Below a typical Highveld “koppie” in the little town of Irene just outside Pretoria is the unpretentious house that for more than half a century was home to one of South Africa’s greatest and most controversial sons, Jan Smuts. Smuts bought...
Nestled on the side of a koppie (hill) to the east of Pretoria is a unique art gallery under a grove of trees. Started some 16 years ago by Croatian-born Thea Nigrini and named for her late mother, the Tina Skukan Gallery is as individual as its founder. Thea has been...
For steam train enthusiasts one of the most enjoyable things to do in Pretoria is to go on an excursion of the Friends of the Rail (FOTR) organisation. FOTR has been running excursions and working to preserve the steam train heritage of South Africa for more than a...
Sometime in the early 1960s I went with my friend James Southern to Cape Agulhas where his parents had a holiday cottage. One day while we were out exploring the area we came upon some dilapidated thatched huts, which James informed me were called “kapstylhuise”. I...
Recently I spent a week with my family at a resort on the shore of the Hartebeespoort Dam, that lovely stretch of water in the valley of the Crocodile River in the North West Province of South Africa. It is a beautiful part of the country nestled in between mountains...
