Struik Travel & Heritage http://struiktravel.bookslive.co.za/blog Just another Book.co.za weblog Tue, 08 May 2012 13:37:21 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 © info@bookslive.co.za () info@bookslive.co.za Just another Book.co.za weblog info@bookslive.co.za No no http://struiktravel.bookslive.co.za/wp-content/plugins/podpress/images/powered_by_podpress.jpg Struik Travel & Heritage http://struiktravel.bookslive.co.za/blog 144 144 Table Mountain Declared One of the New Seven Natural Wonders http://struiktravel.bookslive.co.za/blog/2012/05/08/table-mountain-declared-one-of-the-new-seven-natural-wonders/ http://struiktravel.bookslive.co.za/blog/2012/05/08/table-mountain-declared-one-of-the-new-seven-natural-wonders/#comments Tue, 08 May 2012 13:37:21 +0000 Amanda http://struiktravel.bookslive.co.za/blog/2012/05/08/table-mountain-declared-one-of-the-new-seven-natural-wonders/ Cape Town A-ZPicturesque Cape Town Cape TownCapetonians now have a natural wonder right in their backyards with Table Mountain joining the likes of South America's Amazon Forest and the Puerto Princesa underground river in the Philippines as one of the seven natural wonders of the world.
Table Mountain has officially been confirmed as one of the world’s new seven natural wonders. Announcing
...]]> Cape Town A-ZPicturesque Cape Town Cape Town

Capetonians now have a natural wonder right in their backyards with Table Mountain joining the likes of South America’s Amazon Forest and the Puerto Princesa underground river in the Philippines as one of the seven natural wonders of the world.

Table Mountain has officially been confirmed as one of the world’s new seven natural wonders.

Announcing the development in a statement today, City of Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille said it was a “great accolade” and she was already planning the official inaugural event later this year.

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]]> http://struiktravel.bookslive.co.za/blog/2012/05/08/table-mountain-declared-one-of-the-new-seven-natural-wonders/feed/ 0 Gill Staden Unpacks the Reasons Why Zambian Tourism Isn’t Succeeding http://struiktravel.bookslive.co.za/blog/2012/05/04/gill-staden-unpacks-the-reasons-why-zambian-tourism-isnt-succeeding/ http://struiktravel.bookslive.co.za/blog/2012/05/04/gill-staden-unpacks-the-reasons-why-zambian-tourism-isnt-succeeding/#comments Fri, 04 May 2012 11:20:10 +0000 Amanda http://struiktravel.bookslive.co.za/blog/2012/05/04/gill-staden-unpacks-the-reasons-why-zambian-tourism-isnt-succeeding/ Beyond the Victoria FallsTravel writer Gill Staden, author of Beyond the Victoria Falls, expresses her frustration with Zambia's lagging tourism industry, which she believes should follow Botswana's winning example:
While I was sitting at the beautiful Wilderness Safari Lodge, I couldn’t help but compare Botswana and Zambia tourism. Zambia does not have the Okavango, but it has other beautiful areas, which are totally under-utilized. South and North Luangwa, Lower
...]]> Beyond the Victoria FallsTravel writer Gill Staden, author of Beyond the Victoria Falls, expresses her frustration with Zambia’s lagging tourism industry, which she believes should follow Botswana’s winning example:

While I was sitting at the beautiful Wilderness Safari Lodge, I couldn’t help but compare Botswana and Zambia tourism. Zambia does not have the Okavango, but it has other beautiful areas, which are totally under-utilized. South and North Luangwa, Lower Zambezi, and the northern section of Kafue National Parks are doing okay. Operators in those areas will complain that it is tough, though. Most of the operators live and work in these areas because they love the lifestyle, though, not because they are making lots of money. On the other hand, Wilderness Safaris in Botswana is making money; it is making money so that it can expand and develop into more and more areas in Africa.

