LETTERS
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WINNING LETTER
Barking up the wrong tree We refer to the reader story “Ode to a Ballade” in your March issue. There is a reference to the baobab in the opening picture, but those trees are in fact mongongo trees (Schinziophyton rautanenii), also called manketti or wild hazelnut trees. They bear edible nuts. Every campsite at the Khama Rhino Sanctuary has these trees as a focal point. You can see the difference between the two types of trees in the pictures: (1) a baobab and (2) a mongongo tree. STEPHAN & HELEEN DU PLESSIS, Polokwane
The Tanqua is full of tricks
I
t all started on my way from Kimberley to the Tanqua Karoo in my VW Touareg 3.0 TDI on a work trip… About 180 km from Kimberley, my wife calls to tell me I’ve forgotten my bag with all my clothes, so I turn back and meet her halfway. Kicking myself, because I hate being late, I press on but miss the rendezvous with the rest of the party in Calvinia. Ah, I think, just plot Tanqua on the GPS and I’ll be fine. I put in Tanqua, Tankwa and every other spelling I can think of. Eventually I key in Karoo, and it pops up as Tankwa Karoo National Park. Now, I might still make the 5 pm meeting. The GPS shows I should keep on the Ceres road from Calvinia for 120 km, at which point it tells me to turn left. But wait… There’s 8 GO! May 2009
a fence in the way. So now I’m lost, it’s getting dark, and there’s no cellphone reception. I head back to Calvinia for the night and call the park to get directions. I’m back on the road at 6 am. About 50 km into the trip, I get my first puncture. After changing the tyre, I’m thinking: “What if?” Sure enough, I get a second puncture shortly there after. I’d seen a house 3 km back, so I decide to walk there to find help, but no one’s home. In the three hours since leaving Calvinia I haven’t seen a single car, so I decide to hike the remaining 13 km to the park reception. The workers there get a big fright when they see me appearing out of nowhere. On my return trip, the car’s computer tells me I have a flat tyre again. I get out, inspect the
tyres, but they all seem fine until I realise that the back tyre has a slow puncture. I decide to push on to Calvinia rather than risk getting stuck again. The consequence? I pay R675 for a guest house, and I have to wait for a new tyre from Cape Town (which sets me back a further R3 500). And then I get the hell out of there. Eish, I must be bewitched, or maybe I should slaughter a chicken to appease the ancestors. Dr Phemelo Kegakilwe, Kimberley Dr Kegakilwe wins a R1 000 voucher from Trappers Trading for sharing this story. Contact www.trappers.co.za or 011 462 2919
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And the cow jumped over the moon… I spotted this sign at Buffeljagsrivier, near Swellendam in the Western Cape. RUVAN BOSHOFF, Cape Town
Love me, love my car… I read with much pleasure William Barker’s column on owning and driving a jalopy (September 2008). I still own and drive a fairly rare 1959 Series 2 Land Rover shortwheelbase station wagon. I recently fitted its fourth engine, the last one having run sweetly for 18 years. We bought it for R25 from a farmer near Joburg, who had been using it as a chicken coop. It had no gearbox and the tyres had long since died. My brother borrowed four wheels and towed it home, where it was presented to our dad as a Father’s Day present, complete with its layers of chicken poop. That was way back in 1972. We had it resprayed for R300 and had a gearbox fitted, and it was roadworthy again. I took it over from Father in about
1985, when I was a ranger working at St Lucia, and have driven it daily ever since. In it I have climbed the Sani Pass many times, driven snow-covered roads in the KZN midlands, crossed flooded rivers in Zululand with water flowing a foot deep through the cab, and had many adventures on the Zululand beaches in the days when beach-driving was legal. The secret, of course, is that an old Land Rover is nothing more or less than a big boy’s Meccano set. You can, as I have done, unbolt or unscrew everything and fiddle around with its innards and, most importantly, get it to work again. And there are 25 places on it that can be used to open a bottle of beer. Jeff Gaisford, Hilton
My, Grandma, what big teeth they have… For the past year I have been looking after my four-yearold grandson every afternoon. Your magazine has been a great teaching tool, especially as we look at the photos and discuss them. Probably the one that was most memorable was that of the young zebra and the crocodiles featured in one of your photo portfolios. After our “lesson”, my grandson was keen to tell
anyone who would listen that crocs ate buck (and people if they were not cautious) “because they are food”. My seven-month-old grandson is also fascinated by wildlife. He loves the Cape otter on our duvet and spends ages chatting to it. It is an instant “tear drier”. Thank you for a wonderful magazine. Jacky Turner, Merrivale
S’no major feat
“The secret, of course, is that an old Land Rover is nothing more or less than a big boy’s Meccano set.“
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I think that all the photos in the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition are great (some of which were featured in the photo portfolio in the March issue), but I wonder about the choice of the overall winner. The photographer, Steve Winter, set a camera trap to capture the image. The snow leopard is the actual photographer, as it, and not Steve, triggered the camera. To me, the one who pushes the trigger is the photographer. Andrew Clark GO! May 2009 9
Q& A Q
From left, Mark Coetzee’s parents-in-law Valda and Rob North, Julia and Mark, and Bernice, Craig and Simone Blitenthall.
