Dec/Jan 2023/2024

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Your journey starts here...

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Seas The Day
It’s just plain evil to be woken by an alarm clock, even if it’s a necessity for many of us. It messes with your circadian rhythm – how your body and brain respond to the light of day and the dark of night. We’re biologically programmed to feel drows
go1 min readInternational Relations
Behind The Scenes
What was the highlight of the trip? Showing our boys, Elliot (10) and Francis (8), how big the world is; how there’s so much more waiting beyond the borders of suburbia. Any incidents that didn’t make the story? Unfortunately, two members of the tour
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Go!
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF (WEG & GO): PIERRE STEYN editor@gomag.co.za DEPUTY EDITOR: ESMA MARNEWICK TRAVEL EDITOR: TOAST COETZER FOOD EDITOR: JOHANÉ NEILSON COPY EDITORS: MARIJCKE DODDS, MARTINETTE LOUW CONTRIBUTING EDITOR: JON MINSTER JOURNALISTS: SOPHIA VAN
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Letters
Where have you been? What have you seen? Write to editor@gomag.co.za WINNING LETTER In August 2023, to celebrate my birthday, I spent a few days in Mabalingwe Nature Reserve near Bela-Bela.We had wonderful wildlife sightings, but the highlight was th
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WRITE TO US & WIN!
Attie wins a set of Zartek ZA-758 portable two-way radios with car antenna kits worth R3 850. This powerful radio gives you reliable, clear communication and comes pre-programmed with 16 channels. The range is terrain dependent -about 1 km indoors an
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Q&A
Every month our experts answer your questions about birds, bugs and beasts. Send your photos and queries to editor@gomag.co.za NEELS BEYERS from Strand writes: We watched this blue wildebeest dig a hole in the mud at one of the waterholes in Etosha N
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Check This!
Atsuyuki Ohshima, Japan Sudden movement behind this sika stag caught Atsuyuki’s eye. A young Yakushima macaque used a tree as a springboard to jump onto the deer’s back. Atsuyuki quickly framed and captured the unusual interaction. It’s rare for the
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In Brief
Early January 2024 will see 155 Cape and African white-backed vultures relocated from VulPro’s Hartbeespoort Dam facility to their new home on Shamwari Private Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape. This will be the first tranche of a two-year relocation
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It's Raining Stars!
When Earth moves through the debris left behind in the wake of a comet or asteroid, it causes a meteor shower, or “shooting stars” as we like to call them. These streaks of light often seem to have a common point of origin, called the radiation point
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VIEW FROM HERE Karen Edley
Tell us about your adventures. There have been a few! Ice-caving under a glacier in the Arctic; dog-sledding in Norway; riding a snowmobile from Longyearbyen to the Russian town of Barentsburg; representing South Africa in an international technical
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Books
by Greg du Toit, HPH Publishing R395 in bookstores If you’re a regular reader of this magazine, you’ll be familiar with the name Greg du Toit. We’ve featured the work of this world-renowned wildlife photographer and field guide many times. In his mem
go2 min readCats
Cat Of Many Colours
A leopard’s pelt is unmistakable, right? Light-coloured with dark spots? Well, not always… Firstly, many of the “spots” are not spots at all, but rather clusters of black, yellow and tan markings. These are called “rosettes” because they resemble the
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Late-tackled in Georgia
I’m sitting alongside my teammates in a stadium in Tbilisi, Georgia. We’ve lost two games in a rugby tournament so now we’re watching the rest of it, eating complimentary hot dogs. It’s raining, but I can’t feel it. I’m basking in a bliss of endorphi
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Obrigado, Mozambique
You don’t always need to use the ferry to cross the Limpopo – it’s possible to drive across depending on the water level and time of year. On another tour in September 2023, Pete and the convoy drove across the river and camped wild at a different lo
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A Hug From Nature
Driving along the Garden Route beyond Plett, forests line the N2 for long sections. But if you’re going at an “I-want-to-see-theocean” speed, they become a monotonous green blur. It’s only when you explore the Tsitsikamma Mountains on foot that you s
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Take Your Pic
Don’t be shy! Send your best travel and nature photos to takeyourpic@gomag.co.za for Toast Coetzer to discuss. WINNING PHOTO Canon EOS R6 Canon RF 600mm lens TOAST SAYS: Savuti is one of Botswana’s truly wild places.You can only reach it by 4×4 and t