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]]> http://struiktravel.bookslive.co.za/blog/2012/05/04/gill-staden-unpacks-the-reasons-why-zambian-tourism-isnt-succeeding/feed/ 0 Video: Expresso Hosts Kingsley Holgate to Mark World Malaria Day http://struiktravel.bookslive.co.za/blog/2012/04/26/video-expresso-hosts-kingsley-holgate-to-mark-world-malaria-day/ http://struiktravel.bookslive.co.za/blog/2012/04/26/video-expresso-hosts-kingsley-holgate-to-mark-world-malaria-day/#comments Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:06:21 +0000 Amanda http://struiktravel.bookslive.co.za/blog/2012/04/26/video-expresso-hosts-kingsley-holgate-to-mark-world-malaria-day/ The Great African Rift Valley Expedition, which he undertook in aid of the organisation United Against Malaria. While in the studio, Holgate also takes on the Expresso omelette challenge:
  • Not playing?
...]]> Yesterday, to mark World Malaria Day, the breakfast show Expresso spoke to intrepid adventurer Kingsley Holgate about The Great African Rift Valley Expedition, which he undertook in aid of the organisation United Against Malaria. While in the studio, Holgate also takes on the Expresso omelette challenge:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

AfrikaCape to CairoAfrica

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]]> http://struiktravel.bookslive.co.za/blog/2012/04/26/video-expresso-hosts-kingsley-holgate-to-mark-world-malaria-day/feed/ 0 Kingsley Holgate Goes Through Hell’s Gate and Scales the Mountain of God http://struiktravel.bookslive.co.za/blog/2012/04/20/kingsley-holgate-goes-through-hells-gate-and-scales-the-mountain-of-god/ http://struiktravel.bookslive.co.za/blog/2012/04/20/kingsley-holgate-goes-through-hells-gate-and-scales-the-mountain-of-god/#comments Fri, 20 Apr 2012 10:08:20 +0000 Amanda http://struiktravel.bookslive.co.za/blog/2012/04/20/kingsley-holgate-goes-through-hells-gate-and-scales-the-mountain-of-god/ AfricaCape to CairoKingsley Holgate, "the most travelled man in Africa", has reached Maasailand in his latest humanitarian journey, the Great African Rift Valley Expedition. Now the adventure continues as Holgate and his team of intrepid travellers make their way from Hell's Gate in Kenya to the summit of an active volcano in Northern Tanzania, Ol Doinyo L'engai, known to the Maasai as the "Mountain ...]]> AfricaCape to CairoKingsley Holgate, “the most travelled man in Africa”, has reached Maasailand in his latest humanitarian journey, the Great African Rift Valley Expedition.

Now the adventure continues as Holgate and his team of intrepid travellers make their way from Hell’s Gate in Kenya to the summit of an active volcano in Northern Tanzania, Ol Doinyo L’engai, known to the Maasai as the “Mountain of God”.

In his latest Rift Valley Dispatch, Holgate describes seeing “a Garden of Eden of wildlife within the largest intact caldera in the world”:

It’s a relief, nobody hurt or killed, no Land Rover breakdowns – just too many AK’s and cattle wars and the sad situation where a group of adventurers like ourselves had been killed and others kidnapped up in Ethiopia’s Danakil on the Horn of Africa where we had recently been – now closed to all travellers. Adventure, it seems, is all about windows of opportunity.

Behind us now is Djibouti, the Red Sea’s Gulf of Tadjora, the blinding salt flats of Lake Assal, lowest land point in Africa, ‘Deset’, the lowest island on earth, the lava spewing active volcano of Erta Ale, the Danakil Desert, and Dallol in the Danakil Depression, considered the hottest place on earth. Also behind us is the ancient walled city of Harar and the beautiful Ethiopian Rift Valley lakes that brought us South, like jewels in a necklace, to Lakes Chew Bahir, the Ocean of Salt, and Turkana, the world’s largest desert lake. To add to the symbolic Rift Valley calabash we are carrying from the Horn of Africa to Gorongosa in Mozambique, we have now added sipfulls of water from the Kenyan Rift Valley lakes of Baringa, Bogoria, Nakuru, Elmentata and Naivasha.

