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We talk with Dr. Dean Allen - renowned Author, Historian, Lecturer, and Media Presenter. Dean has authored several books, two of which are are titled "Frontier Land - Exploring the Eastern Cape."
So much of our history played out in this area - and it really is a fascinating part of South Africa. We have digitised these two books and all the spots Dean discusses and describes are on the Road Trip RSA app.The Road Trip SA app is available for download
Do you want to visit and explore South Africa? Touch Africa Safaris -
We have a chat with Simon Green - "The Blockhouse Guy". Simon has authored two books on the blockhouses of the Anglo-Boer War - a very handy field guide, as well as a more in-depth analysis of the engineering behind these 9000+ structures the British Military left behind in South Africa.
We have digitised the field guide - so if you are looking to visit a Blockhouse - the Road Trip app will get you there.The Road Trip SA app is available for download
Do you want to visit and explore South Africa? Touch Africa Safaris -
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Middelburg, Cradock, Cookhouse and through Slagtersnek - some really evocative and emotional spots on this route. The story of the "Chair Monument", and the site of what is considered to be the first resistance to British rule that ended rather badly at Slagtersnek.
The Road Trip SA app is available for download
Do you want to visit and explore South Africa? Touch Africa Safaris -
This highway traverses the Kalahari through to Upington - where you have to visit Scotty Smith, the Donkey Memorial, and the Camel Statue - follow the Gariep river through Prieska, Britstown, and De Aar, to eventually intersect the N1 at Hanover. Beautiful changing landscapes from red Kalahari dunes, flat salt-pans - where Sir Malcolm Campbell's "Blue Bird" challenged the land-speed record in 1929 - to the flat-topped koppies of the Karoo.
The Road Trip SA app is available for download
Do you want to visit and explore South Africa? Touch Africa Safaris -
Some reflections on our visits to the Kruger Park this year. We have visited a wide variety of the camps in the Central / Northern section and give some feedback on our experiences there.
The Road Trip SA app is available for download
Do you want to visit and explore South Africa? Touch Africa Safaris -
Ladysmith is right at the centre of what we call "The Battlefields" region. So much of our history played out here - the Voortrekkers and their conflicts with the Zulu, the British and their battles with the Zulu, and then this area was pivotal in both conflicts between the British Empire and the Boer Republics. The N11 branches off the N3 (Johannesburg to Durban) at Ladysmith and then traverses the Drakensberg escarpment through Newcastle, Ermelo, Middelburg and then takes you right up to Groblersbrug on the border with Botswana.
The Road Trip SA app is available for download
Do you want to visit and explore South Africa? Touch Africa Safaris -
The N9 branches off the N1 in Colesburg and takes you south. It takes you over beautiful Karoo landscapes through Noupoort, Middelburg, and with a short detour you can visit Nieu-Bethesda - one of the quintessential "Karoo-dorpies". The VOC influence is still to be seen in Graaff-Reinet - and this is an obligatory overnight stop.
The highway then takes you just to the East of the Swartberg Mountain range, and you enter the Little Karoo. Slightly greener, slightly more fertile, and home to thousands of Ostriches!
The Road Trip SA app is available for download
Do you want to explore South Africa? Touch Africa SafarisThe Road Trip SA app is available for download
Do you want to visit and explore South Africa? Touch Africa Safaris -
No. 72 (Basutoland) Squadron is commemorated in Maseru and remembered forever in the design one the most popular blankets sold in Lesotho. The N8 then actually starts at the border with South Africa - it skirts Ladybrand where Robey Leibbrandt is buried, then heads to Bloemfontein. We explore a bit of that city, chat about a few spots in Kimberley, and eventually end in Groblershoop.
The Road Trip SA app is available for download
Do you want to explore South Africa? Touch Africa SafarisThe Road Trip SA app is available for download
Do you want to visit and explore South Africa? Touch Africa Safaris -
Winelands transform to fruit and wheatfields - the West Coast is booming. A beautiful drive through undulating hills and passing towns like Malmesbury, Moorreesburg, Citrusdal, and Clanwilliam. Each and every one is worth a short detour and you get to see the citrus industry in full swing and if you really look - you can trace the tracks of missionaries and pioneers as well. Once north of Vanrhynsdorp and over the Knersvlakte you are in Namaqualand - and little towns like Springbok evoke memories of early explorers and copper mining.
The Road Trip SA app is available for download
Do you want to explore South Africa? Touch Africa SafarisThe Road Trip SA app is available for download
Do you want to visit and explore South Africa? Touch Africa Safaris -
The N6 heads straight South from Bloemfontein and skirts the Southern border of Lesotho. Little towns like Reddersburg, Smithfield, Aliwal North and Jamestown all have some history of the conflicts with the Basotho, as well as many stories of Voortrekkers and Anglo Boer War characters. A little further south and once through Queenstown you are in "Settler Country" - but these were German settlers - not British.
