Roxanne Reid's Blog, page 11

12 reasons to visit Namaqua National Park

By Roxanne Reid
If you hear the word Namaqualand, it’s a fair bet that the words ‘spring flowers’ will instantly pop into your head. But the Namaqua National Park near Kamieskroon in South Africa’s Northern Cape is not just for spring visits. Here are 12 reasons to visit at any time of year.  1. Spring flowers  Yes, there are lots of reasons to visit the Namaqua National Park apart from wild flowers in spring, but this doesn’t mean that the flower carpets aren’t spectacularly w...

Gorge Cottage, Augrabies: best view in South Africa

By Roxanne Reid
If you want to stay in a cottage with one of the best views in South Africa, head for Oranjekom viewpoint in the Augrabies Falls National Park in the Northern Cape. This is where you’ll find Gorge Cottage and I promise the view will get your pulse thumping with excitement. If you’ve been to Augrabies before you may remember standing on the viewing platform at Oranjekom staring down at the Orange River gorge below in awe. You may even have muttered – as I did – that this wou...

15 things to do at Mokala National Park

By Roxanne Reid
Mokala is a malaria-free park that lies off the N12 about 75 kilometres southwest of Kimberley – a perfect stopover between Cape Town and Johannesburg. But don’t rush it, stay two or three nights and discover some of these 15 things to do at Mokala National Park. 1. Love the landscape  Mokala landscape just before sunset Mokala is a pretty park, green in summer and drier in winter but always interesting because of its diversity, from open grasslands and thickets to Kal...

Gannakouriep, Richtersveld: find 'nothing' and love it

By Roxanne Reid
Prozac for the soul. That’s what I called the chapter about the Richtersveld in my book A Walk in the Park. Four or five visits later, nothing has changed; it’s still a place to rest and reconnect with your soul. Tag along as we visit Gannakouriep camp for the first time, a place to find ‘nothing’ and love it. I lost count of the number of times we stopped to admire the mountain desert views or the plants that scrabble their way through rock into the light here in the /Ai/A...

Why to visit Totties Farm Kitchen near Knysna

By Roxanne Reid
If ever you get a chance to explore the Rheenendal Ramble – an informal lucky packet of stops along the Rheenendal Road 15km west of Knysna on South Africa’s Garden Route – make sure you visit Totties Farm Kitchen for lunch or tea. You’ll get good food in charmingly old-fashioned surroundings.  When we visited in summer the garden was a blaze of colourful flowers. There were pink roses tumbling over the entrance, succulents planted vertically in a box, chairs hanging from t...

Sendelingsdrift nature garden, Richtersveld

By Roxanne Reid
I’ve always looked at Sendelingsdrift in the /Ai/Ais-Richtersveld Transfrontier Park as a place to be endured on the way to the excitements of Akkedis Pass, Domrogh Pass, Potjiespram, De Hoop and the wilderness camps inside the park. On a recent visit I discovered a reason to love your stopover here – the new Sendelingsdrift nature garden and herbarium. We could hardly believe the changes that had taken place there since our last visit in July 2013. Previously, we’d kept aw...

15 things to do near Knysna on the Garden Route

By Roxanne Reid
There’s so much to see and do in and around Knysna that you couldn’t fit it all into a single post. I’m going to focus on the Rheenendal-Buffalo Bay area to the west, which we’ve returned again and again. Here are 15 things to do near Knysna on the Garden Route. 1. Explore the Rheenendal Ramble. Much like the Midlands Meander in KZN, this is an informal lucky packet of stops, but along the Rheenendal Road 15km west of Knysna. Explore at your leisure, choosing from a range o...

5 arid parks worth visiting in the Northern Cape

By Roxanne Reid
It may not be home to Table Mountain or the Kruger National Park – two of South Africa’s most well known attractions – but the Northern Cape is still one of my favourite places. It has open spaces and blue skies, mountains and semi-desert landscapes crammed with wildlife big and small. Here are 5 arid parks worth visiting in the Northern Cape.  1. /Ai/Ais-Richtersveld Transfrontier Park The /Ai/Ais-Richtersveld Transfrontier Park is more than 6 000 square kilometres,...

15 things to do in Paternoster on the West Coast

By Roxanne Reid
For the locals, life in Paternoster still revolves around the sea. Fishing is the historical lifeblood of the village and fishermen still go out almost every day in their colourful boats. For visitors, of course, there’s more variety. Here are 15 things to do in Paternoster on the West Coast of South Africa. 1. Enjoy some West Coast humour Look out for the broken windmill on your right-hand side as you drive from Vredenburg to Paternoster along the R399. Its legs stil...

Elgin and Hermanus: road trip into the Cape Overberg

By Roxanne Reid
When last did you go online to book a little getaway? And which accommodation aggregator did you use? I’ve just used Accommodation Direct for the first time to book an Elgin and Hermanus road trip into the Cape Overberg and it was an easy, pain-free experience. Find out more... Accommodation Direct is an internet accommodation booking service with thousands of listings across South Africa and beyond into southern Africa. They recently offered to sponsor a few days’ accommod...