as the sun set behind us in the Tankwa Karoo. There wasn’t another soul in sight, the air was pure and the wine cold. Soon we would light our paraffin lamps and surrender to the romance of a time gone by. By Roxanne Reid Just around the corner from the more famous and weirdly compelling Owl House in Nieu Bethesda, near Graaff-Reinet in the Karoo, is the Kitching Fossil Exploration Centre, which depicts the fossil history of the area. By Roxanne Reid It’s ironic that Nieu Bethesda near Graaff-Reinet in the Karoo is hardly ever thought of today except as home to the strangely intriguing but disturbing Owl House; ironic because when its creator, Helen Martins, was still alive the locals thought of her as a bit of a wacko. But there’s more to Nieu Bethesda than the Owl House. By Roxanne Reid Mention the Karoo village of Nieu Bethesda near Graaff-Reinet to most people and they’ll probably nod and say, ‘Ah yes, the Owl House.’ But there’s more to Nieu Bethesda than that. And once you’ve had lunch at Antie Evelyne se Eetplek you’ll have a totally different experience to remember the village by. By Roxanne Reid So there we were, slumming it in the local caravan park in the small Karoo dorpie of Willowmore, getting bitten by mosquitoes that left welts the size of saucers. But we cleaned ourselves up and joined the civilised set at The Willow Historical Guest House. It was like instant time travel – with none of the drawbacks. By Roxanne Reid I’ve been rereading local boy Dana Snyman’s On the Back Roads. And I’m loving it just as much as I did when it first came out. |
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AboutI'm an independent travel writer and book editor with a passion for Africa - anything from African travel, people, safari and wildlife to adventure, heritage, road-tripping and slow travel. Categories
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