The USA comes up trumps regarding its national road network. They beat the entire world with a total length of seven million kilometres of road networks. South Africa comes in at 11th, just below Australia, with 750 000 kilometres, of which about 460

COUNTRY CHEF ◗ SUNÉ EKSTEEN Do you have any idea of the effect a speeding fine can have on the trajectory of your life? The life story of chef Suné Eksteen, bears witness to this statement. However, on the morning photographer Daniela Zondagh and I

Friends of my aunt Beryl, who live semi-permanently in the quaint West Coast town of Darling, recommended we pay a visit to The Old Forge on a recent weekend trip. Owned by English couple Derek and Nina Poole, the bar and restaurant building has been

All the warnings were there, but we were still surprised when it actually hit. Despite the claims (typically by political leaders) that no one could have predicted or prepared for the potential impact of a global pandemic, there is one man who unders

When I first met my curly-haired wife, Emily, she was living in Joburg, as was I, and she would regularly drive home to her parents’ farm in Winterton in the KwaZulu-Natal Drakensberg for weekends. She did this 800-kilometre round trip in a silver Hy

If you are like me and tend to jump from one DIY project to another without finishing anything in one go, having an additional work station to use from time to time is handy. Or if you have limited space in a workshop or garage, a workbench that can

The Cape Doctor is out in full force, determined to blow the Cape Peninsula squeaky clean as we drive into Winford, a farm on the outskirts of Scarborough that has been established as a private nature reserve. This enclave of the Cape floral kingdom

It was against the distant backdrop of the Drakensberg – the ‘mountains of the dragon’ – that I saw my first fruit of the same name. Dragon fruit. Or pitahaya, a member of the cactus family that originates in parts of South and Central America. Its

The road to Machubeni starts as smooth tar from Lady Frere in the Eastern Cape, swiftly unravelling to potholed dirt as it winds slowly north for about 30 kilometres into the foothills of the Stormberg range. The krantz-crowned mountains are a dramat

Set in the foothills and the clean air of the Winterberg mountains, Blanco Guest Farm is one of those wholesome family resorts that has been going for generations – one that seems to run on fun, nostalgia and children’s laughter. Twice a day, there a

There is a signboard outside an historic church in the town of George beseeching visitors not to park their cars in the shade of a massive English oak tree. Erected by the George Heritage Trust, the signboard notes that this particular oak was plante

Imagine a dystopian future in the Time of Hands, when you are measured by your abilities to walk up to a garbage dump or a scrapyard, select various objects and re-purpose them into, say, a serviceable coffee grinder. Or a radio. Or any useful gizmo

There are a lot of battlefields in the Magaliesberg. “Oh yes,” says Rob Milne, the ranking expert. “There are 67 battlefield and skirmish sites of interest.” But there are more birds. “Look,” says Shaun McGillewie, birder of note. “There’s a Red-wing

“It’s an insignificant stroll of one and a half hours to the hut. We won’t even break sweat,” snorts Richmond MacIntyre dismissively over the third bottle of wine, as we debate the following day’s outing. “Better start early and have a proper, full d

He rides effortlessly through flat, red, open grassland towards the white sandstone bluffs of the Great Escarpment, a skilled horseman, rancher, adventurer and true-to-life African cowboy who sits a horse like he was born there. This observation is n

Thwack! Thwack! We’re inundated by a huge school of dolphins feeding in the waters around St Croix Island. Their soft whistles and grunts of satisfaction fill the air, but every now and then one will thump the water with its tail. Thwack!’ “We don't

There’s certainly no messing around with this Bataleur Eagle in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, that’s for sure. Come to think of it, is it indeed a Bataleur Eagle and not a judge at the limit of his patience? Can’t you just hear him, all togged ou

Everything about Kashief Booley, the Blacksmith of Prince Albert in the Western Cape Karoo, says Old School. And watching him work in the Striking Metal smithy on a rise overlooking the village, with the majestic Swartberg range sweeping across the P