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South Africa’s number one travel and outdoor lifestyle magazine. We pay our own way and tell it like it is. We drive back roads and speak to real people, giving you practical information about affordable destinations in southern Africa. Each issue is crammed with excellent photography, honest gear reviews and delicious recipes to make at home or in the bundu. Whether you’re looking to escape for a weekend or a month, your journey starts here.

“Kudus” to the Kgalagadi

BEHIND THE SCENES • Our intrepid bikers Jean Cooper and De Witt Oosthuizen finish their journey through Africa on p116. We asked Jean about life lessons, family support and what's important in a travel buddy.

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LETTERS

Q&A

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NIGHT WATCH

OLIVE GROVE, MUMBWA, ZAMBIA

Ballad of the single bed • Your wedding night and honeymoon are supposed to be romantic, but Liesl de Beer and her husband experienced the opposite. It started with single beds and ended with a rusty nail in the shower in Hwange…

BOOKS AND MUSIC

ROAD MUSIC

MEET THE AUTHOR Denis Costello • The author and adventurer might have travelled to more than 130 countries, but he loves the African bush the most. In Walking Safaris of Africa: Guided walks from the Cape to Kenya, he explains why.

Green is for grace • The Kalahari is one of the biggest deserts in the world – an uninterrupted sea of sand that stretches over borders. After good rain, the heart of this wilderness – the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park – beats with life. Come and witness the miracle.

The wilderness downtown • Looking for a wild and wonderful weekend close to Gauteng? The Waterberg has something for everyone, whether you're a birder or mountain biker, or if you're just looking for that bushveld reset that we all so desperately need. Here's your guide.

Into the great, wide everything • On the three-day Sneeuberg Slackpacking Trail, you disappear into a hidden corner of the Eastern Cape Karoo. Every night, after a hearty meal, you'll fall asleep in a manor house in the middle of nowhere, guarded over by mountains on all sides.

TAKE YOUR PIC

The deep end

Stick around for teatime • These cakes and tarts ooze syrupy deliciousness.

Long haul in luxury • South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe… Southern Africa is an off-road driver's dream, and for a million rand or more, there are plenty of new 4×4s that can turn fantasies of remote destinations into reality.

TAKE A HIKE • SLEEPING BEAUTY CAVE, SOUTHERN DRAKENSBERG

STAY HERE • KLIPHEUWEL FARM, DE DOORNS

Sun, sea, Strandfontein • Most towns on the West Coast are flat, except Strandfontein – it has cliffs on both sides and it's on a bluff, so a sea view is guaranteed. Here's your guide.

3 THINGS TO DO

WITH MY OWN EYES

Sting in the tail • There are more than 150 scorpion species in southern Africa. These shy nocturnal critters don't want to hurt you, but if you get too close, they might raise their stingers – watch out!

BIRDS • TRACKING A TROGON

BIRD BRAIN

The final stretch – through the Sahara! • Not everyone is brave enough to ride a motorcycle from South Africa to Spain. Luckily we have Jean Cooper and DeWitt Oosthuizen, who did just that in 2023. This is the final instalment of their amazing journey. Join them as they ride north from Senegal, through wind, sand and even rain – all the way to Africa'send.

CROSSWORD PUZZLE

Explore the Zambezi Region and Zambia's Liuwa Plain • Join go! and Heuningland on a 13-day guided journey through Namibia's Zambezi Region (previously Caprivi) and Barotseland in the south-west of Zambia, led by experienced tour guide Douwe Vlok.

LETTER FROM Kraaifontein • The longer you...