Never say never … suddenly there are bouts of connectivity … and then reasons to get excited! So I know I’ve already said goodbye, but … we were so damn impressed with this lodge just a hop, skip and jump outside Twee Rivieren camp in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park that the photos simply HAD to be…
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Hirsh started it. The kilometres were flying past us on our 770 kay, first-leg drive up to Botswana. His back was sore, my eyes were glazed, and we still had some way to go. Somehow Credo Mutwa — South African visionary, prophet, sangoma, and also an artist — became part of our conversation (without there…
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  Shamwari … it’s a name whispered with much reverence when speaking of game reserves in the Eastern Cape. Shortly before we set off for Tuscany-Provence it was our privilege to spend an inspiring four days there. Most of us South Africans can’t afford to get past Shamwari’s entrance gates … this is five-star territory,…
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Part of a giant poster of South Africa at O.R. Tambo airport. We’re home! We love travelling but, oh, we do so also love touching down in our beautiful country and stepping back into our lovely home in Knysna. And this post is to you … all my friends who responded with such enthusiasm and…
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Look, I’m not going to give you the gushing tourism prose about the attractions of Kimberley as a city. Gravel Road Adventures is about Truth and Authenticity. The real experience. So, I’m sorry … Kimberley is a dump. There. I’ve said it. But if, as a traveller, you just happen to be passing through, what…
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The name De Hoop was not inspired, as you would think, by the Cape of Good Hope further along south. Believe it or not, it was named after a stud farm called Hope where Spanish, or Andalusian, horses were bred. The farm was eventually bought by the Cape Administration to create a conservation area. And…
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Just imagine … after more than two centuries of having been blitzed out of the Karoo by the likes of explorer Robert Jacob Gordon and Governer Joachim van Plettenberg, hippo snouts can be detected rising and submerging in the waters of the Seekoei River. This is happening on a farm, about to become an official…
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Three nature reserves, reasonably close together, and all with tongue-twister names … Gamkaberg, Anysberg, Grootvadersbosch. Lion, anise, grandfather … that’s how the foreign-sounding bits translate from Khoi, Afrikaans and Dutch. When you mention these places to anyone, most look at you with head cocked and ask: “Really? Where are they?” Um, the Little Karoo and…
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It’s a real tussle, isn’t it? Should you visit the Falls during high-water season (April/May) when the bongo-drum thunder penetrates to your bones but the spray is so drenching you can see absolutely nothing? Or should you be there in September when water still tumbles over but a lot of the gorge is dry —…
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Is the Okavango Delta on the upper rungs of your bucket-list ladder? The catch, though, is that accommodation comes at a premium and for Southern African visitors, particularly, it’s becoming prohibitively expensive. Well … serendipitously we’ve recently discovered that the Panhandle — the long straight passage of the Kavango River before it fragments into the…
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