Memories of Mark It was New Year’s Eve when we read the January 2008 issue of go! and made the “50 Lekker Things To Do” our New Year’s resolution. We decided that all five us – my sister Julia and her husband Mark Coetzee, my husband Craig and baby Simone and I – would do as many of the activities as we could during 2008. We also decided we would do them together or else it would not count towards the final tally. So we started the New Year off with a dip in the rock pools (1) and clearing our heads under the icy falls (7) of one of the Drakensberg mountain streams. By September 2008 we had had picnics almost everywhere we could (2); found a deserted beach at Lala Nek (3); found a secret place in Krantzkloof Nature Reserve, Kloof (4); taken our bicycles along on weekends away (9); driven on lots of gravel roads (11); gone on a train ride on the Aloe Express (17); done several Sunday afternoon drives (22); gone to agricultural shows (25); attended the Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife Game Auction (29); watched birds (Mark being the most accomplished twitcher) 10 GO! May 2009
(39); planted a tree or two in our gardens (40); substituted the bat safari for the barn swallows roosting at Mount Moreland (45); saw turtles lay their eggs at Lala Nek (47); travelled in our heads and planned the next big adventure (48). Of the five of us, Mark was by far the best travelled and most knowledgeable, and his job as a designer with KZN Wildlife gave him opportunities to see and do things in the great outdoors that the rest of us could not. It was with great sadness that we learnt on 20 September that Mark was killed while flying to Beira in Mozambique on another great adventure. Mark, you are greatly missed every single day, but rest assured that we will not stop our quest to get out to see, learn and do as much as possible in your memory. Thank you to go! for inspiring us to live life to the full and create these lasting memories. Little did we know how precious our quest to do the “50 lekker things” would turn out to be, nor how grateful we are to have those precious memories. BERNICE BLITENTHALL, KwaZulu-Natal
MARTIN SLABBERT writes: Jon Minster’s article on Zanzibar (January 2009) has inspired my wife and me to visit the island. I have one question: Did you need an international motorbike licence to hire a scooter on the island?
A
JON MINSTER replies: You don’t need to present an international licence to hire the scooter, but if you are stopped by a policeman you might be asked to show that you have one. I wasn’t stopped, so I wasn’t ever asked (even though I had one to be on the safe side). You can get an international licence from the AA. Enjoy the trip!
Delta blues I recently visited the Okavango Delta. I found it absolutely breathtaking (as you can see by the picture) but I was very disappointed to see how overcrowded it was with tourists. I feel that the fragile delta is slowly being destroyed due to the number of tourists allowed at any one time. One example was when the small group I was with was relaxing under the night sky around the fire, awaiting the thrilling sounds of the nocturnal wild. We were suddenly interrupted by a larger tour group
deeper in the delta singing traditional campfire songs and, unfortunately, traditional pub songs! This happened every night and made it obvious why we did not see or hear much wildlife. I would refer to it as noise pollution! Our guides and some of the locals all agreed that the traffic was getting out of hand. Sadly, it appears to be the usual case of “if it makes money, we’ll take advantage of it”. Joanne Shuttleworth, Johannesburg
LETTERS
Q
Q& A
LYNNE O’NEILL writes:
I live in the UK. I recently spent a holiday in the Drakensberg, where I came across your magazine. I’m keen to try some of the recipes featured in your food pages. Regarding the recipe for beer bread in the January 2009 issue, what kind of beer should you use? It sounds so easy even I couldn’t cock it up!
A From left, Nyaiyiso Ngeleka, Bonginkosi Smith, Patrick Jama and Luthando Cingco.
