Once upon a time dear reader, wagon trains crossed our land and the sounds of lowing oxen and the cracking of whips echoed across the vast open plains. When the shouts of the pioneers as they stopped to set up camp and erect their tents for the night broke the silence of the darkness as it quickly spread from horizon to horizon.
Food is a big part of travel and relationship: once you have shared a local meal with someone in a place other than your hometown, you instantly have a deeper connection.
My goal was to attain my A license in sport skydiving. Part of an A license is achieved through the SLP course by completing about 37 jumps that include increasingly challenging tasks in the air.
As the big black entrance gates open and we drive through the lush, tree-lined avenue, we are transported to a different world. This is the heritage of Henry Fancourt White which dates back to the mid-1800s.
The Silo District is the elegantly edgy new enclave of Cape Town’s famed V&A Waterfront. Cities come alive when creative forms of reimagining take place around their older or more rougher edges, and the Silo District is one of these.
Formerly, these huts were reserved for hardened diamond divers, employed to scour the ocean floor when conditions allowed or simply roll over and head back to bed when the howling monster of the west wind tormented these seas.
As we turn off the highway, all I can see as our multi-coloured Ford Eco-Sport convoy plays “follow the leader” is quite the opposite. That is if brown and green are opposites. Even so, it still grabs my attention. Just because winter here is brown and bare doesn’t mean it isn’t beautiful.
Every night, the clear winter skies and ocean meld into a void and the lack of electricity in the village brings the stars close, all around us, like fireflies. Vukani has the best views in Mdumbi as well as a closeness to village life. If you want a local experience or have a tight budget, or if you just want a simple yet comfortable experience, I’d recommend Vukani.
The only reminder of last night’s adventure was the muddied cars that stood parked between me and my view of the ocean. Incredibly, and overnight, with a little help from the sunshine, this landscape had transformed into a paradise beyond my expectations.
You can kayak across the bay and through the mangrove forest or windsurf, head out on a pedal boat, snorkel, hike through the reserve, zipline, climb, relax.
The Kruger Lowveld, named because of its proximity to one of the area’s greatest attractions, the Kruger National Park, is an absolute paradise for nature lovers and outdoors enthusiasts. A well-known multiday hiking trail traverses the forested slopes between Sabie and Graskop, and this was one of the highlights of our visit to this region.