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]]> http://struiktravel.bookslive.co.za/blog/2012/04/20/kingsley-holgate-goes-through-hells-gate-and-scales-the-mountain-of-god/feed/ 0 Coming Soon: Diane Coetzer’s Weekends Away In and Around Gauteng http://struiktravel.bookslive.co.za/blog/2012/03/28/coming-soon-diane-coetzers-weekends-away-in-and-around-gauteng/ http://struiktravel.bookslive.co.za/blog/2012/03/28/coming-soon-diane-coetzers-weekends-away-in-and-around-gauteng/#comments Wed, 28 Mar 2012 10:42:12 +0000 Amanda http://struiktravel.bookslive.co.za/blog/2012/03/28/coming-soon-diane-coetzers-weekends-away-in-and-around-gauteng/ Weekends AwayThis April from Struik Travel & Heritage: Tired of spending your weekends mooching around the mall, fighting for your patch of green in an urban park, or slouching on the couch watching DVDs? Well then, pack your bags, grab your kids, haul out the binoculars, camera, fishing rod and perhaps even the dog, and take the first highway out of town. Gauteng may be South Africa’s smallest province, but ...]]> Weekends AwayThis April from Struik Travel & Heritage:

Tired of spending your weekends mooching around the mall, fighting for your patch of green in an urban park, or slouching on the couch watching DVDs? Well then, pack your bags, grab your kids, haul out the binoculars, camera, fishing rod and perhaps even the dog, and take the first highway out of town.

Gauteng may be South Africa’s smallest province, but it’s the ideal gateway to some of the best weekend destinations in the country. The variety on offer within the province and its neighbours, Mpumalanga, North West, Limpopo and Free State, is staggering – plush country hotels, intimate guesthouses, tranquil mountain retreats, serene spa lodges, wildlife sanctuaries, fishing estates, and cosy self-catering cottages beckon.

Written in an entertaining style and packed with information highlighting the attractions of some 147 getaways, Weekends Away In and Around Gauteng is the perfect companion for just about everyone, from families and newlyweds (or those newly in love) to birders, fishers, adventure seekers, spa-lovers, game viewers and history buffs. To make it even more useful, this handy guide is uniquely organised by distance – between one and four hours from the cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria.

About the author

An avid traveller, award-winning journalist Diane Coetzer has worked as a writer for more than 25 years, covering everything from the struggle against apartheid to travel to music. Her work has appeared in many publications including Billboard (USA), Business Day/Wanted and the Sunday Times. She lives in Johannesburg with her partner and four children.

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]]> http://struiktravel.bookslive.co.za/blog/2012/03/28/coming-soon-diane-coetzers-weekends-away-in-and-around-gauteng/feed/ 0 Read an Excerpt from South Africa by Road: A Regional Guide http://struiktravel.bookslive.co.za/blog/2012/03/16/read-an-excerpt-from-south-africa-by-road-a-regional-guide/ http://struiktravel.bookslive.co.za/blog/2012/03/16/read-an-excerpt-from-south-africa-by-road-a-regional-guide/#comments Fri, 16 Mar 2012 07:50:46 +0000 Amanda http://struiktravel.bookslive.co.za/blog/2012/03/16/read-an-excerpt-from-south-africa-by-road-a-regional-guide/ South Africa by RoadNamibiana Buchdepot features an excerpt from South Africa by Road, written Denise Slabbert, Willie Olivier, Pat Hopkins and photographed by Jean du Plessis. The excerpt provides an overview of the central Karoo and its flora, fauna, history and heritage:
The Central Karoo Situated on the South African plateau in the vast expanse of the Great Karoo, the Central Karoo is a tract of land dominated
...]]> South Africa by RoadNamibiana Buchdepot features an excerpt from South Africa by Road, written Denise Slabbert, Willie Olivier, Pat Hopkins and photographed by Jean du Plessis. The excerpt provides an overview of the central Karoo and its flora, fauna, history and heritage:

The Central Karoo
Situated on the South African plateau in the vast expanse of the Great Karoo, the Central Karoo is a tract of land dominated by stony plains punctuated by windmills, the occasional dolerite hill and small mountains. The Khoekhoen called this vast semi-desert region Kuru, a name meaning ‘hard’ or ‘dry’ – an apt description of this harsh land. The aromatic Karoo bossies (bushes) and grasslands are ideally suited to small-stock farming and the area is a major producer of wool, lamb and mutton. The region is bounded by the Kalahari and diamond fields in the north, while the Koup and the Camdeboo lie along its southern boundaries. It extends from the Hantam Karoo east to the Eastern Cape Interior and the Orange River. The climate of the Central Karoo is similar to that of other regions in this semidesert area – extremely hot summers with temperatures exceeding 40 °C, and cold winters.