Thank you for saving my life I write this to thank three men who saved my life while my wife and I were visiting your wonderful country recently. They are Luthando Cingco, Bonginkosi Smith and Patrick Jama, who work as lifeguards at Umtentweni Beach near Port Shepstone. On 19 December last year I went for an early-morning dip. I quickly got through the crashing breakers to where the higher swells were, hoping to do some body surfing. One of the lifeguards was out close to me and we both took our turn, trying to catch the right wave. After about 15 minutes I realised I was too far out and that I couldn’t get back to shore on my own. I was also really, really tired. It took me about 20 seconds to decide to call to the lifeguard: “Hey man, I think I am in trouble!” Instantly Luthando was over to me and helped to keep my head above the waves. He waved to his other two colleagues, who swam out with flotation devices. One of them helped me back to shore, and although we took a bit of a 12 GO! May 2009
beating coming through the breakers, I was soon standing safely on the sand, every muscle aching. What can you do for someone who has literally saved your life? We bought some cold drinks and took them down to the beach at noon as a thank-you gesture. I kept thinking of these comments I had heard about black South Africans being slow to respond in their jobs, and all I knew was that I had been rescued by three young South Africans (Luthando, who was with me in the water, is 18 and still in high school) who all happen to be black, who took their jobs very seriously and did not waste any time and quite literally saved my life. I’m not sure I would be writing this if Luthando had not been out there with me already to hear my cry for help. So this is just a simple letter to publicly say thank you and to encourage all South Africans to do the same to the many lifeguards who often put their lives on the line every day. Duncan Wilson, Seattle, USA
PETER VAN NOORD replies: Thanks for your letter. It’s great to know that you are trying out our recipes. I normally use a lager, like Castle, Windhoek or Black Label, to make this bread.
“What can you do for someone who has literally saved your life?”
Rail pass that gets you onto a boat A good tip for South Africans travelling in Switzerland is to buy a Swiss Railpass before you leave (we got ours from World Travel in Johannesburg). This pass gives you unlimited travel on all public transport, from the tiniest towns to cities and into the highest mountains. It cost us R7 500 for two and was valid for 22 days. It really is the cheapest, most hasslefree way to travel.
View the mountains from a lake. Switzerland has many beautiful lakes where you can catch a ferry – in many instances the trains stop right next to the lake. If you plan your day right, you can go on a wonderful sightseeing tour aboard a steam-driven boat using this pass.
The great transito robbery debate The letter from Yvonne and Derek Youens “Beware the transitos in Mozambique” in your February issue refers. Yvonne and Derek are lucky they were not in Mozambique during the summer holiday, when the transitos were at their most active. I live and work in Mozambique
and am horrified by their activities. They deliberately target SouthAfrican-registered vehicles driven by holidaymakers, especially if they are large 4x4s towing a trailer. Fines are issued for offences such as driving with open shoes or no shoes, not putting the emergency flashers on
after being pulled off, or not having red triangles in the vehicle. The offender then has his driver’s licence confiscated and is told to report to the nearest police station to pay the fine and then return with the receipt before the licence will be returned.
Mozambique is alienating the very people who are most important for its economy. Most of the holidaymakers I spoke to said that they would not return after their experience with the transitos. MIFFED (name withheld)
Transitos? No problem… I would like to offer an alternative view to the one expressed in your February issue. Whereas the transitos in Maputo do take a chance and seem a little aggressive, the further we travelled northwards towards Vilankulo, the friendlier they became. We were stopped 17 times outside Maputo and did not have one
problem. They really did check every thing: licences, chassis numbers, lights, warning triangles, trailer triangles. We always wore our seat belts, no matter what. When we were pulled over and there was a stop sign with the transito 20 m down the road, I would stop at the stop sign and then drive towards him with
my indicator on, and then switch on the hazard lights when I stopped. I always drove 10 km an hour under the speed limit, and when leaving a small town or settlement I would drive at 60 km an hour. I really did not want to get caught for speeding. You also have to make sure your car is in tip-top condition and have all
the necessary documents. I think here in South Africa we have become used to disobeying the law without ever getting stopped at a roadblock, so we get upset when someone actually takes us to task on these issues. Andrew Rodrigues, Melkbosstrand
For cyclists, climbers and hikers. Cyclists are allowed to take a bike on buses, trains and boats, so you can freewheel downhill from your destination if you want to. Hikers and climbers will also save money, because normally it costs an arm and a leg to access the world-famous ski stations in the high Alps. With this pass, you pay half-price from the penultimate station. Ask the locals. If you’re a keen photographer, it pays to chat to fellow passengers to find out on which side of the train you should sit for the best views. It also helps to clean your window with a damp cloth before the train departs. JACKIE and LIDA BOSCH, Pretoria
Foam party This picture was taken at Herold’s Bay on 24 December last year. STOFFEL DU TOIT Thanks for reminding us of this extraordinary sight, Stoffel. The foam in the picture was stirred up by a big weather system to the south of the country, combined with a spring tide. – Ed.
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