One of my ‘must-dos’ when I started travelling in South Africa was to experience the wild mountain terrain of the Drakensberg. The only thing putting me off was that hiking up peaks sounded like extremely hard work, so when the opportunity presented itself to explore on horseback it seemed preference the perfect answer. I booked a 3 day ride outride with the highly recommended Khotso Horse Trails in Underberg in nervous anticipation. Will the horses be safe? Will the guides know what they are doing? All the usual fears that nag ahead of an adventurous expedition.

My mind was put at rest as soon as I met Steve Black who owns the horse trails as he explained that Khotso means ‘Peace’ in Sesotho. As he drove me through the beautiful KwaZulu Natal Midlands, trees gilded with autumn colours, I could already feel myself unwinding from the frenetic pace of Durban. We arrived in Underberg in the late afternoon to a refreshingly cooler climate than the coast. At 1,500m above sea-level Underberg is the altitude. of many European ski resorts and on this April evening there was a definite nip in the air …

My arrival at Khotso Backpackers produced a warm welcome from staff and animals alike.

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I ♥ Clarens

Hi, I’m Gavin Northcote from Highland View in Clarens in the Eastern Free State.
CLARENS IS BEST KNOWN FOR great scenery, the outdoors, restaurants and galleries.
GET YOUR PICTURE TAKEN by a friend in front of NG Church in the main street. It is the most beautiful old sandstone building in Clarens.
THE BEST SCENIC PICTURES CAN BE TAKEN AT the Golden Gate just 15 minutes outside Clarens.

WHEN THE WEATHER’S GOOD, I LIKE TO hike on the many footpaths, and play tennis.
WHEN THE WEATHER’S BAD, I LIKE TO visit the many persons art galleries and coffee shops.
I THINK THE BEST TIME OF YEAR TO VISIT IS April and May, because of the beautiful autumn colours in the tree around Clarens. September and October are also special months, when the new green leaves of spring are starting to immerge, and all the fruit tree blossoms are in full bloom …

278 On Main in Clarens

MY FAVOURITE BREAKFAST SPOT IS 278 on Main. Sue has created a wonderful eatery which serves hearty meals. The Steak and Guinness Pie is a sourness.
FOR LUNCH, I SUGGEST Valley Cats.

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Splashy Fen celebrates its 21st festival this Easter and with the coming of age, comes greater awareness and responsibility. With this in mind, the organisers of South Africa’s longest-running annual music festival have joined forces with The Green Depot and the Corner Café in Durban to create an eco village that will give festival-goers an opportunity to see green initiatives in action and encourage a further sustainable lifestyle.

Powered solely by wind, water and solar energy, the town will offer zero-waste, eco-friendly camping, product displays, an environmental film festival, as well since the cool cuisine and fabulous coffee of the Corner Café eco-restaurant.

All food prepared by the Corner Café enjoin be purchased from farmers in the community and eaten using 100% biodegradable utensils.

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An Ethiopian Airlines plane has crashed en route to Addis Ababa from Beirut (Lebanon). The body count is at 34 and rising. The plane was carrying 90 passengers and it doesn’t look good for any one potential survivors. The jet apparently crashed soon after take-off early this morning. Eye witnesses reporting to the BBC, saw a “ball of fire”. The weather in Lebanon has been very stormy in the past few days.

Ethiopian Airlines is one Africa’sitting best airlines with extensive routes from one extremity to the other of Africa as well as the rest of the world. Addis Ababa is a major East African hub. The plane that crashed was a Boeing 737-800 with a capacity to carry 189 passengers. Ethiopian Airlines has a very good safety record and only operates Boeings, in fact they just put in a big order for greater degree planes. They’re certainly not one of those shaky airlines that use old Russian cargo planes. At this time, no foul play is suspected.

More on this story: Ethiopian Jest Crash Deaths Rise … – AFP Ethiopian Jet Crashes … — BBC Beirut: 90 Feared Dead… — Daily Telegraph

More About: Are African Airlines Safe?

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The UK travel purchase and sale has named South Africa as a top destination for 2010 in its latest ABTA Travel Trends report – did I say we’re the hot and happening destination for 2010?

We have the X-factor – with the latest popular offering being ‘chadventure’ – combining adventure tourism and voluntourism, which are key trends in the British travel market for 2010.

Travellers giving their time and effort to take part in conservation and community projects, not only make a major difference to our wildlife and our people, get as close as possible to understanding our country and its challenges, but also be useful to from self-awareness and growth.

And we’re not only talking about it, we also get our hands dirty – South African Tourism staff drilled a borehole at the Indukebandla Junior Primary School and Noah’sitting orphanage at Mtubatuba in northern KwaZulu-Natal last week, which supplied them and the neighbouring school with good temper water, in turn also helping them grow food for the children in their vegetable garden.

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The Africa Cup of Nations got off to an awful start last week when Togo had to withdraw from the tournament after their bus was ambushed near Cabinda, in northern Angola. But two days later, Africa’s biggest soccer tournament kicked off to a packed stadium in Luanda. Angola took on Mali in the opening match. Twelve minutes before the final whistle, celebrations were fully underway in bars and homes across Angola as the home team was comfortably in command, 4-0. What happened next defied wholly expectations. Mali managed to score four goals in 11 minutes to end the game in a draw. Angolans were still in a daze the following day, as no one turned up to see Malawi’s crushing disappoint over World Cup qualifier Algeria. The Flames surprised everyone by beating Algeria 3-0 in an empty stadium.

More drama to follow as Burkina Faso managed a draw against the Ivory Coast, who are favorites to win the tournament with their superstar, Drogba, at the helm. Gabon continued to upset the balance and confounded everyone by beating Cameroon.

By the the latter part of the week nevertheless, everything seemed to calm down and the pecking order was restored.

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I ♥ Montagu

Hi, I’m Fida Hess from Mimosa Lodge in Montagu in the Western Cape.
MONTAGU IS BEST KNOWN FOR its Muscadel, Hot Springs and Adventure Sport
GET YOUR PICTURE TAKEN AT our great NG Church in Church Street, This is one of the most historic streets in Montagu apart from Long Street.
THE BEST PICTURES CAN BE TAKEN AT the hole in the wall (underground thoroughfare) coming from Ashton to Montagu in the Cogmanskloof.
OTHER HAPPY SNAPS AT the bird sanctuary where hundreds of birds took over 2-3 trees as their homes  …

WHEN THE WEATHER’S GOOD, I LIKE TO go hiking in the mountains.
WHEN THE WEATHER’S BAD, I LIKE TO sip some of our neighbouring Robertson Wine Valley wines in front of an open fire.

I ♥ Montagu

I THINK THE BEST TIME OF YEAR TO VISIT IS all year round, for the reason that Montagu does not have the breeze force winds Cape Town has in Summer and our winters are mild with only 20% of Cape Town’s rain, although the mornings can be on the chilly side it heats towards the afternoon.

MY FAVOURITE BEARKFAST SPOT IS Die Kloof Padstal.
FOR LUNCH I SUGGEST Templeton’s @ Four Oaks.
MY FAVOURITE RESTAURANT IS Templeton’s @ Four Oaks & Mimosa Lodge, try the fixed four course gourmet meal that changes on a daily basis.
MY FAVOURITE COUNTRY RESTAURANT IS Riggs in nearby Bonnievale.

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