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]]> http://struiktravel.bookslive.co.za/blog/2012/03/16/read-an-excerpt-from-south-africa-by-road-a-regional-guide/feed/ 0 Interview with Mia Feinstein, Author of Cape Town: Up Close & Personal http://struiktravel.bookslive.co.za/blog/2012/03/07/interview-with-mia-feinstein-author-of-cape-town-up-close-personal/ http://struiktravel.bookslive.co.za/blog/2012/03/07/interview-with-mia-feinstein-author-of-cape-town-up-close-personal/#comments Wed, 07 Mar 2012 07:01:39 +0000 Amanda http://struiktravel.bookslive.co.za/blog/2012/03/07/interview-with-mia-feinstein-author-of-cape-town-up-close-personal/ Cape TownMia Feinstein, author of the photographic coffee table book, Cape Town: Up Close & Personal, was recently interviewed in the Cape Jewish Chronicle about her new book. Feinstein explained that she wanted her book to approach Cape Town from a different angle, as it is already a well-documented subject in photography. Random House Struik shared the interview on their Facebook page. You can also download and ...]]> Cape TownMia Feinstein, author of the photographic coffee table book, Cape Town: Up Close & Personal, was recently interviewed in the Cape Jewish Chronicle about her new book. Feinstein explained that she wanted her book to approach Cape Town from a different angle, as it is already a well-documented subject in photography.

Random House Struik shared the interview on their Facebook page. You can also download and read a high-quality version of the article from the Cape Jewish Chronicle homepage (pdf download – p.25):

Mia Feinstein Cape Jewish Chronicle Interview

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]]> http://struiktravel.bookslive.co.za/blog/2012/03/07/interview-with-mia-feinstein-author-of-cape-town-up-close-personal/feed/ 0 Win a Copy of National Parks and Nature Reserves: A South African Field Guide http://struiktravel.bookslive.co.za/blog/2012/03/06/win-a-copy-of-national-parks-and-nature-reserves-a-south-african-field-guide/ http://struiktravel.bookslive.co.za/blog/2012/03/06/win-a-copy-of-national-parks-and-nature-reserves-a-south-african-field-guide/#comments Tue, 06 Mar 2012 06:54:13 +0000 Amanda http://struiktravel.bookslive.co.za/blog/2012/03/06/win-a-copy-of-national-parks-and-nature-reserves-a-south-african-field-guide/

Struik Travel & Heritage is giving away a copy of Chris and Mathilde Stuart's National Parks and Nature Reserves: A South African Field Guide to one lucky reader. National Parks and Nature ReservesTo enter and stand a chance to win, simply answer the following easy question: How many parks, reserves & wildernesses are featured in this field guide? A. 35 B. 43 C. 28
...]]>

Struik Travel & Heritage is giving away a copy of Chris and Mathilde Stuart’s National Parks and Nature Reserves: A South African Field Guide to one lucky reader.

National Parks and Nature ReservesTo enter and stand a chance to win, simply answer the following easy question:

How many parks, reserves & wildernesses are featured in this field guide?

A. 35
B. 43
C. 28

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]]> http://struiktravel.bookslive.co.za/blog/2012/03/06/win-a-copy-of-national-parks-and-nature-reserves-a-south-african-field-guide/feed/ 0 Kingsley Holgate’s Adventures Continue in Ethopia (Plus: Details of Upcoming SA Tour) http://struiktravel.bookslive.co.za/blog/2012/03/05/kingsley-holgates-adventures-continue-in-ethopia-plus-details-of-upcoming-sa-tour/ http://struiktravel.bookslive.co.za/blog/2012/03/05/kingsley-holgates-adventures-continue-in-ethopia-plus-details-of-upcoming-sa-tour/#comments Mon, 05 Mar 2012 07:38:58 +0000 Amanda http://struiktravel.bookslive.co.za/blog/2012/03/05/kingsley-holgates-adventures-continue-in-ethopia-plus-details-of-upcoming-sa-tour/

