We have become accustomed to viewing nature and getting from point A to point B in the comfort of a car – where we have become spoilt with air conditioning, incessant news feeds, music, electronically controlled windows and doors. Sometimes one has to take a break from technology, luxury and comfort to truly experience nature and the peace it brings in first-hand form.
Although the N1 highway takes you comfortably (toll gates ensure that the quality of the road remains satisfactory), from Pretoria to Polokwane and further north to Musina, there are alternative routes that pass through small towns along the way, which will slightly lengthen your journey, yet introduce you to the countryside of this north-eastern corner of South Africa.
Aandklas (Afrikaans for Evening Class)
Route 62 is modelled after the iconic US Route 66, made famous by the late, great Nat King Cole in the song of the mid-20th century.
Travelers headed for the Garden Route will find Route 62 fascinating, picturesque and highly entertaining. It is a fresh alternative to the N2 motorway between Cape Town and George.
This well-maintained highway meanders from Worcester, by way of the Breede River Valley, through Robertson, Ashton and Montagu, then the Klein Karoo landmark towns and then on to George and the Garden Route...
When last did you take a break? If you can’t remember, it is time! There is a hidden gem in nature where you can break away from noise, activity, demands and technology. Tired, overworked, stressed person: meet Thabaphaswa.
A town by (yet another) name
The village Vredenburg was established by the Voortrekkers in the 1800’s and renamed Piet Potgietersrust after the Voortrekker leader Piet Potgieter. The name was changed to Mokopane in 2003 after the Ndebele leader, King Mgombane Kekana, who lived and ruled in the area at the time.
Proudly, the Limpopo Province houses South Africa's two largest trees, both of which are baobabs estimated to be well over 2,000 years old. The Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) formally declared the two baobabs to be amongst South Africa's first Champion Trees.
Presently believed to be the largest tree in the country, the Sagole Baobab lies in the far north of the province, between Tshipise and Pafuri. The Glencoe Baobab is located just outside the town of Hoedspruit.
Phosphorus, the 11th most common element on earth, is fundamental to all living things. It is essential for the creation of DNA, cell membranes, and for bone and teeth formation in humans. It is vital for food production since it is one of three nutrients (nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus) used in commercial fertilizer. Phosphorus cannot be manufactured or destroyed, and has no synthetic version or substitute.
A small farming community lived basically cut off from the world for 150 years. The Hell, or Gamkakloof, deep in the Swartberg mountains in the Little Karoo, was unknown and unthought of during that time. That the outside world wasn’t worried about them and their lives, didn’t worry this unique community.
There is something truly exhilarating about being in close proximity of a wild and dangerous creature, while being in a secure place. It is like watching a lion in the Kruger National Park from your vehicle – seeing, hearing, even smelling it passing right beneath your window, sniffing at your tyres. It might roar and make the earth around you shake, but you are safe and sound inside – in awe and wonder, yet out of danger.
