A courtyard fountain seen through an archway in South Africa's Waterford Wine Estate.

The journal: Outdoors & Activities

Outdoors & Activities13 October 2026
Under Dust and Stars: A Four-Day Horse Trail Through the Klein Karoo
Riding, for the lucky cohort that call the saddle home, leaves you feeling boundless. Free. Usually, that magical feeling is over far too quickly as the city rushes back in. That was until I did a four-day horse trail through the semi-arid Southern African region known as Klein Karoo. Eight eager, horse-loving riders congregated in De Rust for a mind-altering adventure called Stof en sterre (Dust…
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Outdoors & Activities16 March 2024
Switzerland's Sensational Scenery: A Rail Journey on the Glacier Express
Switzerland is breathtaking, both in beauty and price. And the Glacier Express, one of its fantastic scenic rail journeys, is no exception. As soon as I started looking into the train, social media algorithms started to feed me reels and short videos. This both fuelled my interest and provided me with some great cost-cutting tips which ultimately led me to stop umming and ahing and debating…
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Stays & Dining8 February 2023
Vergelegen Wine Estate: A Guide to its Grounds and Gardens
Vergelegen is an estate worthy of several visits. Its expansive grounds and gardens – there are 17 in total – could be covered within a day but to fully explore, and more importantly, to fully appreciate all that this esteemed estate has to offer, a few visits are in order. I ventured to the estate for the first time on a balmy summer day at the start of February 2023. Driving down the impressive…
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Outdoors & Activities22 January 2023
Hazendal's Kleine Hazen Putting Park: Fun for the Whole Family
Hazendal Wine Estate is fast becoming the estate that has it all. The family-friendly estate offers something for everyone from their Pivnushka beer garden and Russian tea ceremony to their Babushka picnics and their part-education-part-play centre, Wonderdal. They even have a golf course and fun putting park where friends and families can get together for a friendly round of putting. Nestled…
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Destinations18 December 2022
A Kruger Adventure: 24 hours at Berg-en-Dal Rest Camp
Our last full day in the Kruger, we arose early, packed the car once more and said goodbye to Satara Rest Camp shortly after the gates opened. We were heading south, to Berg-en-Dal, one of the park's newer rest camps. We'd planned out the route the night before, deciding to stop at Tshokwane picnic spot, Sukusa and Afsaal Trader's Rest - another picnic spot. Depending on how our timing went, we'd…
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Destinations17 December 2022
A Kruger Adventure: Satara Rest Camp
We drove through Orpen gate and into the Kruger at lunchtime, our eyes immediately darting from the ground, into the tall grass and up into the tops of the trees, trying to perceive the minutest of movements. Quite quickly, we were greeted by a lone elephant near the side of the road, lazily enjoying a late lunch. Eager to find our rest camp, Satara, we drove at a reasonable pace - surely missing…
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Destinations16 December 2022
A Kruger Adventure: A Guide to Graskop’s Blyde River Canyon
Like any great adventure, our time exploring Blyde River Canyon was filled with a few surprises and bumps along the way. After months of somewhat careful planning, we landed at the small, single-terminal Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport shortly after 12 and were immediately charmed by the rugged countryside and thatched-roof airport. Within a few minutes we’d collected our luggage and were…
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Stays & Dining14 April 2021
Picnics at Hazendal: Bountiful Babushka Baskets
Trying to hold on to the last bit of summer, my friend and I ventured to Stellenbosch for an alfresco feast in the form of a picnic. Our destination: the impressive Hazendal Wine Estate. The family-friendly estate manages to perfectly combine South African and Russian traditions to offer unique experiences from their Pivnushka beer garden and Cape Dutch guesthouse to their Russian tea ceremony…
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Stays & Dining7 December 2020
Picnics at De Meye: Superb Seasonal Summer Baskets
Summer, and the holiday season, is upon us. While we might do things a little differently this year, Covid-conscious travel, outings and activities are possible. And nowhere has proved this more than De Meye Wine Estate. (That I know of, anyway). De Meye is a gorgeous estate, perfect for a summer afternoon in the countryside. I’d been dying to visit the estate and finally on Saturday 5 December…
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Outdoors & Activities20 October 2020
Hike to Paarl Rock
There are few things that make you pause quite like a view that stretches out before you without end. I love finding them, those views that seem to go impossibly on and on. It’s one of my favourite parts of going on any adventure and why I love being a passenger more than I like being a driver. Which is why I was excited to finally venture to Paarl Rock and hike up to its famous viewing point.…
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