Show me a picture of an old windmill at sunset, the scrubby vegetation of the Karoo dusty in the foreground, and I’m anyone’s. I’m pretty sure every South African worth his or her baboetie loves the Karoo as much as we love rugby and soccer: like them, it goes to the very heart of what [...]

This superbly presented, square-format book is (you can’t help it – you have to use the cliché) a brilliant visual feast. Sean Fraser uses a well-practiced eye and obvious technical mastery to create a perfect coffee-table book (published by Struik Travel & Heritage) that showcases this country’s great beauty and amazing variety. Of course it’s [...]

We haven’t got enough mountain bike tourism in South Africa – although you wonder if any destination can ever have enough of it. Responsible tourism ‘creates better places to visit, and better places to live in’ – but the hidden challenge, the one we’re so damned good at avoiding, is the question of transport. We’ll [...]

Perhaps a bit late in the year to bring your attention to an annual publication, but the fact that we can stare at the sky – and often see it’s elements so clearly – is one of the great privileges of living in the rural areas of South Africa. This is the guidebook that’ll make [...]

I loved this book – but I had three years of botany, so I was able to understand at least some of it. Still, don’t let that put you off. Although it’s a highly technical identification guide, it also contains notes on the biology conservation and propagation of these fascinating grass-like plants. And while restios do [...]

Responsible travel means responsible eating. Which is why – if you love seafood – you need Hennie Crous’s ‘Catch it Cook it in Southern Africa.’ Besides the usual stuff – bait, tackle, the habits of the fish, the recipes, the funny fishy tales – this book offers something we haven’t seen nearly enough: it explains [...]

Buy it here. The always amazing Kirstenbosch Gardens will celebrate their centenary this year – and that’s a frightening thought, because it means I’ve been visiting them for almost half of their lifetime. Forty eight years, to be precise.  I remember that first time. They took me to Lady Anne Barnard’s Bath, and even at six [...]

We’re almost there: a few more days, and the whole country’ll be on the move for the summer vacations. If you’ve ever been away on holiday with the kids – or if you’ve accommodation in the bush and you welcome children – you’ll know how important it I to keep them stimulated. Find 50 in [...]

We’re almost there: a few more days, and the whole country’ll be on the move for the summer vacations. If you’ve ever been away on holiday with the kids – or if you’ve accommodation by the sea and you welcome children – you’ll know how important it is to keep them stimulated. Find 50 at [...]

Herbs might be easy enough to grow, but I find them quite difficult to fathom: there are so many of them! This is where this book makes sense. Margaret Roberts is well known as a health writer, broadcaster and gardener, and I’ve always wanted to visit her Herbal Centre at de Wildt in the North [...]