The Road Trip SA app is available for download
Do you want to explore South Africa? Touch Africa SafarisThe Road Trip SA app is available for download
Do you want to visit and explore South Africa? Touch Africa Safaris -
This highway traverses the Eastern Free State just to the north of Lesotho. The history of the Voortrekkers and the Basotho runs deep in this land. Lots of history to explore, and some surprising statues and memorials - and lots of fossils as well!
The Road Trip SA app is available for download
Do you want to explore South Africa? Touch Africa SafarisThe Road Trip SA app is available for download
Do you want to visit and explore South Africa? Touch Africa Safaris -
Episode 8 of a series on the Kruger National Park.
We cover the area north of The Voortrekker Road, explore a bit of Pretoriuskop, take a look at Skukuza, and chat about the memorials to the Game Rangers and conservation staff.
Want to travel to the Kruger National Park? Touch Africa Safaris
The Road Trip SA app is available for downloadThe Road Trip SA app is available for download
Do you want to visit and explore South Africa? Touch Africa Safaris -
Episode 7 of a series on the Kruger National Park
The story of Harry Wolhuter and how he survived a lion attack, the old "Voortrekker Road", remnants of the Voortrekkers, early traders, and gold prospectors. Many dramas played out in this area before the park was established - there are some great stories here.
Want to travel to the Kruger National Park? Touch Africa Safaris
The Road Trip SA app is available for downloadThe Road Trip SA app is available for download
Do you want to visit and explore South Africa? Touch Africa Safaris -
Episode 5 of a series on he Kruger National Park
The far north of the park has some really interesting history to explore. Archaeological sites such as Thulamela, fun history like Crooks corner - the haunt of "Bvekenya", as well as the remnants of the Witwatersrand Native Labour Association sites, are all to be found in this area.
Want to travel to the Kruger National Park? Touch Africa Safaris
The Road Trip SA app is available for downloadThe Road Trip SA app is available for download
Do you want to visit and explore South Africa? Touch Africa Safaris -
Episode 6 of a series on the Kruger National Park
Gold prospectors, illegal immigrants, and we leave Tropical Africa as we cross the Tropic of Capricorn. We explore Masorini, the Letaba area, we meet Piet Grobler, and say thank you to Eileen Orpen who to this day is still the largest donor of land to the Kruger Park.
Want to travel to the Kruger National Park? Touch Africa Safaris
The Road Trip SA app is available for downloadThe Road Trip SA app is available for download
Do you want to visit and explore South Africa? Touch Africa Safaris -
The founders of the South African Air Force, traitors and rebels, battlefields and graves, heroes and villains, churches and statues - this road encompasses them all. There's even a memorial to the animals of the 2nd Anglo-Boer War.
The Road Trip SA app is available for download
Do you want to explore South Africa? Touch Africa SafarisThe Road Trip SA app is available for download
Do you want to visit and explore South Africa? Touch Africa Safaris -
This is a unique route to travel. It is special because so many elements of our history can be explored while driving this highway. It stretches from Maputo - actually Komatipoort which is the South African border - right through to the border with Botswana.
You can visit San rock art, there is is an interesting link with Jan van Riebeeck, there are Voortrekker sites, you can visit sites relating to both the 1st and 2nd Anglo-Boer Wars, there's WW1 and WW2, there's then 1914 Rebellion, there's Struggle sites - they variety is amazing. And there is fascinating piece of history as well - most people know of the Voortrekker Covenant before the Battle of Blood River in 1838 - but did you know there were two more Covenants made?
The Road Trip SA app is available for download
Do you want to explore South Africa? Touch Africa SafarisThe Road Trip SA app is available for download
Do you want to visit and explore South Africa? Touch Africa Safaris -
Our first big-group coach-tour and safari post-covid. Clients from a USA-based tour operator eventually made it to South Africa - many of them originally booked for 2020!
Part 1 we covered the journey and impressions from Cape Town to St. Lucia - this episode we go through eSwatini, Kruger and get to the Victoria Falls.
Some of the stories and challenges we faced being the first big group - 80 pax / 2 coaches - in the post-Covid South African tourist landscape.
All the spots mentioned in this podcast are listed on the Road Trip SA app.
Do you want to explore South Africa? Touch Africa Safaris is an inbound tour operator, and we designed, booked, executed, as well as guided this holiday.
This is a recording of a weekly radio show - Radio EcoHealthThe Road Trip SA app is available for download
Do you want to visit and explore South Africa? Touch Africa Safaris -
Our first big-group coach-tour and safari post-covid. Clients from a USA-based tour operator eventually made it to South Africa - many of them originally booked for 2020!
Some of the stories and challenges we faced being the first big group - 80 pax / 2 coaches - in the post-Covid South African tourist landscape.
All the spots mentioned in this podcast are listed on the Road Trip SA app.
Do you want to explore South Africa? Touch Africa Safaris is an inbound tour operator, and we designed, booked, executed, as well as guided this holiday.
This is a recording of a weekly radio show - Radio EcoHealthThe Road Trip SA app is available for download
Do you want to visit and explore South Africa? Touch Africa Safaris - Näytä enemmän
