This new release and first book by South African author Sihle Khumalo, details his travels from Cape to Cairo by public transport.
‘I had always wanted to write a book but I had never known what type of a book I would write. As my 30th birthday was getting closer I thought, why don’t I do the Cape to Cairo – which I had always wanted to do - and then after the trip attempt to write a book based on my travels and thus kill two birds with one stone. As they say, the rest is history.’
Read Pete “the meat” ’s review below:
From Cape to Cairo - that’s the intention, and that’s the span of the book. Shades of Kingsley Holgate and extended family, with Land Rover engines rumbling and belching, and loads of red rum around camp-fires at night! Maybe a lion roaring, or some hyenas yelping in the distance!
Well - not so, when Sihle Khumalo describes his real-life encounters. Same route, by and large, that many have traversed over the “dark continent”, but somewhat unusual, and a great deal more stamina required by the writer! Because, when the perspectives are flowing from an obviously suave, worldly-wise African graduate of Uni and sometimes life, choosing to get down and dirty on the roads and buses that span this large and complex continent we call home, this make for excellent reading, as well as some good laughs
So, sit back and travel tightly with our friend Sihle, as he buses through most of southern and eastern Africa’s states, backpacks through some very odd places, joins queues for hours at border crossings, gets mildly irritated at fruit and food vendors, becomes furious when he isn’t offered a lift in an air-conditioned 4×4 (with a license plate not far from where he started, two months prior!)………..and you find that he has crept right under your skin, whether it’s superficially black or white! Recall as you read, the personal resolutions he vows to keep, on his return to normality in SA (be worth finding out how our friend is doing on those, I suspect!). Chuckle at the ladies he tries half-heartedly to hook up with, en route, more out of curiosity, it seems, than serious intent
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Volunteering holidays are a highly enriching and immersive way to experience a foreign culture at the most grass roots level.
A number of exiting and exotic opportunities are now listed on Bootsnall, where you can choose your destination, activities and budget.
Most include accommodation and some include meals and excursions, all look like fantastic life changing experiences.
These selected opportunities currently exist in South Africa:
Animal Rescue society near Cape Town, South Africa:
This centre is a domestic animal rescue organisation located near Cape Town. Their goal is to provide animal health care and sterilisation to the local impoverished communities along with running an adoption programme for abandoned stray animals. Your work here will take on many roles from feeding and caring for the many animals to working closely with staff as they go out into the local informal settlements to collect, return and vaccinate animals on site. There is also the opportunity to work along side the resident vet, who requires assistance daily; this is not for the faint hearted. On quieter days you can get involved with a programme called ‘Open Paw’ which is a training programme to help the dogs understand basic commands helping with the adoption process.
Lion Monitoring Expedition in South Africa:
This is a chance for any lion lover to get up close and personal with these magnificent predators and other African mammals. Work alongside experienced researchers while learning and putting into practice, tracking and research techniques in South Africa. The reserve is based between the small towns of Gravelotte and Mica in the Limpopo Province and covers over 30,000 hectares of African wilderness. It is home to elephants, leopard, white rhino and various antelope species; you will be in the midst of some of the worlds most fascinating wildlife on a day-to-day basis. This is an amazing opportunity to learn about conservation and predator management, while enjoying a truly wilderness area, excellent wildlife viewing and at the same time contribution to African wildlife conservation. Your assistance in actively monitoring a lion pride is vital for the future development and success of this project and would make a fantastic addition to a gap year, sabbatical or annual holiday.
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A friend from Germany was in town last week and desperately wanted to visit some natural hot springs. We have 4 of such that I am aware of, and there are all within 2 hours of Cape Town.
Goudini Spa: A large family resort with municipal charm and old world holiday camp appeal. This place has been a traditional family mainstay for many many years and is still going strong. The rooms are basic but cheap and the grounds are very lush and well landscaped. Not really ideal for young people, but great for families, wanting a quick getaway from Cape Town at little expense.
The Baths: It has been a while since I was here, but I remember enjoying the place greatly, the baths are steaming hot and the setting is quite remote and very much amongst nature.
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Arniston is a sleepy fishing village about 2 and a half hours from Cape Town and is a favourite retreat for families, and weekender’s. It is frequented mainly by South Africans, so if you are looking for something less touristy and with no choice of restaurants this is it.
The town is actually called Waenhuiskrans (named after its cave), but is now referred to as Arniston after H.M.S Arniston was wrecked here in 1815.
You get here on the N2 highway out of Cape Town until Caledon, then head towards Bredarsdorp through the Cape wheat and Grain basket and then towards to the Coast. Arniston is near Cape Aghulas which is the southernmost tip of Africa.
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I found this video of the longest Zip Line in the world called the Pronutro zip 2000 which sounds like it belongs to Harry Potter.
We call them foofy slides in South Africa, does anyone know why? The Zip slide is a feature at Sun City resort 2 hours outside of Johannesburg.
The sound that the pulley makes on the wire is amazing and far more of a “Zip” than a “Foof”
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The Cango caves near Oudstshoorn are South Africa’s oldest tourist attraction.
Discovered (again) in 1780 and opened to the public in 1806, the Cango cave system is a winding network of jewelled caverns stretching well over 5km (so far discovered)
The first great chamber you enter is called the Van Zyl hall (named after the man said to have discovered them), is as long as a football field, with gorgeous dripping limestone formations.
There are two tours available to the general public and from where the “standard route” ends the “adventure tour” takes you a little further into the cave and through some tight squeezes some no more than 30cm high. The caves are a humid, warm and reasonable well lit. Take good walking shoes and dress lightly.
Some Cango caves mystery and intrigue:
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The Zulu Kingdom now offers visitors a chance to experience the Brew Route, similar in many ways to the wine routes of the Western Cape.
The Route consists of 8 breweries, which range from SABMiller (second largest brewer in the world) to the family run Farmers Brauhaus in Hattingspruit, Dundee.
The route takes tourists through a large part of the province and is impossible to complete in one day, but there is excellent accommodation available throughout the route, especially in the Midlands.
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Every Spring, tourists and local nature lovers come from all over to pay homage to one of the most spectacular flower shows in the world.
The West Coast of South Africa, is an acquired taste, compared to the lush garden route. It is rocky, dry and sometimes quite featureless. This makes a huge about face in the spring months when wildflowers carpet huge swathes of it in a massive display of colour. This is starting right now!
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It was Sarah’s Birthday this weekend so we decided to try and go to Ratanga Junction for some gut churning and bad pizza, but unfortunately it was closed due to the weather..(it was bright sunshine) This does not bode well for the future of Ratanga Junction, seeing as we are in the middle of school holidays right now.
If you plan on going do check the website here, from a weather forecast although they don’t seem to pay attention to it themselves.
Instead we decided to check out the new ice rink at the Grand West Casino centre. My wife was born on the 7/7/77 and not a great day to visit the casino if you expect to find parking! So it was very busy and all the parents had dumped their kids in the ice rink/movies/coat check so they could get down to losing some money fast!
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It is nearly time again for the world famous sardine run, where gigantic shoals of sardine (which can be seen from space), swarm up the East coast of South Africa.
The Sardine Run can be witnessed at some point between May and July (conditions permitting). If the water is too warm the Sardines will stay out in the deeper water.
Divers come from all over the word to view this once in a lifetime dive opportunity dubbed “The most exiting dive in the world”
The massive schools clump into bait-balls as a feeding frenzy occurs by shark, seal, birds, fisherman and other predator fish species.
It was reported today that if water temperatures remained low, the fishies could be close to shore by next week. If you are in the are check for updates and dive info here.
Sardine run facts after the jump:
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