Blog Posts

Tankwa Karoo National Park: everything you need to know

25/1/2023

Tankwa Karoo National Park: Elandsberg wilderness camp

By Roxanne Reid
There’s a matchless sense of place here in the Tankwa Karoo. If wide open spaces, big skies and silence appeal to you, you’ll love the Tankwa Karoo National Park. Although the peace and serenity you can find at the cottages and campsites may lull you into lethargy, there’s plenty to do and see. Here’s everything you need to know, from things to do and accommodation to roads and tips for making the most of your experience.

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15 things to do in Clarens in the Free State

11/1/2023

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Things to do in Clarens in the Free State - bookshop

By Roxanne Reid
The eastern part of South Africa’s Free State province, lying along the Maluti mountains, is a place for all seasons. Enjoy afternoon thundershowers in summer and see it transformed into a snowy wonderland in winter. In autumn, trees and grasses form a mosaic of red and copper. Here’s my pick of 15 things to do in Clarens.

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The Tankwa Padstal in the Karoo

1/12/2022

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By Roxanne Reid
We pulled up at the Tankwa Padstal in the Karoo. Officially, it’s on the R355 about 70km from Ceres, on the way to Calvinia or the Tankwa Karoo National Park in South Africa. Unofficially, it’s somewhere between nothing and nowhere. Two bikers were switching off their engines and taking off their helmets. We greeted them in Afrikaans and asked how their ride had been. They looked at us as if we were from outer space.

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Swellendam restaurants worth visiting

30/11/2022

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By Roxanne Reid
You’re spoiled for choice when it comes to restaurants in Swellendam, about 200km east of Cape Town. The town has more than 35 restaurants where you can get anything from a pastry to a pizza, a toasted sarmie to bobotie, a plate of pasta to a fine dining experience. Here are some ideas about Swellendam restaurants worth visiting.

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Marakele National Park: everything you need to know

9/11/2022

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Marakele National Park: Tlopi Tented Camp

By Roxanne Reid
Huddling among rocky peaks and valleys in the heart of Limpopo’s Waterberg mountains, Marakele is a place of wild beauty and a refuge for large game species. It’s also home to one of the world’s largest breeding colonies of Cape vultures, some 300 other bird species and more than 700 plant species. Here’s everything you need to know about Marakele National Park.

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22 things to do in Montagu, South Africa

19/10/2022

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Montagu, Karoo is surrounded by orchards and vineyards

By Roxanne Reid
Taste the fruit and wine. Listen to the sound of birdsong. Feel the hot water of a natural spring on your skin. Smell the fynbos as you hike among ancient rocks. See a star-dusted sky. These are just a few of the pleasures that await you a two-and-a-half-hour drive northeast of Cape Town. Here’s my pick of things to do in Montagu, South Africa.

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Mapungubwe National Park: everything you need to know

14/9/2022

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By Roxanne Reid
In the far north of South Africa, where the Limpopo and Shashe rivers meet and you can peer into Botswana or watch eagles soar over Zimbabwe, lies Mapungubwe National Park. It’s rich in biodiversity and scenic beauty, conserves fossils and ancient rocks that are nearly three billion years old, and has 24 species of acacia tree and a magnificence of baobabs. Discover things to do in Mapungubwe National Park and everything you need to know before you visit.

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Glamping Namibia: why you’ll love luxury Kalahari camping

31/8/2022

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Glamping Namibia - luxury Kalahari camping

By Roxanne Reid
Kalahari. It’s a word loaded with nostalgia for this dry thirstland, its red sand dunes, long-horned gemsbok, camel thorn trees and endless blue skies. If you’ve felt the Kalahari’s essence before, such words will bring memories that tug at your core. So imagine my joy to be glamping in Namibia – luxury Kalahari camping – in this matchless environment near Mariental.

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Rhino War: anti-poaching in Kruger National Park

17/8/2022

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By Roxanne Reid
If you care about wild animals and conservation in South Africa, you’ll want to read the book Rhino War: A General’s Bold Strategy in the Kruger National Park (Pan Macmillan 2022). It gives an insider’s view of what the struggle to prevent poaching of rhinos in Kruger has been like. Regular visitors to Kruger will recognise many of the places referred to, to add to their sense of ‘being there’.

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Etosha King Nehale: feel like royalty at Etosha National Park

27/7/2022

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By Roxanne Reid
Etosha King Nehale is a glorious lodge just outside the northern Nehale Lya Mpingana Gate of Etosha National Park, one of my favourite wild spaces. Apart from treating you like royalty, the lodge opens opportunities to explore Etosha’s Andoni Plains and a private waterhole not open to the ordinary visitor.

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