AfrikaIntrepid adventurer Kingsley Holgate is currently busy with chapter two of his Great African Rift Valley Expedition. In a recent blog post for Getaway, Holgate describes his journey through Lake Ziway in Ethiopia where he discovered "no sex, no drinking" and an Eden for Rastafarians:
Chapter two of the expedition and it’s great to be on the move again, the three expedition Land
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AfrikaIntrepid adventurer Kingsley Holgate is currently busy with chapter two of his Great African Rift Valley Expedition. In a recent blog post for Getaway, Holgate describes his journey through Lake Ziway in Ethiopia where he discovered “no sex, no drinking” and an Eden for Rastafarians:

Chapter two of the expedition and it’s great to be on the move again, the three expedition Land Rovers – two Discovery 4s and the big Land Rover Defender 130 mothership. Driving on the right hand side of the road, dodging trucks, pedestrians and livestock – the Landies loaded up with life-saving mosquito nets for distribution to mums with children under the age of five, Rite to Sight spectacles for the poor sighted and LifeStraws for safe drinking water. We drop down the escarpment into Africa’s Great Rift Valley – that great tear in the earth’s crust that extends from the Danakil Plains of Ethiopia on the Red Sea to below Gorongosa in Mozambique. Our first destination is Lake Ziway. It has five islands which include Debre Sina, Galila, Bird Island and Tullu Gudo, home to a monastry said to have housed the Ark of the Covenant around the ninth century. Ziway, known for its birds and hippos, is one of the eight Ethiopian Rift Valley lakes that stretch like a necklace of jewels from below Addis Ababa to the border with Kenya. As is the tradition on this expedition, we will continue to add iconic sipfills of Rift Valley water to the symbolic calabash. As always there’s that wonderful feeling, the excitement of the unknown. This southern part of Ethiopia leading down into the Omo Valley and Lake Turkana can be wild and unpredictable. Herewith the latest Great African Rift Valley dispatches:

Holgate will also be taking a break from his journey to go on tour in South Africa where he will be speaking about the humanitarian aspects of his mission at Cape Union Mart stores nationwide. Holgate will be at Canal Walk in Cape Town, 26 April; at Woodlands Boulevard in Pretoria, 14 November; and at Eastgate Shopping Centre in Johannesburg, 15 November. Diarise those dates!

Adventurer Kingsley Holgate is back in South Africa, but only for a brief visit. He is currently busy with The Great African Rift Valley Expedition. This year-long expedition is as much an African adventure as a humanitarian initiative. Penetrating remote regions from Djibouti to Mozambique; Holgate’s team focuses on malaria prevention, the distribution of spectacles to poor-sighted people and education around waterborne diseases. Read Kingsley’s latest dispatch from the Rift Valley here. While in the country Kingsley Holgate will be speaking at Cape Union Mart stores across the country on the following dates:

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Photo courtesy Getaway

]]> http://struiktravel.bookslive.co.za/blog/2012/03/05/kingsley-holgates-adventures-continue-in-ethopia-plus-details-of-upcoming-sa-tour/feed/ 0 Mia Feinstein “Up Close and Personal” with Local Celebs: Tutu, Zille and Marc Lottering http://struiktravel.bookslive.co.za/blog/2012/02/27/mia-feinstein-up-close-and-personal-with-local-celebs-tutu-zille-and-marc-lottering/ http://struiktravel.bookslive.co.za/blog/2012/02/27/mia-feinstein-up-close-and-personal-with-local-celebs-tutu-zille-and-marc-lottering/#comments Mon, 27 Feb 2012 11:01:55 +0000 Amanda http://struiktravel.bookslive.co.za/blog/2012/02/27/mia-feinstein-up-close-and-personal-with-local-celebs-tutu-zille-and-marc-lottering/ Cape TownPhotographer Mia Feinstein, author of Cape Town: Up Close and Personal, was recently snapped with three local celebrities - former Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Western Cape premier Helen Zille, and comedian Marc Lottering. Random House Struik shared the photos on their Facebook page. Take a look:

...]]> Cape TownPhotographer Mia Feinstein, author of Cape Town: Up Close and Personal, was recently snapped with three local celebrities – former Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Western Cape premier Helen Zille, and comedian Marc Lottering.

Random House Struik shared the photos on their Facebook page. Take a look:



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