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Seven Days In Pakhuis Paradise
Alizard is a shy creature. He might grant you a 10-second window to photograph him while he does press-ups on a rock, but then he’ll generally become a blur and disappear. But not today, on this jagged piece of Cederberg rock, in the early summer sun
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Just Ginger
Serves 6 Preparation time 20 minutes Cooking time 2 hours 30 minutes • 1,3kg deboned pork belly, skin removed and rolled up • ⅓ cup whisky (or sweet sherry) • ½ cup soya sauce • 2 cups water • ¼ cup light brown sugar • ¼ cup apple cider vinegar • 3cm
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Fortuner Favours The Brave
What’s the collective noun for a Toyota Fortuner? It’s something I thought about often in the Kruger Park during school holidays because there were so many of them! A fleet of Fortuners at Satara. An armada at Afsaal. A convoy at Crook’s Corner. The
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Outdoor Gifts For All
You can’t help but feel a little jealous when you spot a bakkie or station wagon with its rear window covered in stickers from far-off destinations. Since those classic stickers aren’t as easy to find as they once were, designer Ben Grib decided to b
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National Luna 90 Legacy Smart Fridge/Freezer
If you’re a camper, you’re probably familiar with National Luna’s excellent range of 12V cooling, lighting and dual-battery products, all designed and manufactured in Johannesburg. Planning a trip to Botswana in 2024? This fridge/freezer should be at
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Stay Here
This cottage on the edge of the Knysna Lagoon is the kind of place where you can lock your car and only return to it when you’re ready to go home. Well, if sitting on the stoep, walking, sitting on the stoep and having a braai is your kind of holiday
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4 Things To Do
If the lonely profile of a lighthouse calls to you, arrange a visit to the one at Cape Columbine, named after a barque that wrecked about 1,5km north of the point. Built on Castle Rock in 1936, this sentinel of old was the last South African lighthou
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Turning The Tide
Visit Adéle Grosse’s studio to see underwater photographs that have been transformed into beautiful and useful items. All products are made from recycled materials and each has a QR code with a link to a video explaining what Adéle saw and experience
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Birds
Around the time I turned 40, my doctor recommended that I take up running. I promised her I’d look into it, but secretly thought“fat chance”. Perhaps a poor choice of words.That was the random thought that popped into my head as I ran full tilt throu
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Rands And Cents
In May 2023, new designs and colours for our bank notes and coins were announced. The illustrations of the Big Five are even prettier now, and because South Africans love the natural beauty of our country so much, new plants, birds and animals were a
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With My Own Eyes
I first visited the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in 2019. I travelled there with my good friend (and photography mentor) Louise Victor. In my opinion, the Kgalagadi offers the most diverse wildlife sightings of any national park in the country. The s
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Win!
We publish eyewitness accounts of incredible animal encounters in the wild. Send your story and photos to toast@gomag.co.za and you could win two large Leatherpress journals worth R1000 in total! A Leatherpress journal is your ultimate travel compani
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The Midnight Ramblers
My room at Lake Albert Safari Lodge looked out over the lake: 35km wide. We were in the far west of Uganda and the mysterious-looking Blue Mountains on the far side of the lake belonged to the DRC. How I’d have loved to visit that country, too! I was
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Crossword Puzzle
SOLUTION ON PAGE 104 go! Puzzles 14 is now available! Buy a copy at your local shop (R85) or order from our online store media24shop.com ■
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LETTER FROM Fish Hoek
In the middle of the Covid-19 lockdown, my partner and I moved from Sea Point to Fish Hoek, down the Cape Peninsula. With an uncertain future looming for everyone, I was tired of being trapped in an apartment block like Rapunzel. House prices are low
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Africa At Its Best
The Boteti River is on the western border of the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park in Botswana. In good seasons, the river is fed by the Okavango Delta. In May 2023 there were still some pools in the river – enough to sustain large numbers of game like

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