Wonderful guidebooks to take on your SA holiday
[Please note these articles below are for your information but are not necessarily written by ourselves.]
We recently returned from a 6 000km journey around South Africa, during which we visited national parks and
Stone Age sites, Anglo-Boer war battlefields and museums, and urban monuments such as the new
Constitutional Court in Johannesburg.
This is an architecturally fascinating building which holds important art works collected under the supervision of
Judge Albie Sachs, who was kind enough to show us around.
We planned the trip and travelled with specialist guide books, including the hugely useful series by Philip
Harrison, South Africa's Top Sites - ranging from "science" and "spiritual" to "ecotravel" and "arts and culture".
Published by New Africa Books, they are indispensable to local travel, and are filled with really useful information,
including telephone numbers, e-mail addresses and recommended reading lists - in profusion.
We were able to book a chalet at the ancient Wonderwerk Cave, south of Kuruman, with their help - a valuable
site which is at present closed to day visitors for safety reasons, but where we experienced one wonderful still
night, all by ourselves, at the place where there has been human habitation for the past 800 000 years. It was
magical.
Harrison, who is Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at Wits University, thought up this series while
travelling on a train between Budapest and Lake Balaton in Hungary. He realised that South Africa is a land of
rich diversity and complex history and that "specialist" guide books were needed for travellers with a focused
interest. These slim, easy-to-pack books are the result, and with their help we've been able to make contacts
and find information about places we didn't even know existed.
The new guide to the Kruger Park was also very helpful, giving a break-down of all the camps, maps, suggested
driving routes and other essential information. The authors, Brett Hilton-Barber and Professor Lee R Berger,
wrote that the Lower Sabie Camp, which I had not previously visited, "is set in magnificent scenery on the banks
of the Sabie River" and that there are several picturesque waterholes nearby.
On the basis of that advice we booked to stay there for a few nights and what bliss it was, as we watched the
great red African moon rise over the river, while listening to the hippo coughing, hyenas laughing and other
mysterious bush sounds.
Conservationist Ian Player has said that "Wilderness is the new Temple" and it's true that many of us need to
flee the cities and make our pilgrimages into nature, in order to restore our sense of balance and sanity.
Exploring Kruger is a very good guide, we found. We used it every day when choosing which routes to drive, and
were lucky enough to see three leopards on three separate occasions, something I believe is quite rare!
Elephants abound, and it is always a joy to behold them. I sincerely hope that the park officials do not fall into the
culling trap, which is currently under discussion.
There are not too many elephants - there are too many people! And if we're smart enough to put people on the
moon, then don't tell me that we can't find an alternative to elephant murder, as Kenya has managed to do.
Although petrol has become so expensive, travelling at home is still a cheaper option than travelling overseas,
and I'm always amazed at the stunning treasures our own land has to offer. B&Bs can be found almost
everywhere nowadays, and the National Park accommodation is generally still excellent value, especially if
you've bought a Wild Card or can claim pensioners' benefits, and travel off-season.
But don't forget to pack your guide books - they are indispensable to getting the most out of your trip.
By Beverley Roos Muller
South Africa's Top Sites (series)
Philip Harrison (New Africa Books)
Exploring Kruger
Brett Hamilton-Barber & Professor Lee R Berger (Prime Origins)
Related Information:
Nomad: Kruger National Park
Nomad: Garden Route