Valley of plenty

The place where the Wilge River cuts through the mountains about 40 km north-east of Bronkhorstspruit is known as Wilgepoort, Trichardtspoort, Zusterstroom... or simply "the valley". This river is the lifeblood of the people who live and farm here.

Backwaters of the Molopo

If you look at a map of North West, where the northern border curves into Botswana, that's where you'll find Piet Plessis, Tosca, Bray, and Vorstershoop. Willem van der Berg drove many kilometres on dirt roads and met people who still have time for stories.

Make a kokedama

A kokedama, or a Japanese moss ball, is a lovely way to display an ornamental plant like a living work of art in your home. We show you how to make your own.

Thunderbirds get a second chance

The southern ground-hornbill - an iconic species of the savannah biome that breeds only once every six years - is critically endangered. Sarie Marais-Nell visited the Mabula Ground Hornbill Project near Bela-Bela, where they are working hard to slow the decline in their numbers.

GENADENDAL Barefoot on hallowed ground

Genadendal, a village in the Overberg region, is steeped in the slower pace of an earlier era. The bricks, stones, woodwork, thatch, and even the trees, tell the fascinating story of the first mission station in South Africa - and of many other firsts.

A weekend in Prince Albert

Prince Albert, which turns 260 this year, has evolved from a quiet Afrikaans farming hamlet to a modern, bustling oasis that draws visitors from all over the world. Yet this town at the foot of the Swartberg has lost none of its charm. Walk with us.

Healing, endless greatness

Empty, vast landscapes – deserts, arid pans, the Karoo, the Free State plains, green valleys, the sea – change people. Your worries don’t vanish, but you gain a better perspective on them, says Annelise Erasmus.

Enchanted by water

Alan Hobson and his family were living the good life in Johannesburg, but the fishing waters of the Eastern Cape lured him back. Since he and his wife Annabelle moved to Somerset East, their main aim has been to establish fly-fishing as a tourist attraction in the Karoo.

Guard dogs your eyes, your ears, your friends

Having a guard dog is a good option to keep you safe in your home, but a dog cannot be a replacement for a security system. You have more responsibility for your own safety than your pet does.

One wet summer

During a good rainy season, few sights (or sounds!) on earth beat the Orange River in flood crashing into the gorge at Augrabies Falls, says Sue Hewitt from Bethulie. – Augrabies Falls, Northern Cape

KAMPERSRUS The goodplace in the mountains

In the 1930s, Broer Maré bought a farm named Bedford at the foot of the northern Drakensberg and renamed it Kampersrus, meaning camper’s rest – a resting place for travellers. We got to meet some of the people who decided to settle in this picturesque place in Limpopo.

Pella Oasis in the wilderness

Pella sounds like a faraway place, and it is far away – all the way up north in Bushmanland, just inside the South African border. The people of Pella believe the Lord watches over them and their special settlement, which became established around a mission station more than 200 years ago.

Small is beautiful

Downsizing has become a buzzword among South Africans who want to hop off the consumer treadmill, flee Covid-19 restrictions and embrace the smaller, more important things in life. For many of them, a tiny home in the countryside seems the perfect solution.

Willemsrivier will put your soul back in your ribcage

Whether it’s the wildflower season or not, if you spend the night on the Kotzé family’s sheep and guest farm Willemsrivier 4 km from Nieuwoudtville, 1795 will seem like yesterday.

Life In The Past Lane

“It’s terrible, terrible to grow old and, Meneer, if you live long enough your time will come,” Afrikaans literary master Karel Schoeman once warned Herman Lategan. But now that he’s become a nostalgic old fool, Herman finds reminiscing about rural life in towns like Trompsburg strangely comforting.

In A Land Far, Far Away

Deep in the Tsitsikamma, safely ensconced in a lush, green, lively forest, wordsmith and visual artist Carina Stander lets her talents shine. Here, between the mountains and the sea, she and her family don’t give a thought to the bustle of the city.

Plant Your Own ‘Smarties'

To fully appreciate the flavour of fresh peas at their absolute peak, there is no better way but to grow them yourself. You’ll have to wait for next winter, though, to try it.

Where The Wildflowers Bloom

It’s that time of year again: over the past month Mother Nature has staged breathtaking displays of wildflowers in Namaqualand. Marie Labuschagne from Alberton recalls a previous flower tour.

Where Ghosts Linger

The vast Karoo landscape is not only hauntingly beautiful, but it is seemingly also haunted by a great many spirits. Madeleine Barnard went on a ghost hunt.

A Splash Of England At The Klip

At the turn of the previous century, a delightful fragment of rural England rooted itself among the willows on the banks of the Klip River, south of Johannesburg. Welcome to Henley on Klip, where you can expect a few pleasant surprises.

A Snake In The Sugar Cane

You hear the best stories in the bar of a small town or golf club – useful to know if you’re a young reporter. Anna Kemp recalls an evening of endless and terrifying tales about snakes.

Garlic Galore The Pungent Smell Of Success

Three months after lockdown was implemented last year, dealing a nasty blow to her business, Santie Marais from Laingsburg took her chances and bought a successful small enterprise that elevates Karoo garlic to salivating new heights.

What Can You Do For The Karoo?

When you’ve had enough of life in the city, what do you do? Some people pack their bags and move to the platteland, where a completely different – but also at times challenging – lifestyle awaits. Artist Cobus van Bosch and journalist Madeleine Barnard can attest to that.

Where You Hear The Earth's Heartbeat

In the folds of the Nuweveld Mountains, about 70km southwest of Beaufort West, Douwe and Liezl Vlok have realised their dream: to live simply and to tread the earth as lightly as they can. Let’s go for a walk in their footsteps.

Sweet rewads

Last year, amid the soul-destroying drought and lockdown, two madcap yet deeply devout women from Merweville borrowed money from their husbands to buy a nougat business. They christened it Karoo Blessings… and lo and behold, a mere three months later these two“CEOs”were able to to fully repay their debt.

The Travelling Willow

Her love of architecture, history, travel and for her mother’s treasured BlueWillow collection inspired Sarah-Jane Jordaan, a young architect and illustrator from De Doorns, to use her pen to take this much-loved tree on a trip around the world.

The Art Of Living

Artists Tamar Mason and Mark Attwood moved their studio from Johannesburg to the Lowveld in 2002. Step by step, they set up a sustainable lifestyle, and proved to naysayers that the move was not “financial suicide”.

A Dog's Life

What would a garden or cosy living room be without a dog – whether it works for its food or simply keeps its owner company? Artist and illustrator Piet Grobler* shares the insights he has gained over the years of living in South Africa, England and now Portugal.

Snowdrops And Shelter

Amid the isolation of the national lockdown and unprecedented upheaval in the magazine industry, there is one place that helps keep celebrated media doyenne Jane Raphaely sane in our changing world…

Tesselaarsdal - The Valley Of Faith, Hope & Love

Tesselaarsdal is an Overberg village that doesn’t as much as feature on some GPS apps, and you won't find it in the latest road atlas. If you do sniff it out – in the mountains between Caledon and Hermanus – you’ll be bowled over by the scenic beauty and the strong sense of community.